Built by Dave Cross.
Powered by Perlanet
Amanda Martin MP is set to host her next coffee morning event, taking place on Saturday 18 April from 10:30am till 12pm in Copnor.
The event is open to all constituents and booking is essential.
To sign up, constituents should visit: https://amandamartin.org.uk/events/#coffeemorning
The popular coffee morning events are an opportunity for Portsmouth North constituents to have an informal conversation with Amanda Martin MP on a range of issues, including healthcare, the environment and the cost of living.
Attendees can take this opportunity to directly voice ideas, views and concerns on both local and national issues, or alternatively, just to say hello and enjoy a cuppa.
As a visible and accessible local MP, the coming event reinforces Amanda Martin MP’s commitment to holding in-person discussions and events with her constituents, alongside her regular ‘Pint with your MP’ sessions and publicly-accessible constituency office on Copnor Road, Copnor.
Amanda’s regular coffee mornings ensure that local issues can be quickly addressed and the concerns and opinions of people in Portsmouth can be represented at Westminster.
Commenting, Portsmouth North MP Amanda Martin, said: “My monthly coffee mornings are an opportunity for local people to talk with me face to face about any ideas, worries and concerns they may have.
“I’m always looking for ways to ensure Portsmouth people can come together to share their views and to make sure we work together to change our city.
“I look forward to meeting those attending and warmly encourage all constituents who are keen to attend to sign up.”
Booking is essential.
Sign up here: https://amandamartin.org.uk/events/#coffeemorning
Please note: You must be a constituent of Portsmouth North to book a ticket for this event.
The event location will be sent to those who sign up once their booking is confirmed prior to the event.
The post Amanda Martin MP to host next coffee morning on Saturday 18 April appeared first on Amanda Martin MP.
Stephen Morgan MP visited his former infant school, Penbridge Infant School in Fratton, to discuss all things school food and talk directly with those provided quality nutritious food for children. The visit follows the Labour Government announcing the expansion of free school meal entitlement to over half a million more children nationwide.
Mr Morgan made the visit to discuss and observe firsthand the importance of providing children with the nutrition that they need to have a productive day within school, ahead of the delivery of daily free meals for over 10,000 schoolchildren in Portsmouth.
From the start of the 2026 school year, as voted for by Mr Morgan, every pupil in Portsmouth whose household is on Universal Credit will have a new entitlement to free school meals, making life easier and more affordable for parents who struggle the most by putting £500 back in their pockets every year.
Giving local children the access to a nutritious meal during the school day also leads to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes – meaning they get the best possible education and chance to succeed in work and life.
Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty have been unable to access free school meals under the previous Tory government.
Labour’s historic new expansion to those on Universal Credit will change this and come following the government’s Child Poverty Strategy, which is set to drive the biggest reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament.
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth, said:
“I know from conversations with local people, and my time in the Department for Education, how much the stain of child poverty has impacted families in Portsmouth.
“My visit with The School Food People to Penbridge Infant School allowed me a valuable opportunity to chat with catering school about the importance of daily nutrition to every child so that every child can succeed and thrive.
“I am proud to have voted for the expansion of free school meals entitlement. This decisive and much needed measure will lift Portsmouth’s children out of poverty and put money back in the pockets of this city’s parents.
“I have always strongly believed that all children, regardless of their background, deserve the best start in life. Labour is delivering this through our Plan for Change.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures.
“My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents’ pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn.
“This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed.”
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said:
“It is the moral mission of this government to tackle the stain of child poverty, and today this government takes a giant step towards ending it with targeted support that puts money back in parents’ pockets.
“From free school meals to free breakfast clubs, breaking the cycle of child poverty is at the heart of our Plan for Change to cut the unfair link between background and success.
“We believe that background shouldn’t mean destiny. Today’s historic step will help us to deliver excellence everywhere, for every child and give more young people the chance to get on in life.”
The decision comes following Labour’s amendment to the landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, designed to put children and their wellbeing at the centre of government policy and deliver on Labour’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity.
Central to the bill are a number of measures to cut the cost of sending children to school and make life easier for families in Portsmouth, which Mr Morgan personally pushed for during his time as Minister for Education.
Notably, this includes a cap on the number of branded school uniform items. Accompanied by Labour’s plan to introduce Best Start free breakfast clubs in every primary school, set to save families an estimated £450 per year per child, the Bill contains measures that could keep a sizeable £500 in parents’ pockets.
In addition to steps to ease the burden on families, Labour have outlined a number of reforms to schools in order to drive high and rising standards. This includes putting more qualified, expert teachers at the front of classrooms and rolling out a new, cutting-edge national curriculum designed to ensure young people are ready for work and ready for life.
In response to a number of shocking cases of children being failed by a disjointed system over recent years, the Labour government has also brought forward a number of measures within the Bill to protect children at risk of abuse and stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.
The post Local MP visits Penbridge Infant School to discuss school meal provision with LACA appeared first on Stephen Morgan MP.
Register to Vote
You must register by 11:59pm on 20 April 2026 to vote in the local elections on 7 May 2026.
Who can vote?
You can also register if you have permission (or do not need permission) to enter or stay in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man and you’re:
How to Register?
If you want to vote, your name must be on the electoral register. If you changed your address or your name since you last voted, you must register again.
For further information on how to register, visit: Register to vote | Register to vote | Manchester City Council
If you need help, the Electoral Services Unit can complete an application for you.
Email: esu@manchester.gov.uk
Phone:0161 234 1212
Photo ID
You will need to show photo ID when voting in person.
The name on your ID must match your name on the electoral register. If it does not, you’ll need to either: register to vote again or take a document with you that proves you’ve changed your name (for example, a marriage certificate).
Acceptable types of photo ID to vote:
You can also use one of the following travel passes as photo ID when you vote:
Don’t miss a chance to have your say
Voting is an important way to make your voice heard and I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to check if you are registered to vote.
Local parents will know that raising children in a digital world can be challenging. Screen time is a part of all our lives, and it can be tricky to strike the right balance.
That’s why the UK Government has worked with families to develop new, evidence-based guidance on screen time for under 5s.
Go to the Best Start in Life site to find out more
The Department for Work and Pensions has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (122099):
Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available through his Department and Jobcentre Plus to help disabled people find suitable part-time employment. (122099)
Tabled on: 19 March 2026
Answer:
We are committed to providing disabled people who want to work with the right support to find employment, including part-time work and self-employment, that meets their specific circumstances and ambitions.
In addition to Work Coach support, our Pathways to Work Advisers provide one-to-one personalised support to disabled customers to help them move towards, and into, work. More than 65,000 people have already chosen to receive support from these advisers over the last year.
Outside of Jobcentre Plus-based support, our voluntary and locally-commissioned, £1bn Connect to Work Supported Employment programme offers specialised employment support to disabled people, those with health conditions and people with complex barriers to employment. The programme provides participants with tailored support, including vocational profiling, finding good job matches and on the job coaching. It will support around 300,000 people across England and Wales by March 2030. We are also expanding the WorkWell programme to cover all of England by autumn 2026, to provide integrated, holistic early help to up to 250,000 people with health-related barriers to work.
The Department for Work and Pensions also works with employers to encourage them to adopt flexible recruitment practices, including reduced-hours roles, alternative shift patterns and other adjustments that make jobs more accessible, including through the use of assistive technology.
The answer was submitted on 25 Mar 2026 at 17:36.
NOTE:

Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking, celebrates the announcement £20 million additional funding for Barking & Dagenham from the government’s Pride in Place programme after launching a campaign for more Pride in Place funding for the borough.
The government has selected Mayesbrook Park, in Mayesbrook ward, and Rippleside, in Eastbury ward, as the beneficiaries of the funding injection.
Nesil has been meeting with and speaking to constituents about where additional funding in Barking & Dagenham should go to benefit local people the most.
The Prime Minister backs UK renewal with a historic £5 billion investment into communities across the UK as part of the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Pride in Place programme.
Residents and Members of Parliament are to play a leading role in deciding the best use of the funding in their own communities. Local people decide how the money is spent, whether it is on improving local high streets, reviving green spaces or on community hubs, pubs and leisure centres.
Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking said:
“I was pleased with the government’s initial announcement of £1.5 million in funding for Barking & Dagenham’s high streets, but local people deserved more to make a tangible impact in our local communities.
“I’ve been campaigning for an uplift on the £1.5 million Pride in Place, speaking to Ministers and urging them to invest in Barking & Dagenham. People should feel pride in the places they live and enjoy the opportunities that emerge from revitalised community centres. That’s why I’m pleased that Barking & Dagenham will now receive £20 million which will make a real difference to our local area and economy.”
George Freeman intervenes in a debate on the impact of flooding in rural communities to highlight the shear scale of the insurance problem risking serious economic damage to our economy and, as such, is an issue of national importance.
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. On the point of insurance, I have just come from chairing a meeting with Aviva—a great Norfolk insurer, the biggest insurer of houses in the country. It made the point to me that this is the tip of a major iceberg of uninsureability, unmortgageability and then unsaleability, and that the Treasury should be looking at this as a major problem on the balance sheet of this country. It is a Horizon Post Office-sized scandal in its scale, risking serious economic damage to our economy. Does my hon. Friend agree that that elevates this issue to one of national importance?
I was not aware of just how drastic insurers see the situation, but it does not surprise me, based on what I see in my communities. I know that my hon. Friend has worked consistently on the issue of flooding, so I take him at his word that we need to be looking at that problem more seriously.
The Minister has mentioned Aviva, one of Norfolk’s great companies and the biggest insurer of houses in the country. Has she seen its recent report, in which it calculates that about 4.78 million houses are at serious risk of flooding over the next 10 years? I congratulate her on securing the funding in the autumn, which I think was going to protect 60,000 houses, but does she agree that the Treasury should be thinking very deeply about the scale of this challenge in the context of national resilience?
The hon. Member prompts me to mention the biggest ever, greatest, most fantastic and largest investment in flood defences that this Government have just announced. On a more serious note, yes, Aviva did talk to me about that report, as he would imagine. We had a conversation about it and, without straying too much out of my remit and into planning, I believe that such conversations are ongoing with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Tuesday 31st March 1.30pm – 3.30pm All Saints Community Association Tuesday 7th April 11.30am-12.30pm Key Community Bus at Biddick Hall & Whiteleas Family Hub Friday 17th April 5.00pm-9.00pm- ‘Climb / BBQ’ at Simonside Climbing Wall (Event for Young people) Tuesday 21st April 11.30am-12.30pm Key Community Bus at Biddick Hall & Whiteleas Family Hub Friday 1st May 10.00am -12.00pm Action Station Tuesday 5th May 11.30am-12.30pm […]
The post Pride In Place Drop In Events appeared first on Emma Lewell MP.
I wrote a piece in Labour List about acting on public anger towards water company failure. You can read it by following the link below or by reading the text here. Labour List Article Like many Labour MPs I have had a lot of emails encouraging me to watch “Dirty Business”, the Channel 4 docudrama
The post Labour must prove it understands public anger over water company failure – and act on it appeared first on Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.

I’ve launched my 2026 Clapham & Brixton Hill constituency survey to help identify local issues and understand what matters most to Clapham & Brixton Hill constituents. My 2026 survey covers a range of issues from housing and transport to safety, public services, and the local environment and is open until Friday the 27th March.
This is your chance to make your voice heard. Your views will guide my work in Parliament over the next year to ensure local concerns are front and centre. The survey takes just 5-10 minutes to complete.
👉🏾 Take the survey here:
https://bit.ly/CBHSurvey2026
As your local MP, I’m always keen to hear about the issues affecting you and how I can help improve our area. Every response helps build a clearer picture of what’s working, what isn’t, and where attention is most urgently needed. By sharing your thoughts, you’ll help shape my priorities on everything from community safety and local transport to green spaces, schools, and support for families. Whether you’ve lived here for decades or you’ve only recently moved in, your perspective is invaluable.

If you have neighbours, friends, or family in the constituency who might also want to share their views, please pass the link on. The more voices included, the stronger and more representative the results will be.
The post Clapham & Brixton Hill Constituency Survey 2026 appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
I am getting a huge number of messages from people about potholes across Bassetlaw. Our roads are falling apart and it cannot go on like this.
Many drivers tell me they are worried about damage to their cars. They say they have to swerve to avoid deep holes in the road. People are facing huge bills for car repairs to fix damage to tyres. I have even heard about license plates being ripped from cars by deep potholes in some areas.
Recently, I was contacted by residents who live on Sheffield Road in Blyth. The road there is in a terrible state. Large lorries hit the crater holes at speed, and the impact is so strong that nearby houses shake, day and night. Some residents are struggling to sleep through the night because the vibrations are so bad. Some have even seen cracks appear in their brickwork. That is simply not good enough.
I am pushing for the whole road to be properly resurfaced, not just patched up. I am pleased that this request has now been put forward to the County Council as part of next year’s roads budget. I will keep pressing for it to be approved.
I see the ‘dob jobs’ taking place, but this is a quick fix and not a permanent solution. In some cases, the roads crumble again within weeks. The County Council recently spent £75,000 on flags for lampposts. While I love to see our flag flying, is this really the priority when our roads are in such a bad state?
We have heard plenty of excuses. The councillor in charge of roads has even tried to blame my husband, John Mann, the former MP for Bassetlaw. But I have lived here in Bassetlaw for over 25 years, and I have never known our roads to be in such poor condition. Over the past few months, I have reported over 50 potholes across Bassetlaw. But when I go to report them, I often see that they have been reported many times before, and no action has been taken.
Many people ask me what is being done about it. Here are the facts. Nottinghamshire County Council is in charge of looking after our roads. It runs this service through its company, VIA. The Council has been given an extra £8.3 million from the government to fix roads. This is on top of the £70 million it already has for road repairs. I plan to meet with the County Council very soon, alongside other Nottinghamshire MPs of all parties to discuss the issue.
The Council is saying it plans to buy a special machine called the JCB Pothole Pro. It costs about £200,000 and is meant to repair potholes more quickly. However, I am concerned that the previous Conservative administration looked at this in 2021, and found that the machine did not save money, could damage kerbs, and had problems on narrow roads. Most importantly, it did not fix potholes any faster than normal repair methods.
I will be keeping a close eye on how this money is spent. What matters most is that our roads are maintained and properly repaired. My message is clear, use the money and get on with the job.
The post Potholes are the main concern for Bassetlaw residents appeared first on Jo White MP.
This week Labour has published its draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.
For too long, leaseholders and homeowners with unadopted estates have paid through the roof for
substandard service from unscrupulous managing agents and freeholders.
Every year, homeowners pay £600 million to freeholders. And in 2024, service charges reached an
average of £2,300 a year, increasing well above inflation.
Labour’s Bill will take direct action on the cost-of-living crisis for leaseholders.
The Government is capping ground rent at £250 a year, and moving to a peppercorn after 40 years.
The legislation also establishes commonhold as a default tenure, bans new leasehold flats, and creates
a route for leaseholders who want to transition to commonhold to do so.
More plans are also in the works to make it easier for leaseholders to enfranchise, and to ensure that
managing agents and freeholders are held to account for poor practice.
Every week I see in my constituency inbox the costs which homeowners are forced to pay for
substandard service. Working people deserve managing agents and freeholders who work for them,
and that is exactly what Labour’s Bill will achieve
The post Labour is protecting Leaseholders from unfair charges, and capping ground rents appeared first on Liz Kendall.
The post December Newsletter appeared first on Mohammad Yasin MP.
It was great to call into Neighbourhood Watch in Pelsall again and catch up with Edwin and Andrew.
We discussed a range of local issues across the Rushall, Shelfield, Pelsall, and Brownhills Neighbourhood Watch area. Our focus was on how we can work together as one community to address these challenges.
It was also fantastic to hear about Project Phoenix – a pilot community-run initiative launched by Walsall Council! This project is dedicated to building a stronger community right across our Borough, and I’m really keen to see the positive impact it will have.
An abridged version of this article ran in The Times on 3rd February 2025
In 2007, in the pages of this newspaper, I argued that Britain should seize the moment and move Heathrow to the Thames Estuary, freeing up the congested west London site for much-needed housing while creating a world-leading transport hub fit for the 21st century. It was an ambitious plan—perhaps too ambitious for a nation that has lost its appetite for grand infrastructure. Seventeen years later, what do we have? The same tired debates, the same dithering, and now, a third runway proposal that represents the absolute minimum of what could be done. It is not a vision; it is a concession to stagnation.
Throughout history, Britain built infrastructure that transformed cities and continents. The Victorians laid thousands of miles of railways across India and Africa. British engineers built the world’s first underground railway in London, the great docks of Hong Kong, and the vast shipping hubs that made global trade possible. Ours was once a nation that saw scale and complexity as challenges to be overcome, not reasons to prevaricate. Today, while China constructs floating airports in Hong Kong and Dalian, we are still arguing over a few extra miles of tarmac at an aging airport hemmed in by suburban sprawl.
The case for expanding Heathrow is undeniable. The airport operates at near capacity, with any disruption causing delays that ripple across the global aviation network. Additional capacity is needed. But the third runway is not a bold leap forward—it is an unimaginative compromise. The design is a relic of a bygone era when Britain was still willing to approve large infrastructure projects but had already begun its slow descent into cautious incrementalism. Surely for a solution we should be looking beyond the immediate horizon, daring to create something transformative.
Compare this to the grand infrastructure ambitions of Asia. Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok, which replaced the legendary but perilous Kai Tak airport in the 1990s, was built on reclaimed land. It was a marvel of engineering (mostly British), completed in just six years. Now, China is taking the concept even further: Dalian is constructing a floating airport, pushing the boundaries of what is possible. This is a country that doesn’t simply accept geographic limitations—it overcomes them. Britain, meanwhile, is paralysed by protest groups, endless consultations, and political hand-wringing.
A floating airport in the Thames Estuary—an idea proposed and swiftly dismissed—would have been a statement of ambition. London could have had its own Chek Lap Kok, a world-class hub unencumbered by the constraints of Heathrow’s location. Instead, we are left with a piecemeal expansion of an outdated site, in a project that will take decades and still leave Britain trailing behind.
The environmental argument against expansion is often cited as a reason for delay, but it is a red herring. Modern aviation is rapidly advancing towards lower emissions and greater efficiency. If the concern is air pollution and carbon footprints, the answer is not to stifle airport expansion but to embrace new technology, support cleaner aviation fuels, and invest in modern air traffic management. Britain should be leading these efforts, not using environmental concerns as an excuse for stagnation.
The economic cost of our hesitation is immense. Aviation is a key driver of trade, tourism, and investment. Heathrow’s constraints mean we lose out to European rivals, with airlines shifting long-haul routes to Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. The third runway, even if built, will do little to reclaim lost ground. By the time it is operational—assuming it even survives the judicial challenges that will inevitably come—other nations will have long since surpassed us.
What Britain needs is a fundamental shift in mindset. We must stop viewing major infrastructure projects as necessary evils to be endured and start treating them as national priorities. This requires reforming our planning laws, streamlining approval processes, and fostering a political culture that celebrates engineering excellence rather than recoiling from it.
The third runway at Heathrow is not the answer—it is a symptom of our decline. Instead of an afterthought tacked onto an aging airport, we should be considering radical alternatives: offshore airports, high-speed rail integration to regional hubs, and a renewed commitment to infrastructure that places Britain at the forefront of global connectivity. We were once a nation that built the world’s most advanced transport networks, that pioneered engineering breakthroughs others only dreamed of. We can be that nation again—but only if we stop settling for mediocrity and start daring to think bigger.
The world is not waiting for Britain to catch up. While we squabble over a single new runway, China is building entire new airports on water. The contrast is stark, and the lesson is clear: boldness breeds success, hesitation ensures decline. If Britain truly wishes to remain a global player, we must abandon the timid incrementalism of the third runway and embrace the kind of audacity that once made us great.
Kit Malthouse 1st February 2025
Christmas is a very special time. It's when we come together with friends and family to take stock, and give thanks for what we have.
Some years – in the best of times, this is cause for celebration.
Other years – it's more complicated if we're missing loved ones,
affected by illness, or facing money worries, homelessness, or loneliness.
Sometimes – let’s be honest, for many reasons, Christmas can just be about getting through it, and that's ok!
Because regardless of the year that’s been, or the circumstances you find yourself in, Christmas offers everyone a precious gift – hope.
The post Toby Perkins MP supports Chesterfield Hedgehog Rescue and Rehabilitation appeared first on Toby Perkins Labour MP.