I secured a debate on domestic abuse and black women. Smaller specialist organisations often do not have the finances or resources to bid for larger contracts. This has resulted in the erosion of black and minority ethnic specialist services. These services provide a lifeline for women when they are at their most vulnerable. We need greater representation of the needs of black women at policy level. No decision that disproportionately affects black women should be made without them.
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.
I have received an unprecedented amount of emails from constituents regarding policy issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement and the Gender Recognition Act. Thank you for contacting me and raising your concerns and support. I am responding to everyone individually however, due to increased levels of correspondence this is taking longer than expected.
If you have emailed me on an issue, I will respond to you. Thank you for your patience.
This week the Government has announced an easing of restrictions and licensing rules but it’s doing nothing to help local residents and councils left to clean up the mess. Local parks are fast-becoming mass beer garden free-for-alls with people urinating and defecating wherever they see fit and leaving behind mounds of rubbish. This must stop. And Government needs to help foot the bill for the policing and clean-up operations.
Already in Hackney, we’ve had pubs selling takeaway alcohol. This has caused scenes of havoc in places like London Fields with mounds of rubbish, urination and defecation.
Hackney Council is on the case but the Government must get a grip and address the practicalities around the easing of restrictions.
The Government must also understand the cost to local taxpayers of the clean up and stewarding. The extra cost needs to be paid by the Government to protect already stretched local services.
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.
This week the Public Accounts Committee discovered that the Government never considered the economic effects of a pandemic during its 2016 pandemic preparations. It explains the many gaps in support, including for the forgotten freelancers, and why it is lurching from crisis to crisis.
I welcome Marcus Rashford’s excellent campaign shaming the Government into a U-turn so that vulnerable children do not go hungry over the summer.
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.