This weekend, delegates from across the world will be arriving in Glasgow for the pivotal UN COP26 climate conference. This is a critical opportunity for world leaders to agree to the scale of climate action needed to limit global warming to 1.5°, but the UK Government’s last minute preparations and lack of leadership and commitment risk squandering this opportunity.

I recently spoke in Parliament, calling on the government to step up their action and their leadership to ensure that COP26 delivers the agreement the world needs to avert catastrophic climate change.  You can watch my speech here>>

Fire and rehire is when an employer introduces new contracts for staff with lower pay and weaker employment rights and threatens to sack staff who refuse to sign up. It’s a disgraceful practise and it should be illegal.

My colleague Barry Gardiner is introducing a private member’s bill in Parliament today to ban the pernicious practise of fire and rehire. I fully support this bill.

I’m attending the funeral of our much-loved friend Duncan Chapman today so I can’t be in Parliament to vote for the bill, but I have been paired, so my absence won’t affect the result.

I hope the Bill succeeds - if it doesn’t, a Labour government would outlaw fire and rehire, it needs to stop. #stopfireandrehire

I was delighted to take part in an excellent Southwark Pensioners’ Parliament with Harriet Harman today.

It was great to see everyone in person and online and to have the opportunity to speak about our work and answer questions. Thank you to the fantastic William Booth College for hosting.

I was delighted to join the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, at Black Cultural Archives to celebrate the launch of the Black History Tube Map.

The map is a brilliant collaboration between BCA & Transport for London which gives new visibility to generations of inspirational Black Britons who have helped shape our national story.

Everyone who relies on or works in social care has been waiting for far too long for urgently needed increased funding and reform. We need action to ensure everyone who needs care, both working-age adults and older people, can access the care they need; to address the staffing and funding crisis in social care, and to ensure everyone has a voice in their own care.

Last week the Government announced an increase in National Insurance contributions to raise money for the NHS and social care, a tax increase which will hit younger working people the hardest, including the same low paid workers who are the backbone of our social care system who will now face a cut in their take home pay.  But the Government has failed to explain how the funding raised will benefit social care, or when the social care sector will receive it, and it has failed to produce a plan for the reforms that are urgently needed. 

This simply isn’t good enough.  The Government has neglected social care for more than a decade, and now they are ignoring many years of considered cross-party work on options for reform in favour of a half-baked plan which will not deliver the change that is urgently needed. You can see my speech from earlier this week below >>

I am continuing to be contacted by many constituents whose loved ones are trapped in Afghanistan in fear for their lives. I have repeatedly written to Ministers and Government departments but have yet to receive any substantive responses. The Government’s response to the crisis in Afghanistan has been shambolic with no clear plan for the evacuation or for the processing of applications from people left behind. On Wednesday, I voted to set up a parliamentary inquiry to look into the Government’s actions, to hold Ministers accountable and to learn the lessons for future crises. The situation remains desperate for so many families, and I am clear that the government must do far more. You can see my recent question to the Minister below >>

Today, I voted against the Government’s appalling cut to Universal Credit which is cruel, illogical and unnecessary. The cut will cost 5,092 families on low incomes across Dulwich and West Norwood £20 a week forcing them further into poverty and hardship. It will take away £13m which would be spent in our local shops, and will leave some of the keyworkers including care workers, shop staff and classroom assistants facing a terrible choice between heating their homes this winter or putting food on the table. 

The Government has had more than a decade to address the causes of poverty.  They should be raising the minimum wage to the level of the real living wage, tackling the cost of housing and childcare and putting an end to insecure work and zero hours contracts. #cancelthecut

This evening, Parliament will vote on the Government’s plans to increase national insurance to provide additional funding for health and social care.

Funding is desperately needed, but the Prime Minister’s announcement gave no clue as to when the social care sector would receive it, made no reference to the structural problems in social care or the scandal of low pay for care workers, who now face a cut to their take home pay.

The social care crisis can only be resolved by addressing the staffing crisis in the sector – giving care workers a proper pay rise and improving their conditions at work. You can see my question following the Prime Minister’s announcement below >>