Category: My work

This month I have been as busy as ever, attending various local, national, and international meetings online.   Lockdown restrictions are slowly lifting, albeit with much confusion and backpeddling from the government on promises and solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic. Still, the technology continues to accommodate our workfrom outside parliament, whilst a ‘bit of both’ is the best way to describe what goes on inside parliament, where some members appear virtually and others physically. 

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
I recently accepted membership on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) – the parliamentary organ of the Council of Europe with 47 member countries. Its aims are the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the facilitating of economic and social progress.  I sit on the migration committee which, if one meeting and its comprehensive agenda is anything to go by, will do good work on the refugee front and I look forward to participating in it.

Black Lives Matter
I attended the Black Lives Matter event at Navigators Square in Archway, organised by Alison McGarry, Bisi Williams and others. I am proud that our community came together to express an act of solidarity and as I am sure we all agree, we have a great deal of work to do to ensure that our future generations do not grow up at risk of dying due to police brutality and with the levels of discrimination we have in Britain today. Now is the time to stand internationally in solidarity with all those fighting racism and to change our society for the better, with equality for all at its core. 

Environment
For this year’s annual Time is Now lobby I met with constituents virtually to discuss their concerns, ideas, and priorities relating to the environment. I am deeply grateful for their participation and welcomed the contributions from constituents who raised a variety of very important matters concerning our local community, national legislation, and the UK’s role on the international stage in the fight against climate change. The conversation reflected the deep understanding and appreciation of environmental issues that is shared by the wider Islington North community. I will continue to liaise with Islington Council on local matters that are brought to my attention, such as communal gardening spaces and the Edmonton incinerator.  I will also continue to support initiatives for green legislation in parliament and in my new role on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). 

International brigade Wreath Laying
It was an honour to lay the wreath at the International Brigade Memorial Trust Annual Commemoration.  It is a hugely symbolic (annual) act to keep alive the memory and the spirit of those who volunteered to defend democracy and fight fascism in Spain from 1936 -39.  It is also a reminder about the importance of uniting against the threats of inequality and far-right movements across the globe. 

Elthorne ParkPhilip Noel Baker statue resurrection
For those of you who are unaware, Philip Noel Baker was a great peace campaigner and activist. There was once a statue in Elthorne Park that met with a sorry and neglected end but that has since been located by David Poyser and others. I was very pleased to have been included in discussions to reinstall the ‘Upon Reflection’ statue by Kevin Atherton to its original position in the Philip Noel-Baker peace garden (Elthorne Park). The statue was removed from the park in the late 1980’s. It was possibly stolen but somehow rescued by Islington Council and has been in storage at the Town Hall. Elthorne Park is a beautiful space that has been underused for far too long. Reinstating the statue and carrying out works to make the park more accessible would breathe new life into it and provide another space for our wonderful and diverse community to gather and share that sense of belonging. I wholeheartedly support the efforts of the local ward councillors especially David Poysner and Asima Shaikh, Friends of Elthorne Park, and the Council in making this happen and I look forward to seeing the changes in effect. 

Blackstock Road
I joined in the very first of the newly established bi-monthly stakeholder discussions concerning the anti-social behaviour issues on Blackstock Road. As with the previous discussions I was pleased there was participation by local residents and businesses who shared their insights and experiences as well as their feedback on ongoing actions taken by Islington Council and local police. I welcome the quick progress made by Islington Council and community leaders on the points identified in our previous meetings and believe that moving forward, the police should continue to develop their relationship with local traders.

Finsbury Park Travelodge
Along with Haringey Leader, Cllr Joe Ejioforwe visited to discuss the work that they are doing with the homeless, via Islington Council and other organisations during the pandemic.

York Peoples Assembly Against Austerity Launch
With the current government making it clear that they want to make working people pay for the deepening economic crisis, it’s important to have campaigns across the country insisting that people should come before profit.

I have therefore been delighted to join with Laura Pidcock and others at events of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity, including this launch of their new local branch in York.

Brazil Solidarity Rally
Over 2000 people joined, and over 100,000 people have since watched this major international event on Brazil, where I was delighted to join world-renowned journalist Glenn Greenwald and Brazil’s first ever woman President Dilma Rousseff, in discussing how we can offer international support to all those people campaigning for public health, democracy and equality in Latin America’s most populous country.

At the time of writing, Brazil is the second most affected country in the world due to Coronavirus, both in terms of cases and deaths.  This situation has been made much worse by the President’s far-right policy agenda, which refuses to put the interests of people and their health ahead of those of big business to make mega-profits.

The World Transformed (TWT)
I was pleased to take part in an online catch-up and social for ‘TWT’ volunteers and supporters.

The battle of ideas is one we on the Left must engage with as we discuss what kind of society we want as we emerge from this crisis, and the work of forums and events such as ‘TWT’ will become even important in the challenging times ahead.

Palestine talk           
I joined a platform with the Palestinian Ambassador – Husam Zomlot, trade unionists, Baroness Christine Blower and live speakers from Palestine to discuss how we need to speak out to stop the new Israeli Government’s illegal annexation plans.  The Labour & Palestine (L&P) networkhosted the event, supported by a number of national trade unions.Over 1,000 Labour members took part in the event, which promoted a ‘Speak Up to Stop Annexation’ statement members can sign on the L&P website.

Palestine Expo
I was delighted to be invited to give the keynote address at the annual international ‘Palestine Expo’ event, which took place virtually this year.I used my speech to address issues of both the immediate need to campaign against annexation and to continue to campaign more broadly against Trump’s one-sided ‘peace’ plan.

We look forward to the physical event returning next year and being bigger and better than ever.

Arise – A Festival of Labour’s Left Ideas
Myself and several fellow Socialist Campaign Group MPs took part in events at this year’s online ‘Arise’ Festival.

I spoke both at the international session, attended by over 2000 people and watched by many more since, and the closing ‘People Before Profit’ rally.

These events can be watched on the ‘Arise’ Facebook and YouTube channels.

Scottish Campaign for Socialism
I was pleased to take part in an online discussion on the future of the Left and Labour hosted by the well-established Campaign for Socialism, which is active in the Labour Party in Scotland.

Throughout this precarious period, it couldn’t be more important not only to keep left-wing networks alive but make sure they are engaged in more campaigning and political education work than ever.

SADLY
Some of you may have known John Brennan, ex Haringey Councillor, who sadly, passed away recently and is being buried on Monday at 12md New Southgate Cemetery Chapel

CONTACTING JEREMY CORBYN MP
My contact details remain unchanged and Advice Sessions are being held over the telephone with my staff.
e-mail: jeremy.corbyn.mp@parliament.uk
Constituency Office Tel: 0207 561 7488 (Mon, Tues, Thurs 10am – 12pm)
Postal address: The Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0A

Jeremy Corbyn: Brazil’s coronavirus deaths have shot up, as Bolsonaro neglects public health – let’s speak up against him

Brazil now has the second most deaths and cases in the world from COVID-19, with figures as of June 20 of 1,038,568 cases and 49,090 deaths.

Disgracefully, Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro initially dismissed Covid-19 as “just a fantasy” and regularly attacks “media hysteria” over these devastating figures.

He has consistently refused to put people and their health first, resisting the ‘lockdown’ and social distancing measures which are regarded as essential by the World Health Organisation and experts globally.

At the same time, more and more Brazilians are protesting not only against his disastrous handling of the pandemic, but to demand the President goes, new elections and a restoration of democracy.

As Bolsonaro faces this growing national revolt, it has emerged the validity of his 2018 election is in doubt and could face annulment by Brazil’s Electoral Court, with a parliamentary inquiry investigating whether the Bolsonaro camp ran a vast and illegal disinformation campaign.

It is also worth restating that if former President Lula – once deemed by President Obama to be the most popular politician on the planet – had been allowed to run in the election, Bolsonaro probably never would have been elected.

While leading the polls, Lula was barred from running, against UN recommendations, in what was later revealed to have been a politically motivated prosecution. The judge in the case, Sérgio Moro who collaborated with the prosecution, was later rewarded by Bolsonaro with the Justice Minister post.

The prospect of Bolsonaro being impeached is also increasing.

Progressives all around the world will welcome these political developments, but it is important to note this is also an extremely dangerous time for the sixth most populous country in the world.

Bolsonaro’s government is military dominated and the threat of a coup is very real. It is also frightening, with Bolsonaro regularly praising Brazil’s military dictatorship under which hundreds of people were killed and tortured between 1964 and 1985.

He has even gone as far as to join far-right protestors calling for a new dictatorship.

It is not just in dealing with the pandemic that Bolsonaro’s policies have had a disastrous impact.

Bolsonaro also emboldened the criminals who started the Amazon fires last year, has attacked the Black Lives Matter movement as full of terrorists, and unleashed a vicious wave of austerity that will throw millions deeper into poverty.

Just as President Trump has done in the US, prominent Tories here have actively supported Bolsonaro and the policies he has undertaken in various areas.

To give one example, as the Amazon was burning, we saw the Tories literally cosy up to Bolsonaro’s team with then junior trade minister Conor Burns posing for pictures and drinking champagne with Minister Marcos Troyjo who had explicitly backed Bolsonaro’s policy of deforestation.

Despite the horrific fires, Bolsonaro’s regime has continued policies which encourage big business interests keen to clear the forest in order that the land can then be used for agribusiness.

It was also recently discovered that Tories were meeting Bolsonaro, his family and allies well before he was elected.

Specifically, Freedom of Information requests have revealed details of previously undisclosed meetings and correspondence between British officials and Bolsonaro before, during and after the election campaign, including when Boris Johnson was Foreign Secretary.

The Tories will not do it, but we must stand up to the likes of Trump and Bolsonaro on the key matters of our time.

From the need to put public health first when it comes to facing the Coronavirus pandemic, to the need for real action to tackle the Climate Emergency, to the need to make Black Lives Matter a reality, movements for change are growing across the world.

People, health and planet must come before private profit. To make that happen internationalism is vital – and that means standing with the people of Brazil in their fight against Bolsonaro and for equality and democracy. Originally published on June 22 at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/jeremy-corbyn-tories-brazil-bolsanaro-coronavirus-451958

Jeremy Corbyn: The Government cannot ignore George Floyd’s death – or the racism experienced by black people in the UK

The death of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old Black man, after his arrest by four policemen in Minneapolis has triggered protests in the US and around the world.

He screamed for his life as a white police officer knelt on his neck whilst restraining him.

His last words were “please – I can’t breathe” and “they’re going to kill me.”

People understandably feel anger, hurt and fear, including here in Britain.

Despite this Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has refused to condemn Donald Trump’s statements in the wake of the killing. These statements include a tweet where he said, “looting leads to shooting.”

Trump has since disgracefully compared protestors to terrorists.

The Foreign Secretary said that whilst the death was “deeply distressing,” he did not want to create a media distraction.

This is wrong. Nobody deserves such treatment and we all must call it out.

Calling out Trump is in no way a distraction of any kind.

The world must not look away and the UK Government would be wrong to ignore the death of George Floyd.

It would also be wrong to ignore the issues it raises about our own society, including with regards to our policing and justice systems.

As in the USA, black people here are unjustly affected by violence, racism and discrimination. Statistics show that black people disproportionately suffer from use of force by the police. They are more likely to be sent to prison than white offenders and over-represented in the prison population.

There is also great concern within BAME communities about the level of taser use by the police.

Additionally, the Runnymede Trust found that between 1995 and 2015 no police officer was prosecuted over a Black person’s death in custody.

This must be the time for our Government to not only reassess the racial disparities in our criminal justice system, but act to change this.

In terms of our societies and economies, many black people in the USA are subject to high levels of exploitation in the economy and social deprivation.  

When Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz said the state is ranked among the best USA states to live in unless you are black, he was also talking about the much of that country and much of the world

As he said, this “has shown all of us that those two things can’t operate at the same place. You cannot continue to say, Minnesota is a great place to live if your neighbour, because of the colour of their skin, does not have that same opportunity.”

This applies to many different parts of Britain.

It is also a fact that in both countries BAME people have been more likely to die than others from Coronavirus, and in this context it is extremely worrying that the publication of the official report into the impact Of Coronavirus on BAME communities has been delayed.

This systemic inequality needs to change. As the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs (of which I am a member) said this week, “now is the time to end the severe class and racial inequalities which exist across the world.”

The Tories are too often willing to dance to President Trump’s tune and are too often silent in face of his whipping up of division and hatred.

As Desmond Tutu once said, “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

Now is the time to stand internationally in solidarity with George Floyd’s community family and all those fighting racism around the world.

Now must be the time to change our society for the better and build a better society with equality for all at its core.

Silence should not and never can be an option.Originally published on June 2 at https://inews.co.uk/opinion/jeremy-corbyn-george-floyd-uk-government-racism-discrimination-433225

Black Lives Matter:  My great friend Dawn Butler (the hon’ Member for Brent Central), secured a debate on Covid-19: BAME and she has done incredible work in this area and I was pleased to speak in her debate.I began by suggesting that we should all learn and teach history much better in this country in order to conquer the inequalities and injustices faced by so many people.

This crisis will have a huge effect on people’s lives and mental wellbeing for a long time to come. I hope that the government gives us some indication soon that they do take seriously the health inequalities that have been exposed by the Coronavirus crisis.

Some 40% of our doctors and 20% of nurses come from BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) communities, as well as a very large number of people working in social care and a group of people who were decried as unskilled migrants by previous Home Secretaries: the cleaners who clean our care homes, hospitals and schools. They are the heroes in all this because they are the ones who are helping to keep us safe. This virus has exposed the necessity of communities working together absolutely, but it also shows a disproportionate number of deaths among people from the BAME community, who are 50% more likely to die from Covid-19 than those outside the BAME community. The same figures apply for admissions to emergency care and intensive treatment units in hospitals.

The health inequalities exposed by the pandemic are not actually new. Professor Douglas Black’s report was published in 1980 – 40 years ago – and exposed health inequalities in Britain. The Tory government then tried to suppress that report. I hope that no government ever tries to suppress the levels of knowledge of inequality that exist in our society.  It is low wages, overcrowded private rented accommodation and unsafe working conditions that lead to underachievement in schools and to those children having great difficulty in completing their studies.

I was recently talking to a headteacher of a primary school in Islington North. More than three quarters of the children in her school are entitled to free school meals. The school has done its best to deliver food to those children during the crisis. Teachers also want them to learn online, but many of the children do not have access to computers or laptops. If they do, there is perhaps just one laptop for a very large family and the children end up squabbling over who gets to access it. The school is therefore spending money posting lessons out to children. That is the effect of inequality and injustice in our society.

Life expectancy is shorter for people from BAME communities, and there is a lack of community facilities in so many areas. I want to say thank you to all our public service workers for what they have achieved and for the way in which they have come together. I offer a special thank you to the Whittington Hospital and its staff for their work. Last week they reported no new Covid-19 cases at all;  well done them.

Covid-19 has exposed inequality in our health service and society, and the injustice throughout. Post-Covid, let us invest for the future and not cut services with yet another new regime of austerity. The virus has also exposed global health inequalities on a massive scale, with the poorest in the poorest countries suffering the most, as the lack of access to any health facilities makes life very difficult and the quality of life that many have makes social distancing absolutely impossible. When the World Health Organisation (WHO) calls for universal access to healthcare, the response of the West is too often to say, “Introduce a payments scheme or an insurance-based health service” or something like that. No – we are all at risk. If anyone ​is at risk anywhere in the world, surely that must be the lesson from this Covid crisis; universal healthcare is very important.

There are 65 million people on this planet who have no home to call their own, and no country to call their home. They are refugees or internally displaced people. By and large, they have no access to healthcare. They are at a greater risk than anybody else. Let us ensure that our approach to the coronavirus crisis is fair and just in this country, and that we have international trade and development policies that tackle health inequalities and injustices across the world to give us all a better and safer future.
(https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-06-18/debates/75FB1500-FB1E-424B-8A76-7F6518DB34A8/Covid-19BAMECommunities)

This month I have been as busy as ever attending various local, national, and international meetings online. I cannot wait for lockdown to be lifted in order to resume my visits, however, it is clear we have never had a greater ability to communicate with each other and we have technology to thank for that. I was invited to give ‘A Call to The Arts’ speech at the Writing on the Wall Art Festival in Liverpool.  While I would have preferred to deliver my speech in person in Liverpool, hosting the event online allowed people from across the country and even the world to connect.

My speech focused on celebrating people everywhere, artists, creators, local communities and arguing for the value of arts and culture now and in the future.  The arts have been a vital lifeline during the lockdown and a new appreciation for how they entertain and give us the tools to express and create responses to the times we are living through.  Many people have sent me poems and I have seen many chalk drawings on pavements, revealing that sense of creativity within each of us.

When we come out of lockdown, we cannot make the same mistakes of 2010 when after the financial crisis we poured lots of money into banks so they could survive. We paid for this by cutting pubic services, local authority spending, arts spending and everything else. We paid for that through austerity. This time, we must invest in the future, a growing economy, and a whole range of services, including the arts.

Stop the War organised a Zoom meeting with Arundhati Roy and Tariq Ali, whereby we discussed the current state of the word. The Coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated many things to the whole world in a way that years of campaigning could not. It has shown that our planet is interdependent on each other and we must work together to tackle poverty, human rights abuses, environmental destruction and disease, which all pose security threats.

We must do all that we can to support WHO as it is there to ensure access to health services for all around the world. This principle is of such importance as we are only as healthy as the safety of our neighbour.

I was pleased to take part in another conference call at the end of May with local stakeholders, Islington Council and local police to agree on a series of concrete steps to address the anti-social behaviour on Blackstock Road.  While there are deep rooted economic issues underlying a lot of the negative activity in the area, made worse under a decade of austerity, it is important to remember the positive role a strong connection between the local community, the Council and partners can play in alleviating some of these stresses.  It is right and essential that these meetings include local residents and business owners as well as community leaders, whose lived experiences are invaluable in identifying the causes of disruption, the needs of the area as well as the practical and effective ways to proceed.  I continue to be proud of the local community’s prominent voice in the Council and police’s approach in tackling this issue.

This month I helped at several food banks including Sobell Leisure Centre and Brickworks Community Centre.  I continue to express my deep gratitude for all the ongoing work Islington Council, ward councillors, mutual aid groups and volunteers have been doing to support the food banks and ensure that people have food on their tables.

The government’s recent u-turn on extending free school meals in the summer holidays is very welcome. However, any responsible government would have made this decision immediately when faced with the shameful statistics of 1.3 million children at risk of going hungry this summer.  I commend Marcus Rushford for the extraordinary campaign he started against an injustice, and which ultimately embarrassed the government into changing their decision. The country, as the rest of the world, is facing an unprecedented crisis that has thrown many families into financial ruin.  It is only right that the social safety net is extended to those who are suffering, and a commitment to do “whatever it takes” truly does mean whatever it takes.

The Free school meals issue was a big concern in my recent conversation with Helen Ryan, Headteacher of Duncombe Primary School. During the crisis, schools have continued to be a lifeline for many families and have stepped up their support in extraordinary ways, despite the litany of cuts they are facing. I am very proud of all stuff at Duncombe and extend my deepest thanks and admiration to all schools in the constituency and across the country for all they do.

Unfortunately, social distancing guidelines means I will not be handing out dictionaries to Year 6 students at Duncombe, a tradition I thoroughly enjoy, and which has become a marker of the summer season for me. I am however looking forward to joining their end of year event virtually!

The Light Project continue to do a fantastic job supporting children and families in Islington, focusing on education to promote social inclusion and opportunities. As a trustee, I am very pleased they have introduced a food support scheme and I look forward to receiving positive feedback on the reach and effect it will have in our community.

I had the honour of speaking at the commemoration of Walter Wolfgang last month. Walter was a very close friend of mine and an invaluable ally of the Labour Party. He was a Jewish refugee who survived World War I and the Nazis. He spent his lifetime campaigning for peace and a nuclear free world. 

CONTACTING JEREMY CORBYN MP
My contact details remain unchanged and Advice Sessions are being held over the telephone with my staff.

e-mail: jeremy.corbyn.mp@parliament.uk
Constituency Office Tel: 0207 561 7488 (Mon, Tues, Thurs 10am – 12pm)
Postal address: The Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0A

To each one of you I send my heartfelt solidarity.  Due to the entire country being in lockdown since early April, our last coming together in one space was in February.  As I handed over the leadership to Keir Starmer on April 5^th, the Coronavirus pandemic had already begun to transform our world. 

High-level discussions on Covid 19 had commenced by early March when I attended a meeting with the Prime Minister.  I was also in contact with London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, Trade Unions, and of course Cllr Richard Watt’s brilliant team at Islington Council (LBI).

I took the PM to task on his management of the crisis in my final PMQs in late March: .  The chamber was very sparsely populated, with just a few staff members permitted into the Visitors’ gallery.  Our work continues remotely, with Parliament having undergone a technological transformation to cope with Coronavirus restrictions.  I remain in regular contact with LBI, and my hard working team continue to support me from their homes.

Ahead of the “lockdown” in March I was privileged to deliver the Bernie Grant Memorial Lecture at the Bernie Grant Arts centre.  Bernie was a great friend and comrade to many of us and was the MP for Tottenham from 1987 to his premature death from a heart attack aged 56 in 2000.

Despite the lockdown it’s been a very busy period:  I have enjoyed the opportunity of attending a variety of inspiring events (zoom or Webinar) on very many different subjects including Mayday, Palestine, nuclear weapons, Denis Goldberg (memorial), Shrewsbury Trades Council, and more.  I have also delivered several carefully crafted video messages from my evergreen Islington garden to Whittington mental health workers, as well as for the annual Levellers event, the latter being obliged to cancel this year’s live event and several others.

This year’s Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference routinely held in New York was cancelled and instead I spoke at a Webinar organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).  Over 6,000 people watched the webinar which should be available on their website.

The shortcomings in the government’s approach to the pandemic have had dreadful consequences which we can see in both the overall death toll, which includes a significant loss to life of medical professionals and key workers, and additionally, in care homes, where a quarter of the current death toll has taken place.  There are always lessons to be learnt from an event of this magnitude, but no one should paper over the cracks here, and we must continue to put pressure on the government as appropriate.

The Whittington hospital are generous with their time and I have regular, if not weekly catchups with their Chief Executive, Siobhan Harrington.  The same goes for Richard Watts’ team at LBI whose praises I cannot sing loudly enough – the Councillors, the Chief Executive, Linzi Roberts-Egan, Daniel Lawson, COVID-19 Silver Commander and of course many others.

I continue to receive an exceptionally high volume of enquiries, a significant portion being Coronavirus related.This guides me in making representations to the government on behalf of constituents:  including those who have recently lost their employment; those stranded overseas; those with struggling businesses; and of course the very many individuals who desperately need assistance but fall short of the government’s eligibility criteria for financial support. 

I am very proud to see that the people of Islington North have united spectacularly as a community and have set up fantastic initiatives to support those who have been affected by Coronavirus.  While for so many it is a time of fear and grief, it is also a time of great courage and service.

In recent weeks I have had the opportunity of visiting several food banks across the constituency and I continue to be impressed and inspired by the efficiency shown by our communities.  Those I lent a hand at include Caxton House, Brickworks, Hornsey Lane, Andover Community Centre, Elizabeth house (photo), Mildmay Club, the Mildmay Centre, and Light Project International.I would like to express my deep gratitude for all the work Islington Council, ward councillors, mutual aid groups and volunteers have been doing to support the food banks and ensure that people have food on their tables. 

In March, I attended an event held by Stand Upfor Racism where many shared the daily difficulties experienced due to the hostile environment facing migrants in Britain.  Tens of thousands of migrant workers in our public services do a fantastic job and must be treated with dignity and respect.  Racism, discrimination and inequality must be opposed at all levels of society. 

In education, I would like to thank all school staff for the work they do to care for our children. Those working in schools have made a huge effort to ensure that the most vulnerable children can continue to receive an education.What they do enables parents who are health workers, care workers, delivery workers, street cleaners and cleaners, and so many others doing such an incredible job, to continue to do their work.  This is essential to keep our society functioning during these difficult and unprecedented times.  For many teachers and school staff this has been a time of great anxiety, instability, and grief.  Yet despite the difficulties and challenges, they show great courage and service to our communities.  Our excellent teachers and essential school staff deserve our deep appreciation and gratitude.

I am all too aware ofthe anxiety surrounding the imminent reopening of our local schools.I am also of the view that it will be an extremely difficult situation to manage as it is very likely that children will find it very difficult to follow social distancing measures.I will continue to liaise with Islington Council regarding this matter. 

You may be aware of an incident on May 7^th which resulted in the injury of a police officer onBlackstock Road. I spoke with council staff and local police immediately afterwards and we continue to liaise in weekly conference calls.Unfortunately, anti-social behaviour on Blackstock Road is familiar to all of us who pass through the area, and the economic issues that lie at the heart of these problems must be addressed. 

I believe it is important that we celebrate our strength as a community: I want to thank Islington Faiths Forum, the Muslim Welfare House, and Finsbury Park Mosque for their continued work in the area. They have been instrumental in arranging a virtual meeting with residents, the Council and the police a few days after the incident took place. I will continue to liaise with local stakeholders, council staff, and the police on this.

I hope everyone had a wonderful International Women’s Day in March.  I attended several events organised by Islington4Women, Muslim Welfare House, and One True voice.  This is a very important day of the year when we celebrate the advances for women in Britain and around the world. The day celebrates the rights fought and won by determined women working together for real change, often in the face of resistance and abuse.It is a time to reflect on how violence against women in our society persists and presses the importance of educating boys to ensure they respect all women and not grow up to be violent men. 

I was delighted to speak at the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate Andrea Levy. In attendance were members of Andrea’s family, and her good friend Baroness Lola Young.   Cheryl Smith of Islington Museum organised Islington Council’s event for this wonderful novelist and chronicler of the British Caribbean experience.Andrea was born and grew up in Islington and lived with her family in Twyford House, Elwood Street from 1956 – 1974 until she left to attend college.Several of her novels drew on her life in Islington.  Her most famous book –Small Island– won several awards including the Orange Prize for Fiction and The Whitbread Book of the Year in 2004.  It has since been made into a play which ran at the National Theatre earlier this year.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, I had the chance to visit Newington Green School to unveil their Mary Wollstonecraft mural, which is beautiful, and I look forward to visiting again. Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer and a passionate advocate of education and social equality for women. She called for the betterment of women’s status through such political change as the radical reform of national educational systems, and it is only right that her very strong connection to Islington is marked here.

I also visited London Metropolitan University and had a very constructive discussion regarding the university’s role in the community.  I greatly miss these visits and I look forward to resuming them once lockdown is lifted.  In the meantime, I will remain busy attending virtual meetings, visiting foodbanks, responding to constituents’ enquiries, and representing my constituency in parliament. 

Communities have come together, and we are all presented with an opportunity to address the inequalities that have been exposed during the pandemic. We must continue to organise together and watch out for one another, and we must also reflect on the type of society we are witnessing now. We cannot become complacent when this crisis moves on for there will be so much more to do.

Every Thursday night we applaud the NHS and key workers, but it isn’t enough; the clapping and bell ringing must be underpinned by the right protection for keyworkers, both in terms of financial support, as well as practical requirements such as PPE and their ability to get to work safely.

I will continue to use my role as Member of Parliament for Islington North, in highlighting the importance of social care, school funding, employment rights, environmental policies and equality.

Sadly, in February we said goodbye to:

Sheila Sawyer; Sheila leaves behind her husband Derek, and son Philip.  Having grown up on a farm in Lincolnshire, Sheila had a love of the open air and farming and a sense of community that she enjoyed in Lincolnshire, and subsequently brought to her life in Islington.

Many of you will have known Alice Kilroy who volunteered at almost every possible left-wing event I attended for many years and remained a stalwart of Islington’s socialist movement and beyond.  Alice made beautiful political banners so will be well remembered all over the country via her artwork, as well as for her vibrant personality.  Islington awarded a posthumous merit to Alice for her contribution to the community, though she was told earlier that this award was coming to her.

Fortunately for the families and friends of both Sheila and Alice, these funerals took place just ahead of the lockdown, (Sheila 24/02;  Alice on 3^rd March).

Coronavirus took the life of Barbara Short on 31^st March. Barbara was a much-loved community figure who was integral to the Hornsey Lane Estate. I attended a social distance restricted funeral (21st April) to ensure she was given a significant farewell. The hearse was surrounded by family and friends and Islington residents who valued her for both her personality and the good work in supporting them on or near the estate.

I was also privileged to have known Denis Goldberg, anti-apartheid campaigner who was imprisoned for 22 years in South Africa, having been tried alongside Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu and others in the Rivonia Trial.

Denis arrived in Britain in 1985 and made a great impression on me.  During his time in Islington, he ran Community HEART, a bookshop he founded on the Harvest Estate in Islington which raised funds to help improve the living standards of black South Africans.  He died 29 April I have concluded an interview for Yannis Mendez ofDoubledown TV on Denis’s life.

The above friends will be much missed by so many of us.

CONTACTING JEREMY CORBYN MP

My contact details remain unchanged and Advice Sessions are being held over the telephone with my staff.

e-mail: jeremy.corbyn.mp@parliament.uk
Constituency Office Tel: 0207 561 7488 (Mon, Tues, Thurs 10am – 12pm)
Postal address: The Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA