Weekly Round-Up

This week, the last in Parliament before summer recess, the Tories brought their Building Safety Bill to the House for debate, and it unsurprisingly fell far short of what is needed.

Despite repeated promises by the Government to make buildings safe and protect leaseholders following Grenfell, hundreds of thousands of people still live in unsafe homes, and millions are caught up in the wider building safety crisis.

Whilst I support the important changes the bill makes to regulation into the future, we needed urgent action and leadership to protect the hundreds of thousands of people already trapped in unsafe homes, facing huge bills to fix historic failures.

Labour colleagues and I support the majority of what is in this bill, so did not oppose the vote. However, we have serious concerns about what is not included. Labour has called for the Government to legislate to ensure leaseholders cannot be billed for fire and building safety remediation works. Should we not see these changes made, then I shall be joining colleagues in opposing the bill as it progresses.

My priority is and always will be protecting leaseholders in Enfield North, and I will continue to do everything I can alongside colleagues in Parliament to end this scandal.

You can read my thoughts in full here: https://bit.ly/BuildingSafetyBillStatement.


Nationality and Borders Bill  

We also learnt more about the Government’s shameful Nationality and Borders Bill this week, which does nothing to make our borders safer and abandons vulnerable young people at a time when they need us most.

The Government talk about a ‘broken asylum system’ but it is them who have been in power for the past 11 years and who have broken it.  

This Government’s approach is weak on taking action against criminal gangs – and brutal when it comes to orphaned children from war zones.

The legislation risks criminalising the RNLI for saving people at sea – and had this been in place when Sir Nicholas Winton was rescuing hundreds of children from the Holocaust on the Kindertransport it would have risked him being criminalised for his life-saving actions.

Rather than offering genuine proposals to fix the broken asylum system, for which the Conservatives have been responsible for over 11 years, this dangerous Bill will make the situation even worse.

COVID-19 enquiry

This week also saw a debate into the Government’s commitment to hold an independent enquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labour colleagues and I fully supported the calls by the bereaved families – and many others, including medics, scientists and ethnic minority leaders – for the government to launch a public inquiry, to begin once we reach the end of the roadmap.

The inquiry announced by the Prime Minister on 12th May must have the confidence of bereaved families from the outset, particularly in determining the terms of reference of the inquiry.

The Government must also not kick the can down the road to next spring – this inquiry must begin as soon as possible, not next year.

By beginning this inquiry, we can begin to learn from this tragedy, prepare for future waves of the pandemic and build a better future for the country.


COVID-19 regulations lifting

Whilst I am sure many of us were relieved this week to see an end to the rules and regulations that have had such a big effect on our lives, it is vital that we remain steadfast in our commitment to fighting COVID-19.

Cases are continuing to rise at an alarming rate, meaning our NHS is under ever-increasing pressure.

If we are to prevent any return to the lockdown restrictions and further damage to our economy, it is our collective responsibility to do everything we can to stop the spread.

That means continuing to wear a mask in confined spaces such as public transport, maintaining social distancing where necessary, and consistent hand washing and use of hand sanitizer.

Like you, I look forward to getting out and about this summer, enjoying some of our great local assets and businesses here in Enfield North, but let’s do so safely and ensure that we beat the virus and get our recovery on track.