In today’s hugely important Brexit debate I gave a speech on why I oppose Boris Johnson’s deal.

I voted for an amendment to make sure MPs see the details of what is being proposed set out in legislation, because I do not trust the Prime Minister to stick to his word. The amendment passed which means the Withdrawal Bill will be debated in Parliament next week.

As I have said before, now that we know what Brexit actually looks like – which is very different to what people were promised in the Referendum – we should give the public the final say on whether they want to go ahead or stick with our current deal and remain within the EU.

The post Liz speaks in Brexit debate appeared first on Liz Kendall.

Wigan Constituency Labour Party have reselected Lisa Nandy MP as their candidate for the next General Election.

At meetings held over the last fortnight, members in all of the branches that make up Wigan Labour Party voted overwhelmingly to reselect Lisa. All affiliated organisations, including Unite the Union, the Communication Workers’ Union, GMB, Unison and Usdaw, also voted to reselect.

Lisa said:

“I’m grateful to Labour members in Wigan for choosing to reselect me so overwhelmingly. Being the Member of Parliament for Wigan is the privilege of my life, and I couldn’t do it without the members who turn up year in, year out and in all weathers to campaign for the Labour Party. With a General Election looking likely, we will be out once again fighting for every vote and to put an end to the damage inflicted on Wigan by this reckless Conservative government.”

Wigan Constituency Labour Party said:

“We’re delighted to have reselected Lisa Nandy as our candidate for the next General Election. For 10 years Lisa has worked tirelessly to represent Wigan in Parliament, fighting for constituents hit hardest by this Conservative government’s brutal cuts and ensuring that Wigan’s voice is heard on the national stage. The overwhelming level of support Lisa received from local party members is testament to that work. We’re proud to have Lisa as our MP and we’re ready to fight and win the next General Election together.”

Local MP Lesley Laird, met this week with the new Ministry of Defence Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan who is now responsible for the project to clean up the long standing issue of radiation on the beach at Dalgety Bay.

Lesley said, “The meeting was a positive one and I am now feeling more confident that this work will begin next spring. The budget is approved, the tender process is complete, and the contract will now be allocated in the next few weeks. Final agreements re access are also almost concluded and the Minister confirmed that she expects to be able to confirm the start date for the project shortly.

“This is a long time coming for the people of Dalgety Bay. I started working on this campaign with the Community Council when I was first elected as a Councillor in 2012, and here we are now in 2019 as MP and I am very pleased that I have been able to stick with this project and I look forward to seeing it brought to a satisfactory conclusion with the confirmation of the contract and the start date for work.”

“This project has been all about perseverance and I am delighted that by working together we are finally going to get the right result for the people of Dalgety Bay.”

The post Progress on Dalgety Bay Radiation after meeting with Minister appeared first on Lesley Laird.

Denton and Reddish’s MP Andrew Gwynne has welcomed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s announcement that a Labour government would scrap Universal Credit and replace it with a social security system that focuses on “alleviating and ending poverty, not driving people into it”.

The move comes after a year-long review into the social security system by Labour’s Work, Pensions and Equality Policy Commission. The review was led by Margaret Greenwood MP, co-convenor of the commission and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Labour MPs, including Andrew Gwynne have repeatedly held the government to account in Parliament on the roll-out of Universal Credit and have long drawn attention to the link between the system and increased food bank usage and the rise in poverty levels across the UK.

In government, Labour would scrap Universal Credit; this major policy change cannot be delivered overnight, but Labour would introduce an emergency package of measures and:

• Reduce the five-week wait for first payment
• End the benefit cap
• Scrap the two-child limit
• Suspend sanctions and the claimant agreement
• End the “digital only” approach and recruit 5,000 new social security advisers so that people can have face-to-face, telephone and outreach support

The latest figures from the House of Commons Library show that, as of May 2019, in Denton and Reddish, there were 3,194 households claiming Universal Credit, of which 47% were households with children.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“I am delighted that Jeremy Corbyn has announced that a Labour government would scrap Universal Credit.

 

“Our welfare system should be based on supporting those who use it, rather than punishing them.

 

“The current system is deeply flawed and the implementation has been shambolic, leaving many families in my constituency struggling to get by.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said:

“Universal Credit has been an unmitigated disaster. As well as being behind schedule and over budget, it is inhumane and cruel, driving people into poverty and hardship.

 

“The Tories told us that Universal Credit would make work pay, but we have seen the opposite. More and more people who are falling into poverty have jobs, and more and more children who are growing up in poverty are living in working families.

 

“Labour will introduce a new system based on the principles of dignity and respect and it will alleviate and end poverty, not drive people into it.”

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said:

“Universal Credit was meant to lift people out of poverty, simplify the social security system and smooth the transition into work.

“Instead it is failing those in need, pushing many into debt and rent arrears and forcing them to rely on food banks to survive.

 

“The two-child limit and the benefit cap are driving up child poverty, and the sanctions regime is punishing people instead of supporting them.

“Labour will scrap Universal Credit, put an end to the benefit cap and create a social security system that, just like our NHS, treats people with dignity and respect and is there for any one of us in our time of need.”

http://www.wrexham.com/news/clwyd-south-mp-presents-local-schools-single-use-plastic-petition-in-parliament-175623.html

The post Clwyd South MP presents local school’s single-use plastic petition in Parliament – Wrexham.com appeared first on Susan Elan Jones MP.

Sometimes life pulls you in two different directions.

Everyone knows that we have a desperate shortage of housing in Ealing North but there is a growing reluctance to support more large-scale developments.

The current debate around a proposal to throw up a twenty-six-storey tower block next to the GWR line on Manor Road in West Ealing has brought this dichotomy into sharp focus.

It’s not as though we lack major housing projects in Ealing North – Grand Union Village on the site of the former Taylor Woodrow offices and works and the developments on Rectory Park, Copley Close, Cheyney Path and High Lane are all cases in point and they have – by and large – been accepted by the local community as an essential component of the solution to the housing crisis.

We are currently looking at just under three hundred new homes on the former Kellogg (IBM as was) site in North Greenford and possibly the biggest yet; just under two thousand units on the old Glaxo and Hovis sites – also in North Greenford.

The Greenford Quay development by Greystar is a case in point about how best to engage with local people and temper the proposals to fit in with local wishes.

Originally, they proposed a primary school in the plan, but we are faced with falling school rolls in Ealing North and that idea was parked. Community police, a cinema, canalside development – very Venetian! – and the reopening of Berkeley Avenue after so many years have proved popular and it has been suggested that one of the buildings be named in honour of the late John Bivens, a hero of North Greenford United’s footballing history.

Not everyone loves the idea, but I only received five letters or e-mails objecting to the new use of a redundant former industrial site.

A recent proposal to build on the petrol station to the north of Tesco at the Hoover Building would have created the tallest building in Perivale and utterly altered the skyline of that part of the world. Councillors – rightly in my opinion – rejected the proposal.

Which brings us to the high tower proposed for Manor Road.

To date I’ve received two hundred and thirty detailed objections from the immediate neighbourhood and the Drayton’s Community Association have been both assiduous and ferocious in their lobbying of the local councillors and myself.

The fact that a very similar if slightly more modest application is being submitted for Hastings Road which may be in another parliamentary constituency, but which is just over the road from West Ealing Station – the boundary between Ealing North and Ealing Central and Acton (proprietor, Rupa Huq MP) – has added to the sense of anger which is being expressed so strongly .

Maybe the technology exists to make a 26-storey building located next to one of the busiest high-speed rail lines in the country vibration proof and maybe post Grenfell structural standards will ensure the safety of the residents, but the fact remains that there will be a huge loss of light and outlook locally.

It will, in all honesty, completely alter the area and change forever the architectural cohesion of Manor Road, Luminosity Court and the Draytons.

Is the end of such a settled and valued environment a fair price to pay for the provision of new homes – some of which are classified as “affordable”?

I have had to conclude that the provision is just not worth it and with house prices falling off a cliff in London and the population declining I have serious doubts as to the financial viability of the scheme in any case.

I am told that if Ealing is seen to be rejecting such planning applications we will gain a reputation as a borough which speculative developers will be reluctant to engage with or operate in.

There may be a grain of truth in this but – frankly – so what? Cash has no conscience and the speculators will go wherever they find a fallow field.  I was taught at the LSE that the factors of production were land, labour and capital. We have very little spare land in London and labour is becoming rarer by the minute as the imminence of a catastrophic Brexit drives many of our valued fellow European craftsmen and women out of the country.

Capital there will always be but the supply ebbs and flows with interest rates and the prospects of a good return.

Refusing the planning application for what is being dubbed as the Fawlty Tower of Manor Road will not bring financial ruin on the London Borough of Ealing.

Approving it may bring disaster to a settled community who have come to value their part of W13 and want nothing more than to be left in peace to enjoy it. 

I spent sixteen years as an Ealing councillor, and this included a spell as Chair of Planning. I would have turned down this proposal for a towering edifice that would bring darkness at noon to the Draytons. I urge today’s councillors to screw their courage to the sticking point and do as I would have done. For the sake of the future of our borough. 

The post Oldham MP backs campaign to grow the Northern Forest appeared first on Debbie Abrahams MP.

The daughter of Richard Ratcliffe and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has returned to Hampstead and Kilbun after spending three and a half years in Iran. She was kept in the country following her mother’s arrest, and lived with her grandparents in Tehran. Throughout this time, she was separated from Richard and would visit her mother in jail whenever she was allowed to do so.

Today we held a press conference to mark Gabriella’s return. At the conference I said that it was truly heart-warming to see Gabriella reunited with her father after 1300 days in Iran, but also heart-breaking that she is now separated from her mother Nazanin.

Alongside Richard, I argued that Iran must end their hostage diplomacy and release my innocent constituent. Nazanin is at breaking point, and today’s bittersweet events are yet another reminder that she has been failed at the very highest levels of Government.

Britain’s longest-serving Indian-origin Member of Parliament Keith Vaz has said that the Resolution passed at the Labour Party Conference last week has created unnecessary divisions within the Indian and Pakistani diaspora communities in the U.K. There are almost 1.5 million … Continue reading →

The post Statement on Emergency Resolution appeared first on Keith Vaz.

Emma was delighted to speak at the Social Workers Union Fringe event in Manchester at the end of last month. Prior to becoming an MP Emma was a child protection social worker and a Cabinet member for adult social services in her local authority. She is very proud of her profession and believes it is like no other.

In her speech Emma stated:

“There are over one hundred and forty-three thousand social workers in England alone. Each of those social workers as your excellent research undertaken with Bath Spa University showed, are working above and beyond their contracted hours amounting to an extra sixty-four days more per year than they are contracted for. 

This is a 46-hour week, in a physically, emotionally and mentally demanding job. It is little wonder that recruitment and retention rates are so abysmal.

I recall being regularly assaulted, punched, spat at, needing security escort and being held in victim support services.

Many people in the profession tell me that things are not getting better; things are getting worse. It is therefore vital that the Government support and value the profession, but they do not. 

The fact is that they, like most politicians don’t understand the profession and when something is misunderstood, they revert to type and seek to control and regulate it, such that social work and in particular child protection social work in England is in a stranglehold of excessive and debilitating state oversight more so than any other profession.

The problems I faced and what social workers face now are not of their own doing or by their own design.

It is therefore vital that the Government support and value the profession, but they do not.

Since 2010 the Government have certainly had our profession in their sights, children’s services, with their aggressive focus on reform of social work education, regulation, assessment and accreditation the clear message has been that the problems are with social workers themselves.

They have further stuck the boot in telling us that the best of our profession comes from Frontline and Frontline only, this drive towards what they say is raising the professionalism of children’s social work has not only led to a more prescriptive and tick box social work, devaluing that link between social workers and those they support, but it has also served to aid the Government’s overall agenda to rip the very heart and soul of social work apart – that political drive for social change.

The Governments whole approach to the crisis in children’s services is lacking in any cohesive, strategic or joined up vision and is consumed with short term measures that are not yielding any long-term positive changes, but so far have cost over sixty million pounds.  

The forcing of mainly Labour led Councils into Trust models that are little more than a rebranding exercise at a cost in excess of 17 million.  The national assessment and accreditation system proved grossly unpopular, which forced a U-turn on roll-out, while gifting £23 million to private companies.

The innovation programme has similarly bestowed £12 million on private consultancies, despite being time-limited and given only to certain local authorities, it not only pits local authorities against each other for funding but exacerbates the postcode lottery.

These changes have all took place against a backdrop of savage and unrelenting austerity, where social workers have suffered under years of the public sector pay freeze and local Government is being hollowed out and decimated, the drive from Government is one ideologically focussed on marketization and profit where everyone and everything has a price and their real value diminished. 

Action for Children recently reported that some 36,000 children had to be referred multiple times before they received statutory support to help them with serious issues like abuse, neglect and family dysfunction.

What this means is that children who are in a desperate state of help or protection are being subjected to further harm because of a lack of resources. That the most vulnerable children in our society are at further risk because of funding cuts is quite frankly shameful.

It is little wonder that in this desperate environment one in seven children’s social workers quit the profession in 2017.

I know that a Labour Government … are committed to looking strategically and holistically at children’s social care and stemming the tide of privatisation and outsourcing in the sector because we know that when profit becomes the driving force good social care suffers.

John McDonnell announced at Conference in September that we would strengthen trade union rights, introduce a real living wage and set up a working time commission to recommend better rights for workers leave.

Our approach is a clear move from the prescriptive, controlling resource poor environment, we’ve seen under the Tories to one where services and the people working within them or using them are treated with dignity and respect.

Despite this Government’s best efforts, the profession survives. Excellent social work happens every single day in all areas of our country. Children and adults are protected from harm and their lives are improved.

I want to thank you all for what you do.

I am proud to be a social worker.

I am proud to be with you here today and stand with your over twelve thousand strong and growing membership in this historic building.

I am not proud of our Government because their attacks on our profession are not only harming the workforce but leaving thousands of people without much needed support.

Let’s keep pushing for change and know you always have a friend in me.

Delighted to open the new John Street office for Llanelli Online, so do pop in and give them your news.

Vibrant professional independent local press like Llanelli Online is vital to give our communities a voice, and put local decision-makers on the spot.

Good luck Alan, Jo, Delyth and team … you turn up regularly at events, and have worked hard to establish Llanelli Online. Hope you go from strength to strength.

Residents on Matlock Road in Chesterfield who feel like they are taking their lives in their hands every time they leave their driveway have enlisted the help of their local MP, Toby Perkins, in trying to make the road safer.

Toby said, “This is a really dangerous stretch of road. It is narrow, with blind bends and people are racing along it. It feels like motorists get onto Matlock Road and feel like they are on their way into the countryside and put their foot down. Pulling out of driveways or crossing the road can take a long time and feels very risky. It is an accident waiting to happen.”

Following a meeting with concerned residents, Toby has written to the County Council urging them to take action and contacted the police to request they conduct a Community Speed Watch session.

Toby with concerned residents of Matlock Road

Toby added, “I think the best course of action would be to change this stretch of road to a 30mph limit and add speed warning signs. Motorists need to be aware that this is still a residential road and people have a right to leave their properties without being put at risk.”

26 September 2019

Dear Constituent,

It has been an enormous privilege to have served as the MP for Liverpool Wavertree for almost ten years. I cannot thank my constituents enough for the relationship we have built over the last decade and what we have achieved together.

Liverpool has been my home since 2010. I met my husband in Liverpool and our two children were born here.  During the challenges I have experienced over the past eighteen months, I have been so grateful for the support I have received from the people of Liverpool. I am immensely proud of the city and representing my constituents remains a huge privilege.

Balancing personal and professional responsibilities is complicated for everyone. As a family, we have had to make a decision about how best to navigate work and raising our young children.  After a great deal of thought, we have decided that after the next election – whenever that will be – we will relocate full time to London. I will be standing as the Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Finchley and Golders Green.

I extend my support to Richard Kemp, who will be standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Liverpool Wavertree at the next election. He and I share a passion for the Wavertree area, in which he has served as a Councillor for more than two decades. We also share the strongly held view that any sort of Brexit will be hugely damaging to Liverpool as a whole. I will work closely with him and the rest of the dedicated, growing Lib Dem team whilst I am the MP for the area.

I will – as I always have done – represent the people of Liverpool Wavertree to the very best of my ability.  As ever, I will be available during the week and through the weekend. In Parliament, I will persist in standing up to Boris Johnson and his government who are intent on taking us to the No Deal Brexit precipice – with all the serious consequences that would bring for people’s jobs and livelihoods on Merseyside and across the country. I will hold my regular surgeries and, with the support of my team, take up hundreds of cases a month; please come and see me anytime. I am unwavering in my determination to do everything I can to make a positive difference.

Sincerely,

Luciana Berger MP

Earlier today, the Supreme Court declared the prorogation of Parliament unlawful.

I am aware that there are issues with GP appointment availability at the Barnsley Healthcare Federation (BHF) Practice at Priory Campus, Lundwood.

This week the House of Commons passed the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill 2017-19 (https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/europeanunionwithdrawalno6.html), which I supported.

The aim of the Bill is to ensure that, in the event the Government fails to secure a deal with the EU, an extension must be requested. This is to prevent the UK crashing out of the EU on 31st October 2019 without a deal.

Although I have been very clear since 2016 that I respect the referendum result, I was also elected in 2017 on a Manifesto commitment to reject the idea of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Our 2017 Manifesto was clear on this and stated:

“Labour recognises that leaving the EU with ‘no deal’ is the worst possible deal for Britain and that it would do damage to our economy and trade.
We will reject ‘no deal’ as a viable option and, if needs be, negotiate transitional arrangements to avoid a ‘cliff-edge’ for the UK economy.
Those arguing for Brexit in 2016, did not argue for a damaging no-deal exit fro the EU, which would be devastating for the UK economy and particularly the livelihoods of thousands of people in the North East.”

The Bill does not prevent the Government from negotiating a deal with the EU before 31st October which, if it did, and was passed, would supersede the Bill agreed this week.

Despite many public statements made by the current Prime Minister that he wants a deal with the EU, it is clear and all the evidence suggests that no serious attempt is being made to negotiate, never mind conclude, such a deal.
Despite being challenged on numerous occasions this week to outline his negotiating strategy and anything new that he is asking for, he has stubbornly refused to do so.

Having failed in his attempt to defeat the Bill this week, his tactics were then to use the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act to call a snap General Election which I did not support as I viewed this as a cynical attempt by the Prime Minister to establish a General Election date which would have not afforded the House of Commons any time to adequately scrutinise his plans, and would have given him the ability to continue with his real plans to take the UK out of the EU without a deal.

On the matter of the Prime Minister’s decision to suspend (prorogue) Parliament in an attempt to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, it is my opinion that, through these unprecedented and worrying times, it is vitally important that Parliament sits through the Conference Season, in September and October and continues to scrutinise the Government and work for a viable deal.

Whilst I accept that leaving the EU without a deal may appear to be a clean break, the reality is that, besides the unnecessary economic dislocation this would cause, no-deal would be the start of many years of a process of negotiation conducted from a weaker and more uncertain position.

As such, far from constituting a quick and easy fix, no-deal would be the beginning, not the end, of a long and protracted process and would put us on a long and difficult pathway with an uncertain future.

Ian Mearns MP
Gateshead
6th September 2019

Following a very chaotic time in Parliament since Prime Minister Boris Johnson took over from Theresa May, Bristol South MP Karin Smyth has reiterated her opposition to leaving the EU without a deal.

Karin says: “This is an anxious time for everyone. It is clear that the Prime Minister wants to plough on with Brexit regardless of the consequences.
 
I have repeatedly said I cannot support a No Deal scenario: opposition to this was part of the Labour manifesto I stood on in 2017. It would be disastrous for Bristol South, and for the country as a whole. People here are already struggling under the weight of cuts to public services and the erosion of the welfare safety net, and more people will be in a similar position should we leave the European Union without a deal.
 
Mr Johnson was elected by fewer than 95,000 Conservative Party members to be Prime Minister. He has no mandate for No Deal. We live in a representative democracy – one in which Parliament has a key role to play. By proroguing Parliament for so long, ahead of conference season and with Brexit looming, Mr Johnson is a coward and is demonstrating a complete lack of respect for our democracy.
 
Working with my colleagues in Parliament, I will do everything I can to prevent this and will continue to oppose proposals that make people in Bristol South worse off. A week is a long time in politics and I will continue to update you via my Facebook page and on Twitter.”