Category: My work

Our uplands are important to combat the climate emergency, preserve biodiversity and an important part of our quality of life.

The UK has experienced some of the highest biodiversity loss in the world – birds continue to decline and the State of Nature Report 2019 pointed out that the biggest threat to biodiversity in the UK is industrialised agriculture.

I believe that decisions that affect the natural environment should be transparent, accountable to local people and taken in the interests of the environment. I voted for an amendment to the Environment Bill at Report Stage (26 May) to require public authorities to act in accordance with Local Nature Recovery Strategies. This amendment was opposed by the Government and unfortunately fell.

The killing of wildlife poses another threat to biodiversity in the uplands, according to campaigners “there is widespread illegal killing on British grouse moors”, despite the species being listed on Annex 1 of the EC Birds Directive.

I was elected on a manifesto that promised to implement a “Plan for Nature” which would “set legally binding targets to drive the restoration of species and habitats”. The manifesto also promised to embark on an ambitious programme of tree planting, fully fund the Environment Agency, improve upstream river management, create new National Parks and protected areas, join up habitats and establish a new environmental tribunal to ensure administrative decisions are consistent with environmental obligations.

I see preserving and restoring our uplands as part of an ambitious response to counter the environmental crisis we are facing. We need a Green New Deal delivering ecological restoration to increase biodiversity, a ban on fracking, net zero carbon emissions by 2030, and a just transition from fossil fuels towards a publicly owned green energy sector.

I continue to argue, both inside and outside Parliament, for policies to ensure our uplands are protected, their biodiversity is preserved, and that they are accessible for the public good.

We all have concerns about this project, and I share many of them, especially its environmental impact.

I agree that HS2 should be properly scrutinised for its impact on local communities and the environment, particularly ancient and modern woodlands. I want to see the Government engaging with campaigners, stakeholders, and the all the communities impacted by HS2.

A report by the Wildlife Trust warned that 108 ancient woodlands are threatened with loss or damage and highlighted that 33 Sites of ‘Special Scientific Interest’ are at risk. It organised an open letter to the Prime Minister, calling for the impact on the natural environment to be properly assessed, and I fully support this.

As a general principle, I support the building of further rail infrastructure as an alternative to road building, which is far more destructive, and to air travel which is clearly bad for the environment. I remain a strong advocate of the principle of the railway system and what it can achieve. They are efficient and more environmentally sustainable than road traffic and air travel. The construction of railways has much less environmental impact than construction of roads.

The 2019 Labour manifesto promoted the use of rail freight to reduce carbon emissions, air pollutants and congestion on the roads, as well as to expand the provision of publicly owned rail freight services.

I fear that the environmental impact of motorways is much greater than railways – they require far more land, and their increased vehicular traffic will generate far more carbon, so in comparison railways can be said to mitigate the environmental and climate damage.

Our railways should be publicly owned and publicly run, to improve the service and to cut fares by 33%. If HS2 is affordable only by the well-off then this is something I cannot agree to. Too many people are simply priced off the railways; the average commuter is now paying £3,067 for their season ticket, £873 more than when the Conservatives came into office in 2010.

There was a parliamentary debate on 13th September which will be recorded in Hansard on the parliamentary website.

There is an increasing number of voices challenging HS2, especially in the way it is being run, and the enormous rise in its cost.

I will continue to be attentive to these.

Since the start of the pandemic, unprecedented numbers of people are having to access the social security system for the very first time (5.7 million as of 8 October 2020, a 90% increase since 12 March 2020).

The latest data shows that there were 13,108 people and 11,910 households on Universal Credit (UC) in Islington North. This equates to 60% of all households on benefits in the constituency.

Figures released by the End Child Poverty Network earlier this year show rises in child poverty in the past five years – “fuelled by stagnating family incomes”. This includes 2831 children living in poverty in Islington North.

I am very disappointed that the Government have not committed to maintaining the UC uplift. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), End Child Poverty Action Group, Gingerbread and over 50 other organisations issued a public statement expressing their concern that there is “no conceivable scenario in which this lifeline will not be necessary”.

Not maintaining the uplift will, in my view, push an estimated half a million people below the poverty line. I am totally opposed to this and will continue to challenge this decision in any way that I can.

I continually speak out to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits permanent, extending it to legacy benefits, and suspending repayments of advances and other benefit deductions. I voted against the Government’s plan to drop the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

Additionally, I want you to know that I also support continuing the Covid Local Grants Scheme.

These are extremely important issues and I am pleased to know that many in Islington North and beyond appreciate this.

Although fur farming has been outlawed in the UK, fur imports are still allowed to continue.

You might know that for almost 30 years I have championed the fight against animal cruelty and have signed countless (Parliamentary) Early Day Motions opposing practices and actions involving cruelty to animals.

In addition to being committed to banning fur imports, I support a wide range of other animal welfare policies – including ending the badger cull, banning the importation of hunting trophies of threatened species, and working internationally to end the practice of commercial whaling.

Although many retailers now refuse to stock real fur, it is still sold in the United Kingdom. Consumers can often be misled into buying real fur, believing it to be fake.

No animal should be treated cruelly or made to suffer unnecessary pain. I have added my name to Early Day Motion #193 which calls for a ban on the import of fur products. It is clear from the range of signatories to that motion that there is wide support for the measure.

The 14th September debate is on the parliamentary website though I was not free to attend on that occasion.

That said, animal welfare remains high on my priority list.

Understandably, there is a great deal of concern about the Government’s Voter ID plans.

I strongly condemn the Government’s plans to pass legislation requiring voters to present photo ID at polling stations.

These plans are clearly discriminatory and a blatant attempt by the Tories to suppress voters, deny people their democratic rights and rig the result of the general election.

The people this Government are targeting will be, disproportionately, ethnic minorities and working-class voters of all ethnicities.

11 million people in this country don’t have a passport or driving licence, so it is very clear that introducing a Voter ID requirement is discriminatory and a blatant attempt to suppress BAME, the elderly and poorest from voting.

The Government is saying that Voter ID is needed to tackle voter fraud, however there was only one conviction of in-person voter fraud in 2017, after a total of 44 million votes were cast.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) made five recommendations after observing the 2017 general election, none of which referred to any need for Voter ID but did recommend “annual limits on the amount a single permissible donor may contribute to a political party or a candidate, in order to prevent undue influence of large contributors”.

Over 1,100 were denied a vote in 2018 & 2019 as a result of the Conservatives’ voter ID pilot schemes, which were trumpeted as a success by the Government.

Suppressing voter turnout will simply shut people out of our democracy and it must be stopped. I voted against Voter ID on 7^th September, but the Government unfortunately had a majority, and the Bill passed its second reading.

Jeremy Corbyn: Afghanistan has been a ‘complete disaster’.

Matt Frei of Channel 4 News discusses Afghanistan with Jeremy Corbyn and Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence select committee.

See the full video at: https://www.channel4.com/news/afghanistan-has-been-complete-disaster-jeremy-corbyn-says