Rosebank and Jackdaw
Please read my letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero about the possibility of new oil and gas exploration licenses.
Thames Water
Water is too important to be treated simply as another commercial asset.
Please read my letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs highlighting the need for a real plan on Thames Water.
House of Lords Reform
I have joined my parliamentary colleagues in writing to the Prime Minister on reform of the House of Lords.
Please read below.
Scrap the Heart Restart Tax
Please read the below cross-party letter I have organised calling for VAT on defibrillator sales to be scrapped.
High Street Shops: Illicit Activity Debate
Today, I spoke in the High Street Shops: Illicit Activity Westminster Hall Debate about the scourge of illegal activity in shops along our high streets. Watch below:
You can read my full speech here.
UK-US Pharmaceutical Deal
Please read the below letter I have sent to the Government on the impact assessment for the UK-US pharmaceutical deal.
Mental Health Awareness Week
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week, and the theme this year is action, because while awareness matters, real change only comes when we act on it.
To mark this, I met with my constituent, Alina Marinca, who has just finished an outstanding research project on children’s mental health. Too many young people in our community are struggling to access the support they need, whether through schools, GPs or specialist services, and the waiting times have been too long for too many years. I wanted to hear directly about their experience and what needs to change to deliver more effective mental health support for our young people. From speaking to Alina, it was insightful to hear more about the impacts of sleep disturbance as an underlying factor for many mental health conditions, and the role that social media can play in impacting mental health.
If you or your family are affected by mental health difficulties, I would encourage you to reach out. You can contact your GP, or call the NHS mental health helpline on 111 and select the mental health option.
Young people can also access support through Young Minds (youngminds.org.uk) or by texting YM to 85258. And as always, if you would like to discuss mental health services in our area or share your insights, please do send me an email.
Debt Relief Roundtable with the Zambian High Commission
Today, I visited the Zambian High Commission, to speak to members of the African Union Heads of Mission about my Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Private Member’s Bill. The discussion provided a good opportunity to get together with civil society groups and High Commissioners, and work together on bringing the Bill to the forefront of debate on international development in the new parliamentary session.
Many low and middle-income countries are spending more on servicing their debt than on healthcare or education, at a time when the withdrawal of US development funding is leaving the poorest nations more exposed to crises than at any point in recent memory. My Bill seeks to regulate the recovery of sovereign debts owed by developing countries, preventing private creditors from using UK courts to extract full repayment from nations that have defaulted on unsustainable debt and agreed new repayment terms with bilateral or multilateral creditors, building on the principles established by the original Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 that was implemented by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
With the King’s Speech this week confirming that the Government will use next year’s G20 Presidency to drive global growth and reinforce global stability, I will be pressing for debt relief to be a central part of that agenda, and I look forward to reintroducing the Bill in this new parliamentary session.
