Contrary to Boris Johnson’s ignorant comments about “first languages”, many refugees are desperate to learn English but can’t access classes because of his Government’s ruthless cuts to ESOL over the past decade.  I took part in a Westminster Hall debate where I spoke about the importance of ESOL, the role community groups such as the JAN Trust in my constituency play in helping women learn English and the wider campaign to Lift the Ban on asylum seekers working while they wait for their application to be processed.

I’ve been raising the issue of EU Citizens/UK Overseas Voters being denied a vote in the EU Elections for some time now, and this week I gathered 84 MPs from across the House to sign my letter (below) urging the Electoral Commission to collect and publish key data.  It’s crucial to enable us to confirm the scale of this scandal. 

I attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Childcare and Early Education’s launch of a report into the financial sustainability of the childcare sector where Luisa from the wonderful voluntary sector Early Years provision in Wood Green told the Minister ‘how can we manage with no funding?’.  She’s right to make this point and she has my full support.  The early years are so crucial for child development and this work can’t be effective if it isn’t adequately funded.

Finally, I sent my well wishes to everyone taking part in Pride weekend including students from Woodside School who rode through London on the float they helped design.  50 years since the Stonewall uprising, we’ve seen so much progress but there’s still so much work left to do in the UK and around the world to tackle discrimination, vi0lence and hate.