It’s been a sombre two weeks after the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, on the 8 September. All parliamentary business was suspended during the national period of mourning as thousands of members of the public visited Westminster Hall to pay their final respects to the Queen. I was pleased to gather with residents of Hackney to remember Her Majesty, including at a memorial service at St John at Hackney the day before her funeral.
Not one river in England is in a healthy condition, with none meeting good chemical standards and only 14 per cent meeting good ecological standards. This has been a particular issue in the River Lea in Hackney. Over 1000 hours of sewage was discharged into the river in 2019.
This situation has been exacerbated by cuts to the Environment Agency which have weakened its ability to enforce environmental protections.
R.I.P. Your Majesty.
Families and businesses are facing eye-watering increases in their energy bills. But, unlike households, there is no price cap at all for businesses. This means that local small businesses are facing crippling energy costs now. The hospitality sector is particularly hard hit as, after the COVID-19 pandemic, some energy suppliers are refusing to supply to hospitality businesses. It means the pool of potential energy suppliers for hospitality businesses is even smaller.
There have been a number of incidents of bike theft in Hackney recently. In some cases, cyclists are being targeted while cycling high-end bikes. Hackney is one of the top areas in the country for commuter cycling with 12 per cent of Hackney adults cycling at least five times a week. It is vital that people are not put off cycling.
Hackney families are struggling amidst a cost-of-living crisis that is spiralling out of control.
Bills are shooting up to eye-watering levels and the Government is asleep at the wheel. It does not understand the reality of people’s lives and the scale of the intervention that is required. This is a Conservative Party and a Government that’s lost control.
A number of constituents have contacted me about the high cost of energy for residents of buildings with communal heating systems. Their contracts with energy companies are classed as commercial and so are not subject to the Energy Price Cap, leaving residents with soaring energy prices.
At the beginning of the month, the Prime Minister appeared in front of senior MPs at the Liaison Committee and I pressed him on his meetings with the former KGB spymaster, Alexander Lebedev (see here). This week the Prime Minister wrote a formal letter to the committee in which he stated that ‘as far as he can recall’ no government business was discussed at the social event he attended in Italy with Alexander Lebedev. Clearly this only begs more questions than it answers.
Read my Monthly Report for July 2022 here.
Boris Johnson attended his final Prime Minister's Questions this week and was met with a standing ovation from his MPs who only two weeks ago were calling for him to resign. Conservative MPs have also selected the two final candidates to be the Prime Minister's successor - Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister's former Chancellor, and Liz Truss, the Prime Minister's current Foreign Secretary, both continuity candidates. We need a general election and a fresh start.