A number of constituents contacted me to raise their concerns about Israel's plans to annex parts of the West Bank. I wrote to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and received this response from the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa.
I am pleased to see that the Government has condemned these actions. I believe the best way to end this conflict would be a two state solution.
It’s been nearly another month and the Government is still “reflecting” on the issue of the forgotten freelancers. This is not good enough.
These people's income will not just magically reappear in October and many are struggling to put food on the table now. The Government needs to find a solution.
Click here to see my speech in full.
The systemic injustice of low-pay and poor working conditions in the NHS needs to end.
Many NHS trusts and hospitals, including Homerton hospital, depend upon low-paid workers and outsourced agency staff in order to remain financially solvent. This is unacceptable.
The Government needs to step up and fund the NHS so that poverty pay and poor working conditions are not baked into funding models.
Every person working in a hospital – from cleaners to doctors – face an increased risk of catching COVID-19; they all deserve to be paid a wage they can afford to live on.
Like many constituents I was shocked and saddened by the scenes of police brutality in the United States. That is why I joined Dawn Butler MP in calling for the Government to suspend the export of rubber bullets, tear gas and other equipment to the US.
I unequivocally condemn the killing of George Floyd and the ugly scenes in the US since. President Trump is stoking a divide his country along racial lines and we must have no truck with this.
I share the anger of many of my constituents who wrote to me about the sad case of Belly Mujinga. Belly was a transport worker who died from COVID-19 after being spat at whilst at work. I am clear no one should be in fear of assault for simply going to work.
I wrote to the Department for Transport to press the Government over the lack of PPE provided to transport workers. See the Department for Transport's response above.
I share the anger of many of my constituents who wrote to me about the sad case of Belly Mujinga. Belly was a transport worker who died from COVID-19 after being spat at whilst at work. I am clear no one should be in fear of assault for simply going to work.
I wrote to the British Transport Police (BTP) to press them on why they failed to pass the case on to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). I welcome its decision to invite the CPS to conduct an independent review of the available evidence. You can read the full response to my letter above.
I’ve been raising concerns about the gaps in Government support for freelancers and the self-employed for months. Instead of just “reflecting” on these concerns, the Government needs to step up and act now.
I’ll keep pressing the Government on this.
The Government needs to step up and radically improve the test, track and trace system.
Hackney Council is a pioneer borough piloting localised tracking and tracing, but it is not getting the data it needs from the central system. If someone is tracked as having been close to an infected person, all Hackney gets is information that they live somewhere in the borough.
This is not good enough. We can’t return to any safe sense of normality until the Government gets this right.
The Government is failing vulnerable children with no proper plan for schools and pupils.
There's no catch-up plan. It beggars belief that there was no planning in place. The Education Secretary is asleep on the job.
The Government cannot just give up on supporting vulnerable children and their families in the middle of a crisis. I’ll keep pressing the for support for all pupils. We cannot risk a lost generation.
The Government's Self-Employed Income Support Scheme does not do enough to support the self-employed and freelancers. I have been contacted by many people in Hackney who are directors of limited companies or freelancers on short-term contracts who are cut off from support.