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Local beauty businesses and students showcased their contribution at a special event in Westminster.
Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking, helped local beauty businesses “take over Parliament” to celebrate this year’s British Beauty Week. Hairdressers, nail salons and beauty academy students – all from Barking and Dagenham – were invited to Parliament by the MP for a special reception and tour.
British Beauty Week is promoted by the British Beauty Council every year to celebrate the contribution of beauty businesses to our economy and high streets.
The theme of this year’s Beauty Week is the future of beauty, highlighting the industry’s innovation and sustainability. The UK beauty industry contributes over £31 billion to the economy each year and supports more than 85,000 jobs in London.

Commenting on the takeover, Nesil Caliskan, Member of Parliament for Barking said: “I invited local beauty businesses and students to takeover Parliament to celebrate their contribution, let them know how important they are for our community, and how much this government values them.
“They employ hundreds of local people, bring life to our high streets, and help people feel great every day. They are vital for our local economy, and today’s takeover proved the future of beauty is undoubtedly in Barking and Dagenham.”
Victoria Brownlie, Chief of Policy & Sustainability at the British Beauty Council, who was at the event, said: “The hair and beauty industry provides so much to so many and events like this help those working in the industry to feel seen, recognised and appreciated, just as they deserve to. Their social, cultural and economic contribution cements them as serious businesses, not just fluffy stuff that girls do, and we’re so grateful to Nesil for shining a light on this during British Beauty Week.”

Erica Brobbey, from Empress Hair and Beauty, a business in Barking, said: “It was an honour to join fellow beauty professionals in Parliament and proudly represent Barking and Dagenham’s thriving beauty community. Meeting other business owners and speaking with Victoria from the British Beauty Council was truly inspiring. The event highlighted the real impact our industry has, not just economically, but in the confidence and wellbeing it brings to people every day.
“I’m proud to be part of a community that continues to empower others and contribute so positively to the local economy. Events like this show that the future of beauty is bright, and it’s happening right here in Barking and Dagenham.”

Around 280,000 extra households in the North West will see their energy bills cut by £150 as a result of the Labour Government’s expansion of the Warm Home Discount.
Thousands of families in the North West are beginning to receive letters detailing their eligibility, as Labour expands vital cost of living support to all billpayers on a means-tested benefit.
Labour is acting to protect families across the country, bringing nearly 2.7 million additional households into the scheme – pushing the total number of households receiving the discount up to an estimated 6.1 million.
Jeff Smith, MP for Manchester Withington said:
“This vital support will make a real difference to families in Manchester Withington struggling with the cost of living.
“Labour is determined to secure our energy system and protect households from energy bills that are still too high.
“The expanded Warm Homes Discount will provide essential support to families in our area this winter.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“Letters will be dropping on doormats across the country this week, containing welcome news for hundreds of thousands of families.
“This Government is determined to tackle energy affordability for families, and this winter more people will be helped as a result.
“I would urge anyone who doesn’t automatically qualify for the discount to get in touch with their supplier, so they get the money they are entitled to.”

As in previous years, I’m inviting young people from across Clapham and Brixton Hill to showcase their creative talent by designing my official Christmas card. This year’s theme is “South London Winter Wonderland.” Imagine snow flurries in Stockwell, Christmas lights twinkling down Brixton Road, reindeer dancing across Clapham Common or your favourite local spot turned into a magical festive scene. Fill your card with colour, joy, and the spirit of South London at Christmas! 🎨❄️
The competition is open to anyone under 18 who lives in or attends school in the Clapham & Brixton Hill constituency. You can create your design by hand or digitally — whatever inspires you most!
Send your entry by:
📧 Email: bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk
📬 Post: Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
💻 Social media: Tag @BellRibeiroAddy (@bell_ribeiroaddy on Instagram)
Deadline: Friday 5th December 2025
If you’re sending your card by post, please make sure it arrives in plenty of time!
The winning design will be sent out to thousands of people across our constituency, including local Labour members and other MPs, as my official Christmas card. There will also be prizes for runners-up across different age categories, and all entries will be celebrated in a special festive display.
Who can enter?
Anyone under 18 who lives in or attends school in Clapham & Brixton Hill.
How do I enter?
Send your design by email, social media, or post — see the details above.
When’s the deadline?
Friday 5th December 2025.
What are the prizes?
The winning design becomes my official Christmas card! Runners-up will also receive prizes, and all entries will be featured in a festive showcase on my website and in my constituency office.
If you have any questions about the competition, please get in touch with my team:
📩 bell.ribeiroaddy.mp@parliament.uk
The post Clapham & Brixton Hill Christmas Card Competition 2025 – South London Winter Wonderland appeared first on Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
The appalling details about the tragic death of the toddler Awaab Ishak in 2020, caused by dangerous levels of damp and mould in his home, shocked the country.
Today’s law will be a lasting tribute to his life and his parents’ courageous campaign on behalf of thousands of tenants living in unfit homes.
For too long, tenants have had to suffer in unsafe homes. From 27 October Awaab’s law became law and introduces new protections to finally put tenants’ safety first, with new measures including:
Alternative accommodation must also be offered if homes cannot be made safe within the required timeframes.
Responding to the law being enacted, city MP Stephen Morgan said:
“With Awaab’s Law, this government is sending a clear message: no tenant should have to live with dangerous damp, mould, or other hazards.
At the election I promised the people of Portsmouth a Labour Government would make housing safe and decent for everyone. That is exactly what we are doing.
I know from my own postbag how important this issue is to so many local people. This is another example of a promise made, promise delivered”.
This law is a step forward in how we protect tenants in social housing and reset the relationship between tenant and landlord.
Tenant safety is just as vital in the private rented sector and this Labour Government is committed to extending Awaab’s Law through the Renters’ Rights Bill.
The post ‘Millions of tenants across the country will benefit from safer homes thanks to new rules coming into force thanks to this Government’ says Portsmouth MP appeared first on Stephen Morgan MP.
The men and women from Portsmouth who serve in our military represent the best of Britain. And the very least they deserve is a safe and decent home.
Too often over the past 14 years, forces families in Portsmouth were let down as the Tory government failed to invest in their housing. And this goes back further. In 1996 the Conservative Government under John Major sold off our military housing in one of the worst privatisation deals imaginable – selling off armed forces married quarters and renting them back at taxpayers’ expense.
By the time Labour entered Government, these rental payments had hit £600,000 a day, with homes run down and left to rot. Private investors cashed in while families lost out.
So after six months in office, we announced the landmark buy-back of 36,000 homes, bringing forces’ family housing into public ownership where they belong.
Today, we launch the next chapter: a Defence Housing Strategy which means the biggest renewal of military housing in over half a century. And sit will supercharge housebuilding on surplus Defence land – delivering new homes for veterans, military and civilian families.
40,000 military homes will be upgraded, including over 600 homes across Portsmouth. A new Defence Housing Service will manage those homes with a ‘forces first’ approach. And we will unlock the building of over 100,000 homes on Defence land – helping deliver the homes Britain needs.
The Tory scandal of unfit forces housing won’t be fixed overnight, but with a record £9bn investment over the next decade – benefitting service families across Portsmouth, we are already getting on with that work at pace.
Works are already underway across the country today on the 1,000 homes in most in need of repair. We’ve already launched a Consumer Charter for forces families to drive up standards. And with today’s Strategy, that work will now accelerate.
All of this is happening because our Labour Government is delivering for defence and for our Armed Forces. We are increasing defence spending and using that money to back the brave service men and women who keep our nation safe. Labour is on the side of our Forces – and their families.
The post Amanda Martin MP hails Labour Government’s backing for forces families as over 600 forces family homes in Portsmouth set for a boost in landmark new plan. appeared first on Amanda Martin MP.
Delicious carvery at Ruby’s Llanelli and challenging Halloween Quiz last night to raise funds for Chair of Carmarthenshire County Council Cllr Dot Jones’ chosen charity Blood Bikes Wales …. a really worthwhile cause.
The continuous rising pressure on local community health and care services like dentistry, osteoarthritis and mental health in Dereham and neighbouring villages, combined with the closure of the Toftwood Surgery and the Government’s announcement of a 50% increase in the compulsory new housing targets for Breckland and Dereham is simply not sustainable. We have to secure additional NHS investment in Dereham and a plan for how the growth in demand for local healthcare services in the town will be met.
To do that it’s important that all of us with an interest in local healthcare services - GP practices, pharmacies, patients and Councillors come together to map out growing demand over the next few years and make a powerful case to DHSC and local NHS management that Dereham needs properly planned investment in community health facilities if we are to cope with the rising demand.
That’s why over the last 18 months I have worked to:
• Establish the Dereham Town Plan Action Group to lobby for a plan for the town centre and future health services. It is very good to see the Integrated Care Board join the group in December 2024.
• Volunteer to help broker an agreement between the Toftwood Surgery landlord and NHSe in an attempt to expand the Surgery. Unfortunately, an agreement was not reached between the landlord and NHSe requiring a temporary fix by the NHS to relocate Toftwood patients to the north of the town.
• Meet with the Toftwood Pharmacy and Patients, Orchard and Theatre GP practices.
• Suggest the formation of a Dereham Community Healthcare Taskforce to propose a vision and plan to lobby for necessary NHS funding.
I am pleased that local NHS management are listening to local views towards developing a Plan, and I encourage my constituents to share their views and help shape the needs of our town. To do that it’s vital that we speak with one voice.
That’s why in the New Year I have suggested a roundtable of local health leaders, councillors and other stakeholders to push forward on a shared Dereham Health Plan 2050 which we can all support.
My letter to local leaders and stakeholders here:
The post October Newsletter appeared first on Mohammad Yasin MP.
Sure Start was life-changing for so many people in Bassetlaw, transforming the lives of children by putting in place family support in the earliest years of life. Sure Start, introduced by the last Labour government, helped level the playing field for children from lower income families, with research showing that children who attended a Sure Start centre were much more likely to perform better at school.
The previous Government cut community services, scrapping Sure Start, leaving a gaping hole in family services. When they left government, one in four families with children under five couldn’t access local children’s centres, rising to one in three lower income families. Speaking to local families in Bassetlaw, I hear time and again an ask for more support around SEND, youth services, and early development.
I welcome the news that the Government are building on the proud legacy of Sure Start, and reviving family services by rolling out 1,000 ‘Best Start Family Hubs’ by April 2026, including here in Bassetlaw.
Best Start Family Hubs will be a one stop shop for parents needing support, including on difficulty breastfeeding, housing issues or children’s early development, and other services such as:
The post Giving Children in Bassetlaw the Best Start in Life appeared first on Jo White MP.
Parents in Banbury and North Oxfordshire look back with fondness, and often a sense of gratitude, for the support Sure Start services provided in those crucial early years of their children’s lives. / Hearing their stories, and the difficulties of local families with young children growing up today, made it clear that provision needed to
The post £245,236 for Oxfordshire family services! appeared first on Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury.
On 29th July, the Prime Minister held an emergency cabinet meeting on the situation in Gaza.
I support the statement the Prime Minister made, after the meeting, confirming that the U.K will recognise the state of Palestine at the UN in September, unless the Israeli government takes significant steps.
I condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs of food and water in the strongest terms. These actions will not bring the hostages home. The war must stop.
Whilst it’s welcome that more aid has been allowed into Gaza in recent days, it is simply not enough.
The UK has dropped aid via air drops, but this is not enough.
The Israeli government must allow aid to enter Gaza, without restriction. The Israeli government must agree to a ceasefire, not a pause.
The government will continue to work with our allies and with agencies to work towards the goal of long-lasting peace, stability and security that both Palestinians and Israelis deserve.
Please find a transcript of the Prime Minister’s speech here: www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-words-on-gaza-29-july-2025
The post Update on Gaza appeared first on Liz Kendall.
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.
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.
Last week I was sworn in as the MP for South Shields for the fifth time, and each time it strikes me how incredibly honoured I feel that you have put your faith in me as the first female MP to represent you in Parliament. It was a truly historic night as the UK elected […]
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