Weekly Round-Up — Feryal Clark

The start of this week saw the Government, finally, reach an agreement with the EU on the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Whilst I welcome this agreement, it has been long overdue. This weak Conservative Prime Minister has had to battle factions within his own party, and saw a late intervention from Boris Johnson, who criticised the deal. This is why we in the Labour Party will be providing the votes to get it over the line, and to see our country move forward.

Fresh from unveiling Labour’s 5 national missions last week, Keir Starmer expanded on our economic mission by unveiling our commitment to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7. This would mean good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off. This is a positive agenda and one I know will resonate with residents across Enfield North.

Sadly, this week, we also marked the sad passing of Baroness Boothroyd, the former and only female Speaker of the House of Commons. She was a firebrand in our movement, and she will be sorely missed.

Yours sincerely,

Feryal Clark MP

Westminster Hall debate on Health and Wellbeing

On Wednesday, I responded on behalf of the Opposition to a debate in Westminster Hall on Health and Wellbeing Services in the East of England.

Having recently visited Thurrock to talk to new mothers, one of the issues they spoke about, and which I raised, was about the lack of gas and air pain relief in one maternity ward, due to a machine repair job, which not only left mothers giving birth without pain relief but had been exposing midwives to high levels of nitrous oxide.

You can watch my contribution using the link below:

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/66fa9fda-515d-46c5-960c-047de7a6fcf9?in=10:25:08

Intervention during Statement on Turkey and Syria

23 days since the terrible earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, I continued to put pressure on the Government by asking the Minister, again, to provide an expedited temporary visa scheme, so that family members caught in the earthquake can stay with their relatives here in the UK for a short period to grieve and recuperate.

You can watch my intervention using the link below, and read ITV News’ article on my intervention following that.

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/235123b6-b91e-49cc-a6ce-4d1bc44c725f?in=14:28:56

https://www.itv.com/news/london/2023-03-01/mps-plea-for-special-visas-for-turkey-earthquake-victims-to-enter-uk

Supporting cancer charities

I had the pleasure to meet with two cancer charities this week.

To mark Ovarian Cancer Awareness Week, I became a ‘Teal Hero’ to raise awareness of this important campaign, hosted by the APPG on Ovarian Cancer and Target Ovarian Cancer. Over 7,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year and yet symptom awareness in the UK remains worryingly low with just one in five women able to name bloating as a symptom.

In addition, I continued my support for Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal. This fundraising appeal supports their doctors, nurses and hospice staff to provide the best possible end of life to people with a terminal illness and their families, and I am proud to support them and their hard work.

Highlands School Q&A

Today, I was warmly welcomed to Highlands School to visit Year 10 students undertaking their GCSE citizenship course. As part of their course, and to count towards their grades, they had to speak to political representatives to gain more of an insight into their chosen topics. I was impressed by their tough questioning and keen interest on a broad range of topical issues.