Category: My work

I think it’s time to lift the ban on onshore wind.

I have championed the use of wind energy all along, and the energy crisis has forced the government to consider all the alternatives, and even within the Conservative Party support for onshore wind has been growing.

We must move to green technologies.  The earth stands on the brink of collapse, and using wind energy in all its forms is vital.

I will be voting for any legislation (including any relevant amendments) bringing it about.

I was pleased that a group of Conservative MPs tabled an amendment in the House ensuring that onshore wind rules are to be relaxed, subject to local regulation.  Let us see if the government follow through on their agreement to do this. 

Additionally, we must ensure that the placement of wind farms is properly and fairly decided. 

The situation in Iran is dire indeed. I have signed EDM 914:

“That this House deplores the ongoing human rights violations being perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran; notes that these violations come in a context of more general restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief for many religious minorities in Iran, including Christians and the Baha’i, and also Sufi and Sunni Muslims; mourns the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest for wearing the hijab “improperly” and her reported beating by members of the so-called morality police; considers the enforcement of religious dress codes for all Iranian women, regardless of their beliefs, to be a violation of the freedom of religion or belief of women from religious minorities in Iran, and also of Muslim women who do not wish to conform to mandatory hijab; highlights that these restrictions are in violation of Iran’s obligations as a signatory of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); urges the Government of Iran to amend its constitution and relevant legislation to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief for all Iranians, as envisaged by Article 18 of the ICCPR; and calls on the UK Government to continue to defend freedom of religion or belief, in its fullest meaning, and to support the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran and of the UN’s Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Human Rights in Iran.“

This subject will continue to arise in parliament and elsewhere and I won’t miss any opportunity to speak up on human rights, be it in Iran or elsewhere.

I feel very strongly about the incredibly hostile and wholly unacceptable approach of this government toward those seeking refuge, via the Illegal Migration Bill

My latest newsletter, February-March, is probably as good an illustration of my concerns for the welfare of refugees as anything else, and these views have not changed for all of my political life. 

I will continue to advocate in parliament and beyond that all immigrants have automatic access to resources without fear of detention or deportation.

I have consistently voted against this dreadful bill and will do so again next week.

I have been a long-time campaigner for animal rights and I consistently oppos the cruel treatment of animals via industrial farming methods, which were originally introduced from the USA.

I have recognised that all animals are sentient, and suffer just as we would in similar circumstances, and farrowing crates, just as with the use, for example, of cages for fowls, must end altogether. 

This subject never quite goes away sadly, but I will continue to challenge the Government to end the cruel use of farrowing crates and other cruel industrial farming methods.

It is heart-breaking to witness the awful situation in East Africa. It has been hit by crop failure and drought brought on by climate change.

And it has been affected by internal conflict. Now, it faces a manufactured crisis which the West has inflicted upon itself, and by extension, upon vulnerable areas of the world, like East Africa.

Illegal sanctions have had the effect of creating an energy ‘crisis’, by causing a jump in energy prices, driving runaway inflation, and leading to the price of food prices to rocket.

And sadly, Ukrainian grain is being diverted to rich Europe, away from Africa, and this is also exaggerating the East African hunger crisis.

I have signed EDM 912: Hunger in East Africa, which you see here:

Hunger in East Africa
That this House is deeply concerned about the acute hunger crisis in the East Africa region; notes that despite 36.4 million people in the Horn of Africa region suffering with hunger, the Government has cut humanitarian aid to less than a fifth of what it was in the financial year of 2017-2018 in the region; condemns the Government’s decision to abandon the 0.7 per cent target for international development spending; calls on the Government to urgently reinstate the 0.7 per cent target, and to correspondingly increase vital support to people in the regions; and resolves to continue to hold the Government to account on its broken promise on international development spending.

and via the following link:

Hunger in East Africa – Early Day Motions – UK Parliament

We are left with the option of asking this Government to step in and help with funding assistance. This is something I have done and will continue to do.

Constituents have contacted me concerned about protecting farmed fish.

I have been a long-time campaigner for animal rights and have been very concerned over the years about the reports of fish farms boiling with fish who can barely move, the spread of disease which results in antibiotics being fed to those fish, and the cruelty of the stress and suffering associated with this practice.

I consider fish to be sentient and am appalled by these reports.  I fully support proper legislation aimed at determining how fish are treated and killed.

I will continue to challenge the Government by raising these issues directly in Parliament and will vote for any amendment and legislation to enforce humane treatment of farmed fish.