The appalling kidnapping and murder of Sarah Everard has devastated women across the country, but particularly so here in south London.  We mourn Sarah as a local resident from Tulse Hill, a young woman whose life was cut short needlessly and far too soon. 

But more than that, we recognise what happened to Sarah was the fulfilment of the worst fears that too many women live with on a daily basis. It seems clear that Sarah Everard had already modified her behaviour in an attempt to stay safe. She had been walking a longer route home, keeping to paths and roads that were busy and well lit, she was talking to her boyfriend on her phone.  And still, and still, the worst thing happened.

There isn’t a woman I know who doesn’t modify her behaviour on a daily basis because of fear of violence and harassment in the public domain.  All of us do as Sarah Everard did, we take the longer route, keep to busy streets, phone or text our friends, walk with our keys between our fingers, make sure we are hyper-aware of who else is walking down the same street, check whether we are being followed by crossing and re-crossing the road, quicken our pace, just in case. 

Our local NHS and care staff have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. Last year, we stood on our doorsteps and clapped every week to express our gratitude for their sacrifice.  If the clapping is to mean anything, action must follow, yet Rishi Sunak’s budget only offered a 1% pay increase to NHS staff and nothing at all for social care workers.

This is shameful. The Tories found £40,000 pay rise for Dominic Cummings but are now giving our keyworkers a real terms cut in their pay.

Keir Starmer was absolutely right to raise this at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday.  The Labour Party will continue to fight for the fair pay deal which our keyworkers deserve. You can watch my short film here (with apologies for the wind tunnel!) >>

I’m so grateful for the work of staff and volunteers across Dulwich and West Norwood to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine as quickly as possible. The vaccine now offers genuine hope of an end to the heartbreak, pain, restrictions and hardships of the pandemic.  However, it is as true locally as it is globally that none of us is safe until all of us are safe. 

Vaccination programmes rely on high levels of take up to be effective, but data from the roll out so far clearly shows that vaccine hesitancy is highest in some of the communities and occupations who are most at risk of coronavirus, including some Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, and amongst social care workers.

Our local health care teams, Lambeth and Southwark Councils are all working hard to address vaccine hesitancy, and this is driving up the vaccination rate week by week, but this important is time-consuming to deliver and more funding from the Government is needed. You can watch my speech in Parliament here >>

Frustratingly, I was too far down the speaker list in today’s Budget debate in the House of Commons to be called to speak, so I’ve published the speech I had prepared instead.  We need a Budget for a green, inclusive recovery, which rebuilds the foundations of our economy, recognises the immense sacrifice of Covid-19 key workers with a decent pay rise, provides the support to help our children and young people to catch up and the funding our NHS and social care sector desperately need.  Attempting to rebuild our economy on broken foundations means the cracks will soon open up again.  You can read the full speech here >>

Teachers and support staff in schools across Dulwich and West Norwood have worked tirelessly over the past yet to support children and young people through the pandemic both in schools and via remote learning. However, despite their hard work, the Government has been far too slow to provide support causing many children to suffer and fall behind. As schools prepare to welcome all students back next week, it is vital that the Government now provides targeted support to help children who have missed out on education to catch up, and mental health support for every child who needs it. You can see my speech in Parliament here >>

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister published a roadmap out of lockdown. This plan sets out four steps to ease coronavirus restrictions over the coming months. Clarity on the way forward has long been needed and I know that the announcement will have come as welcome news for my constituents after an extremely difficult winter. However, I remain deeply concerned about the Government’s financial support for workers and businesses. I am contacted each week by residents who have lost their jobs and livelihoods and the timescale for economy recovery is uncertain and fraught with risk.  It is irresponsible of the Prime Minister to announce that restrictions on economic activity will remain for some time without confirming the on-going support for businesses and individuals whose income is affected at the same time, creating further anxiety and uncertainty.  You can read further details of the roadmap and my full thoughts here >>

This morning, I visited the Paxton Green Health Centre to see their Covid-19 vaccination centre. It was fantastic to see the calm and efficient roll out led by Dr Stephen Miller and Dr Rosemary Leonard, and the hard work of volunteer marshals welcoming patients. I know that the vaccine has brought great relief and hope for so many people across Dulwich and West Norwood.

In South East London, the NHS has started vaccinating people aged 65 to 69 and those who are clinically vulnerable (moderate against Covid-19). If you are in either of these groups, please continue to wait patiently to be contacted with an appointment.

If you are aged 70 and over, a frontline health worker, or clinically extremely vulnerable (high risk), you can book your vaccine online at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by calling 119.  Whatever your age or level of risk, please take the vaccine when you are offered it.