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.

I am happy to announce that I have launched a competition with the BBC for young people in Hackney to help design a future EastEnders set.

Entries can be by either drawing (minimum A4 paper) or making a 3-D model of a shop, house, or location that will help make the EastEnders set reflect the modern, up to date East End.

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.

Trains are still skipping Hackney stations and I am still on the case.

I have already written to the Deputy Mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander, to ask her what systems are in place to make sure Hackney isn’t always skipped if trains are running late. I will update you when I receive a reply.

If you’d like a direct update, or if you have any examples of London Overground skipping Hackney stops, please email me at meg.hillier.mp@parliament.uk with ‘London Overground’ in the subject line.

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. 

An inspiring evening with some real local heroes at the ‘100 Hackney Women’ celebration event.

See this in my new weekly round-up + the Public Accounts Committee hearing on HS2 and Crossrail, and my meeting with the tenants and new owners of the railway arches at London Fields.

Crossrail was due to be completed in late 2018. It is now not likely to open until spring 2020 (at the earliest) and will be at least £2.8 billion over-budget.  

See me challenge the Department for Transport and Crossrail management team on this here.

Read the transcript of the PAC hearing here.