The eyes of the world are currently on Glasgow as the city hosts COP26, the UN climate conference.

The stakes could not be higher. We urgently need the governments of the world to agree to actions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change.  Current commitments are far from adequate, and we need to see bold action including to stop the use of coal and keep fossil fuels in the ground, halt deforestation and support nature recovery, and invest in the world’s poorest countries to ensure a just transition to Net Zero.

My constituents care deeply about climate change and the future of our planet, and I have made commitments in every election to work for climate action on their behalf.  In the run up to COP26, I took part in a conference organised by the Dulwich and West Norwood Climate Coalition, an organisation I helped to set up in 2015, attended by hundreds of local residents.  Following the conference, we delivered our petition to Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street, calling for the UK government to negotiate the strongest possible commitments in Glasgow.

Last week, I travelled to Glasgow – by train – to take part in COP26. I’m a member of the Environmental Audit Committee in Parliament, which has the job of scrutinising all government policy and decision making for its impact on the environment and climate change.  We organised an event on international parliamentary scrutiny, looking at the vitally important question of how governments around the world will be held to account for delivering on the commitments they make in Glasgow.

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 >>