Weekly Round-Up

Another busy week in Parliament saw the Tories show their true colours by refusing to even show up and vote to defend their £20 a week cut to Universal Credit.

Here in Enfield North, the cut would put the 14,350 UC claimant households, who are already incredibly vulnerable, into serious hardship.

Of those households claiming UC in Enfield North, over 10,000 include children, meaning whole families will suffer as a result of this cruel decision.

There are also over 5,000 UC claimants in Enfield North who are in work, many of whom in key worker roles such as health and social care, that will be hit with not only this cut, but an unfair National Insurance hike as well.

Making the biggest ever overnight cut to social security is wrong for these families in Enfield North and wrong for the UK economy, and I will continue to do everything I can to make the case to the Government.

You can read my statement in full here: https://bit.ly/UCCutVoteStatement

Health and Social Care Levy

Following their announcement last week, the Government forced all stages of their Health and Social Care Levy Bill through Parliament.

This, combined with the cut to Universal Credit, means many hard-working families are being made to suffer to fund the Tories’ misguided plan which will do nothing to fix the crisis that they have created in social care.

Labour’s priority will be to give older and disabled people the chance to live the life they choose, shifting the focus of support towards prevention and early help.

Whilst any additional investment would need to be paid for through additional tax rises but increasing National Insurance contributions isn't right way to do it, hitting working people – especially low earners and young people – and businesses hard.

Regardless of this reckless change, I will continue to stand up for hard-working families in Enfield North and press the Government to ensure that social care is affordable and accessible to all.

Turkey

Today the Government has announced a relaxation in international travel restrictions, including Turkey being taken off the red list.

I want to thank the many constituents who have voiced their concerns on this issue to me and helped me convey your strength of feeling when lobbying ministers.

This is obviously a very positive outcome for the many people in Enfield North with friends, family, and loved ones in Turkey who they have been unfairly cut off from for too long.

However, this decision is based on ongoing data so it’s vital that we continue to take precautions, especially when travelling overseas, to ensure we do not return to the restrictions which have caused so much heartache for families in Enfield North.

Cladding Scandal

This week saw the cladding scandal, which has caused untold distress to leaseholders in Enfield North and across the UK, firmly on the agenda in Parliament, culminating in a mass rally of leasehold campaigners in Parliament Square.

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 the Government have set aside £5bn in the Building Safety Bill to fix dangerous cladding, there are serious issues with the scope of the funding, and the Government has their heads in the sand about the crisis of confidence in tall buildings.

Everybody from insurers, to mortgage lenders, risk assessors and others, is concerned about their liability, leaving thousands of buildings with an ever-growing list of remediation works, some of which are potentially life threatening.

The bill for these works should not fall to innocent leaseholders who are being made to pay for the failures of shoddy developers and left in financial crisis as a result.

Whilst I couldn’t join yesterday’s rally in person, I stand in full solidarity with those campaigning, and will continue to do everything I can to fight for justice for leaseholders in Enfield North.