After winning the support of 0.13% of the country, Boris Johnson is our new prime minister and already he’s wasted no time in resurrecting the Brexit fantasy of 2016.
It is worrying that an economically and socially ruinous No Deal Brexit has now become a mainstream position in the Conservative Party. I will continue working with colleagues across Parliament to make sure this destructive outcome is taken off the table as soon as possible.
This week I arranged an emergency meeting with Lord Agnew, the Minister with responsibility for free schools, to help resolve the current crisis with Hackney New School. I’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation and holding the Department for Education to account to make sure no current pupils miss out.
See me discuss this as well as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) new report on Crossrail and my Hackney nomination for the All-Party Corporate Responsibility Group’s 2019 Responsible Business Champions award, in my new weekly round-up.
This week the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) looked at the Home Office’s response to fraud in English Language Tests for visas. Whilst it's right there was a clampdown, the Home Office also wrongly accused thousands of innocent people of fraud – some of whom have since been deported whilst others have had to spend thousands of pounds to clear their name.
See me discuss this as well as the PAC hearing on Overseas Development Assistance spending, a visit to Cardinal Pole school, and the worrying developments at Hackney New School, in my new weekly round-up.
Like many, this week I was gripped by the semi-finals of the football and though it’s a shame the Lionesses didn’t make it through, it’s fantastic that women’s football is finally getting the recognition it deserves.
See me discuss this + a PAC hearing on NHS penalty charge notices + tomorrow’s Pride celebrations in my new weekly round-up.
Read the transcript of the PAC hearing here.
The time is now for urgent action on climate change.
See me discuss this + my new Annual Report as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, in my new weekly round-up.
Read my Annual Report here.
This weekend, in memory of Jo Cox, I will join Hackney for the ‘Great Get Together’ to celebrate all the wonderful things we have in common rather than what divides us.
See me discuss this, the Conservative PM contest, and the PAC report on Network Rail’s sale of railway arches.
The ‘Help to Buy’ scheme has seen the Government gamble £11.7 billion on house prices staying at the unaffordable and eye-wateringly high current levels.
It is the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s largest housing initiative by value and yet this money has done nothing to tackle Hackney’s broken housing market, the homelessness crisis, or overcrowding.
See me discuss this + Brexit being put on ice for a Tory leadership contest + a PAC hearing on EU consultancy costs in my new weekly round-up.
Hackney is leading the way to make London a cleaner and greener city with the introduction of London’s new Ultra Low Emission Streets.
See me discuss this, Brexit and Labour’s victory in the Peterborough by-election in my new weekly round-up.
Read the PAC report on Cyber Security here.
A report from Loughborough University and the ‘Campaign to End Child Poverty’, highlighted how one in every second child you meet in Hackney is living in poverty after accommodation costs are taken into account.
In the 21st century and in one of the richest countries in the world, this is unacceptable.
The main message I heard on the doorstep during the European Elections is that people are sick and tired of the never-ending divisiveness over Brexit.
See me discuss this + the need for more good quality, affordable homes in Hackney, + a Public Accounts Committee report on apprenticeships.
Read the PAC report on apprenticeships here.