Tax cuts for the wealthiest, increased borrowing, deregulated planning and blind faith in discredited trickle down economics. This reckless statement will to deliver any meaningful help to those who need it and only deepen inequality. 

The Chancellor’s financial statement will deliver a tax cut of £40,000 to someone earning £1 million a year, while protecting the excess profits of oil and gas producers. 

Amongst the measures announced today, is a crackdown on low paid part time workers, forcing them to increase their hours by cutting benefits.  Many part time workers are parents, priced out of increasing their hours by expensive childcare.  For the first time this year, the number of women aged 25-34 leaving work to look after their children is increasing.

I asked the Chancellor today why he is choosing to punish low paid working parents, when what they need is an accessible, affordable childcare system fit for the 21^st century >>

https://youtube.com/shorts/qsIt4OmItZA?feature=share

I started the new Parliamentary sitting this week by raising the deep concern of my constituents about ambulance waiting times in London.

In July, the average waiting time for an ambulance for someone with an emergency or serious condition - including strokes, chest pains and symptoms of sepsis -  was more than an hour, more than three times the target time of 18 minutes.

For some patients these delays will severely impact their chance of recovery.  It is also unacceptable that paramedics who know the critical nature of the service they provide and work so hard to help people who need it, are having to work in such stressful circumstances.

I have been contacted by many constituents who are desperately worried that if they need an ambulance, it simply won’t get there on time.

We need a serious plan to support the London Ambulance Service to meet targets and bring down waiting times. You can see my question to the Minister below >>

Childcare costs have soared over the past decade putting  a huge strain on the cost of living. Instead of a bold plan to fix the broken and complicated system, the Government has announced plans to increase the number of children early years staff can look after.

Parents and providers don’t want this plan, it won’t deliver the high quality early years education young children need to recover from the pandemic.  Today the Secretary of State couldn’t even confirm that it would bring down costs for families >>

I was delighted to join the Windrush Day celebrations in Brixton this morning. Today we celebrate the immense contribution the Windrush pioneers and their descendants have made and continue to make to our local community, economy, culture and public services since the arrival of the Windrush at Tilbury docks, 74 years ago.  

It is also an important moment to reflect on the racism and injustices they have faced over the past 74 years, and the on-going struggle for justice of those who became victims of the Windrush Scandal.  We celebrate, but we also stand in solidarity and we will continue to fight for justice and compensation and for the culture change we need to ensure that such a scandal can never happen again #windrushday #brixton #windrushjustice

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5KUGxWxrBRg

The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which is published today, highlights the urgent need for a ‘total reset’ of children’s social care. I was pleased to respond to the review for Labour from the despatch box.

The review makes 80 recommendations, including on the need to take profit out of the care of children, and bring an end to the scandal of 16 and 17 year olds being left without support in unregistered care homes and private accommodation.

Our most vulnerable children have been failed by more than a decade of Conservative government. Since 2010, the numbers of children in need and entering the care system have soared whilst outcomes for care-experienced young people have worsened. At the heart of this failure is the Government’s erosion of early help support for struggling families, demonstrated most clearly in the closure of 1,300 Sure Start Centres.

This review is a vital opportunity to reset children’s social care and deliver better outcomes for our most vulnerable children and their families.  It is an opportunity that must not be missed.  Labour will always put children first.  We did so in government, and we will do so again.  In the meantime, we will hold the government to account every single day on the urgent need to transform children’s social care. You can see part of my speech here>>

This year’s Queen’s Speech is desperately lacking in ambition and exposes a Government out of ideas. It should have been an opportunity to announce the legislation needed to address the cost of living crisis and rebuild resilience in our communities but it failed even to mention some of the biggest challenges facing our country.

Far too many people are now facing impossible decisions between eating and heating, with parents worried about how they will feed their children and pensioners forced to wear coats indoors to keep warm. The consequences of the cost of living are appalling and unacceptable.

Our country needs and deserves so much better.  The Labour Party has a plan. We would introduce an emergency budget to address the cost of living crisis and provide relief to people suffering hardship at this time.  You can watch my contribution to the Queen’s Speech debate here >>

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, children and young people’s mental health services were stretched to breaking point, and the situation is now even worse.  Far too many young people face an agonising wait for months or even years for the mental health treatment they need.

The Government has consistently failed to treat mental health with the same urgency as physical health or to act on the mental health crisis young people are facing. Today I called on the Secretary of State to listen to the Labour Party and provide open access mental health hubs in every community>>