Category: My work

All though my political life I have spoken out in support of LGBTQ+ persons right to live as they know their true self to be.

I was elected on a manifesto that committed to make LGBTQ+ inclusivity a reality – eliminating remaining areas of discrimination in law and ensuring that LGBTQ+ people can live in safety and dignity. That manifesto also included plans to provide sufficient funding for schools to deliver mandatory LGBTQ+ inclusive relationships and sex education.

I am disappointed that though the Government is planning to ban Conversion therapy, it will exclude trans and non-binary people. This is clear discrimination. The Government must immediately set out a clear plan to stop the practice of conversion therapy for all LGBTQ+ people.

The Government must make it illegal, without any loopholes and provide publicly funded specialist support for all people who have experienced conversion therapy.

I will support any legislation that bans conversion practices when it comes to the House, including any amendments that protect all LGBTQ+ people, including removing the consent loophole and all exclusions.

I believe that no person should have to face being told their sexual orientation and/or identity is something that can be cured, and I will continue to do all I can in Parliament, and beyond, to fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

I have been an advocate for a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion, and I am committed to ensuring that this right continues to be protected in law.

I have been advocating that as Telemedicine has worked so well during the Pandemic, I cannot see any reason why it cannot be made permanent.   It has meant that requests to illegal services have ceased, and the most vulnerable women, including those suffering domestic abuse, have been able to access the care they need.

If medical abortion via telemedicine were to be dropped, women would lose additional important social advantages such as reducing the cost to women living in deprived conditions. This will become increasingly important as more and more people experience increasing financial hardship, especially with the rising cost of energy linked to the war in Ukraine.

I voted in favour of continuing with at-home early medical abortion care via telemedicine when the Health and Care Bill returned to the Commons today.  

For your information, the majority of emails I have received on this issue support me in this. I appreciate that there are some who feel differently, and this was a free vote for the Opposition, so, “a matter of conscience” for many MPs.  I believe it is essentially about a women’s right to choose and I will always uphold that.

It is absurd and illogical that the Government has banned the production of these products in the UK but still allows them to be sold here.

I have always been opposed to animal cruelty of all kinds and have done everything I could to stop it and will continue to do so.  Animals are sentient beings and experience suffering, just as we do.

No animal should be treated cruelly or made to suffer unnecessary pain.  Allowing imports of products that have been produced on the back of the suffering of animals means that the Government is condoning that suffering.

In 2019 I stood on a manifesto setting out a vision to lead the world with high animal welfare standards in the wild, in farming and for domestic animals. I pledged to setup an independent Animal Welfare Commissioner.

I will be voting for any legislation that stops the import of these cruelly produced products and any others that are produced in a similar manner at the expense of animals.

Animal welfare will continue to remain a high priority for me.

This is an important debate because it is a fact that Black, Asian and minority ethnic women are more likely to experience domestic violence for longer, and which is more likely to escalate before they seek help.

In 2019 I stood on a manifesto that promised to prioritise addressing domestic abuse by ensuring women have a better experience of criminal justice agencies. 

In 2021 the Domestic Abuse bill became law and created a statutory definition of domestic abuse emphasising that domestic abuse is not just physical violence, but can also be emotional, coercive, or controlling, and economic abuse. 

I voted for Clause 22 which attempted to ensure that survivors of domestic abuse have recourse to public funds and Clause 23 which includes a statutory duty for public authorities to commission specialist support services for all people affected by domestic abuse. Unfortunately, both these clauses fell.

I know that laws are only as good as their application and enforcement, and I agree completely that cultural differences must be taken account when training for, and the delivering of services by support agencies and the police.

I share everyone’s concerns about the Cost-of-Living crisis that is emerging.

Wages are already not keeping up with inflation and are likely to remain stagnant through to 2026. That means that real wages will be lower in 2026 than they were in 2008 – we have now had nearly two decades of lost wage growth.

I signed EDM 1049 a week ago on the Cost of living, which you can see here:
https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/59554

I am supporting trade union action to improve pay and conditions.  Collective organising via trade unions is very powerful as recent gains where NHS workers were brought back in-house from Serco shows.

The situation is very serious for so many people.  We face the awful impact of rising household energy bills, which are set to increase by 54% because of this pandemic, from April 2022, and which will drive more people into destitution.  And of course, the fallout from the crisis in Ukraine is likely to make this significantly worse.

I am also very concerned that the global energy price rises will mean higher food prices and that the energy and food problem will start spiralling out of control.

I was elected on a manifesto that committed to “ensure that everyone in the UK has a Right to Food by enshrining it in UK law, in a new Fair Food Act”.   I have also been campaigning for a wealth tax for many years to pay for our NHS and services.

Energy must be re-nationalised so that profits can be re-invested in transitioning to renewables, and to stop the UK exporting gas, though the Ukraine crisis may well put a stop to that anyway, and I continue to push for re-nationalisation in and out of Parliament.

In this week’s Spring budget, the Chancellor simply must take the seriousness of the situation on board.  I will continue to speak out in Parliament and beyond, and will of course vote for food security, Universal Credit increases, dropping the cruel National Insurance rise, and energy re-nationalisation. 

I strongly support a British Sign Language Bill being introduced to at last accord the proper legal status for British Sign Language (BSL).

I was elected on a manifesto that committed to “adopt a British Sign Language Act, giving BSL full legal recognition in law”. I stand by that commitment today.

You may know that I have championed the right of BSL to be given full legal recognition for years, but while this is important, I have also called for the removal of barriers that deaf and partially hearing people currently face in accessing services, information, support, and opportunities.

I want to see the Government provide proper funding for services and support alongside legal recognition of BSL to ensure that in education, healthcare and all other services, all people have truly equal access. And importantly, that public services are required to provide a BSL interpreter when dealing with a deaf or partially deaf individual.