Category: My work

I was absolutely appalled at Liz Truss’s performance as Prime Minister, and now, in the shortest time in history, the Conservative Members have now appointed Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, to replace Liz Truss.

I have no confidence, or faith, in this, or any other Conservative Government.  That is effectively my vote of no confidence in it.

The Conservatives are just trying one person after another, hoping that one of them will be acceptable to the electorate, or even just competent.  It isn’t good enough, after the torrid behaviour and policies of Boris Johnson, then the disastrous economic policies of Liz Truss.

At the time, I posted the note below on my social media:
“Rishi Sunak’s 90-second statement reflects a Conservative Party devoid of any plan to fix the multiple crises they have created. No ideas. No conviction. No mandate. This government has a simple choice: embrace the transformative change this country needs or get out of the way.”

At this point I must simply continue to do all I can to provide robust opposition to the unacceptable parliamentary bills that are making their way through parliament.

I am very worried about chemical pollution, and these pollutants poisoning our oceans, getting into our food chains and being spread through the waters of our huge oceans.

Like many people, I am particularly worried about the so-called ‘forever chemicals’, like PFAS and would support any legislation to ban these substances, wherever possible.  I believe that once a chemical has been shown to be harmful, it should be banned as a long-term action.  I do not have any sympathy for commercial interests that want a phased approach, just because their profit margins will be hit.

I also agree that we need a chemicals strategy, and we need it now.  I will vote for and support any effective chemicals strategy.  I would vote for an immediate ban on known harmful chemicals, particularly PFAS, and certainly a full ban on general use of that awful chemical.

I will continue to speak out against dangerous and harmful chemicals of all kinds, and for a proper chemicals strategy, in and out of Parliament.

This crisis is truly awful and the growing backlog of criminal cases will have all sorts of knock-on effects, such as impacting the already overloaded prison service, apart from the unfair delay to those affected, in receiving justice.

By applying any increase in fees to Barristers only for new cases, is grossly unfair since there is an existing backlog, but this still means those cases will be processed in the future, and thus the fee increase must apply to them as well as all future cases.

I see the government’s position is very cynical and I see it as an abrogation of their responsibilities, especially in the light of their self-styled stance as standing for law and order.

Let me say that I fully support Barrister’s efforts, even if it means industrial action. I am aware that industrial any action might be unlimited in time. I must say that I agree with that position, action must be taken by the government to solve this crisis.

There is no basis for projects such as Jackdaw. It cannot be justified on the basis that the UK wants to move away from Russian gas, as the UK imports very little.  I suspect that the real reason is the rocketing costs of gas itself.

The Jackdaw gas field was given the go ahead on the second of June this year but given the poor return on investment to the public, it is difficult to see how it is not designed simply to produce profits for a few vested interests. The release of CO2 is indefensible, so it looks very much like another “cash cow” project for the already wealthy investors.

I also suspect that Jackdaw may be a vanity project to appeal to voters, pretending that the UK is taking firm action in the face of soaring energy costs.  It hardly bothers this Government that there may be adverse repercussions from many of the actions it takes where it wants to present a particular image to the public.

Greenpeace have said that they will take the UK Government to court over this gas field, and I fully support such an action.

I will continue to campaign both in Parliament and in our communities for development of green renewable energy sources, not fossil fuel sources.

A lot of constituents have written to me about Free School Meals.

For years now we’ve heard stories of children in some families struggling with food insecurity due to financial struggling.  Around 1.8 million school age children are living in food insecurity.

I stand by the 2019 manifesto policy pledging to provide free school meals for all primary school children, to end the stigma and ensure no child goes hungry at school.  We should enshrine in UK law that everyone in the UK has a right to food. I want to see universal free school meals brought back in house wherever possible.

It is outrageous to see the Government cutting back on essential support and services that needy and vulnerable families depend on to survive and thrive, using the cost of Covid and (now) inflation to justify that.

This government’s policies of “austerity” brought us foodbanks, Covid-19 brought us virtual looting by our own Government, and now we face an out-of-control cost of living crisis. The result is that we have a shameful legacy of child hunger, which is fast becoming entrenched. I was very saddened that the House of Lords recently voted against free school meals.

The following links takes you to information about Islington Councils’ excellent policy towards school meals:  Free school meals and uniform grant | Islington Council.

I will continue to campaign both in Parliament and in our communities for a society where no child goes hungry.

It’s very clear that the big energy companies have been making what can only be described as obscene gains as the energy crisis has been developing. Those companies have made record profits since the ‘energy crisis’ began early this year. That means that they have used the rise in their costs as an excuse to increase the price to the consumer more than they need to, almost in an arbitrary way.

This I completely oppose; it is immoral, and I do fully support a windfall tax. This is a temporary solution and the long-term solution, which I have called for over the years, is to nationalise the energy industry, which is a natural monopoly.

I will continue to advocate in Parliament and beyond that we must in the short term, have a windfall tax, and in the long run, nationalise all the natural monopolies.