Weekly Round-Up

We marked International Women’s Day this week, and it is another of those occasions that has gained a new significance during the pandemic. We’ve seen the huge impact the lockdowns have had on women, from those in sectors that are struggling such as the beauty and wellbeing sector, those key workers such as teachers and nurses, and those who are working from home while trying to support their children with home-schooling. The shocking and tragic news of the disappearance of Sarah Everard has also brought home to us that still women face dangers simply walking the streets of our towns and cities. This must change.

Last week’s Budget was the Government’s golden opportunity to step up and fix the endemic inequality that they have embedded throughout the country and here in Enfield North. But they failed.  They failed nurses, who deserve better than the pitiful real terms pay cut they have been offered. They failed teachers, who have been given little support to plan a safe return to school for their students. And they failed businesses and the self-employed, including White Photographic Ltd here in Enfield, one of the 3 million businesses that have been excluded from the Government’s support over the past 12 months. There are currently more than 19,000 people registered unemployed in Enfield and 28,000 on furlough who still do not know what the future holds for them. There are nearly 14,000 people who were punished by the Chancellor with a £500 cut to universal credit, which will see nearly £7 million taken out of our local economy this year. The Budget was bad for families, for small business, for frontline workers and for our communities. Last week, the Mayor of London announced his vision for a 1945-style recovery for London, with “Jobs, jobs, jobs” as his mantra. The Chancellor must work with the Mayor to deliver this ambitious plan, instead of standing in his way, and to deliver a post-furlough jobs guarantee. Instead of a Budget to get our country working after Covid, we saw the spectre of austerity return to the Dispatch Box. The Chancellor failed to meet the moment and his Budget failed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable.

I was pleased to join other MPs this week in Westminster Hall debates on the topic of low vaccine uptake, and later in the week I spoke at an event targeted towards the Turkish/Kurdish community. This event was across three boroughs, with NHS representatives, health experts and local Council leaders to discuss the issues that the communities are facing in accessing the vaccine. The vaccine roll-out programme is nothing short of amazing, thanks to the great work of our NHS. Right from the start, however, there have been concerns with the roll-out in London, which we London MPs have been raising since day one. The issue is not just about vaccine hesitancy; there is an expectation that an 80-year-old Kurdish woman will book an appointment over the internet, but the digital divide in the eastern part of Enfield North constituency, where the uptake of the vaccine by over-65s is as low as 56%, is a real issue. The wards here in Enfield with the highest Covid rates and poor primary care provision do not have vaccine centres nearby. The nearest vaccine centre for constituents in those wards is two bus rides away, which is just not acceptable. Where the need is greatest, the provision is low. Finally, 16,000 people across Enfield—predominantly in the eastern part—are not registered with a GP. There is no clarity on how those constituents will access vaccines. The Government must address these issues – the effectiveness of the vaccine will depend on good uptake and these communities deserve our support in protecting themselves and their families.

As Co-Chair for the APPG for London, I attended a meeting this week about the plan for London’s recovery from the pandemic. This meeting discusses recovery from a broad range of issues affecting Londoners as a result of the pandemic from mental health, education outcomes to business recovery. For further information click here. 

I was pleased to host a meeting this week between the Borough Commanders Unit of the Haringey and Enfield Metropolitan Police Service and representatives from Kurdish and Turkish communities in North London. We focused on the ways the BCU and community representatives can work together to tackle serious crime and other issues facing communities in Enfield and Haringey. We hope to make this meeting a regular occurrence and to build community ties with the police to help make our streets a safer place. We also hope to do this with other ethnic minority communities in order to build lines of communication and open accountability between the police and under-represented communities.

My telephone surgery sessions are continuing, and if you would like to book an appointment, please do contact my office to arrange this. Although my office is closed to the public in line with Government guidelines, my team and I are working hard from home so please do get in touch on feryal.clark.mp@parliament.uk if there is anything we can help you with. Remember –stay safe, save lives – maintain social distancing and keep washing your hands!