Catherine West MP MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Labour Candidate for Hornsey & Friern Barnet
My latest monthly e-newsletter has just gone out to thousands of homes across Hornsey & Wood Green. You can read a copy below, or online with all the pictures here. If you’d like to receive my e-newsletters, and you don’t already, you can sign up here.
Welcome to my July e-newsletter
Johnson is finally leaving and what a shameful end to a PM whose time in office will be remembered for lies, law-breaking, incompetence and the utter debasing of standards in public life. He’s leaving as he started, clocking off to party instead of attending vital COBRA meetings as Britain boils.If only the rot at the top ended with Johnson’s departure. Instead, those now lining up to replace him have stood by Johnson’s side every step of the way, and in their leadership bids I’m not hearing any answers to the cost of living crisis that will push millions more into poverty this winter. 12 Tory years have already caused such damage to our country – we don’t just need a change at the top, we need a change of Government. Read my latest column for the Ham & High on the legacy of our disgraced PM.
Thank you so much for all the kind words of support since my re-selection as your Labour Candidate for Hornsey & Wood Green at the next General Election. Thank you too for all the generous donations which will allow us to print enough copies of my Annual Report to deliver to every home in the constituency. You can also read my report online here.
Here are some of the things I’ve been doing this month. If you know anyone who would like to receive these updates, please share this link .
My regular Climate Change ReportYou can read my latest climate change & environment update report on my website . Lots of local residents got in touch this month to ask me to attend the emergency climate briefing for MPs with the Chief Scientific Advisor Sir Patrick Vallance. I was very happy to do so, as it’s important to understand the latest science of the risks and impacts of climate change. With temperatures reaching record hights, we are seeing the real life impact of climate change, yet alarmingly many of the Tory leadership candidates appear to want to scrap net zero targets. They’re wrong – to keep a safe climate this must be our priority.Agency WorkersIt’s only weeks since the Tories threw their hands up in faux horror at P&O’s mass sacking of hard working staff and replacement by cheaper agency workers. Yet last week they pushed changes through Parliament, against Labour’s fierce opposition, that would allow untrained agency workers to break strikes. This anti-worker attack is unsafe, unworkable and a complete failure of leadership and negotiation. Just as they promised an Employment Bill and failed to deliver, the Tories are now trying to stop workers from standing up for their rights. They should be getting round the table and talking to trade unions, not gambling with public safety and deliberately fanning the flames of division. Keep our NHS PublicFollowing the establishment of the new North Central London Integrated Care System, David Lammy and I have written jointly to Mike Cooke, Chair of the North Central London Integrated Care Board to raise our concerns about what it means for services. They need to be protected from creeping privatisation and it’s vital that private business interests aren’t allowed to influence decision making. Read our letter in full here . Independent Ethics AdvisorIn Parliament this month I pushed the Government to tell us when we’ll get a new Independent Ethics Advisor. Under Johnson we’ve seen two independent ethics advisors and one anti-corruption Tsar step down unable to defend the indefensible. His departure must mark the beginning of a return to recognising the importance of standards in public life – Labour pushed for a vote of confidence because a PM so unfit for office shouldn’t be clinging on when his own Ministers can’t work with him. It is typical of the man he is that he blocked our vote taking place.
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Swimming – fighting for our poolsAs temperatures soar, where better to be than in the water? Yet up and down the country, swimming pools are under threat due to the huge rise in energy prices coming so soon after the pandemic disruption. Swimming pool owners and operators have warned that prices will soar and services will be cut over the coming months. As Chair of the All-Party Swimming Group, I’ve been raising questions in Parliament about what action the Government will take to address this growing crisis. I’ve also written for Swim England and you can read my blog here . Investing in swimming makes clear economic sense. Every £1 spent on community sport and physical activity generates £4 and swimming has been shown to save the NHS more than £350 million each year. |
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My month in numbersIn June my office received over 1,440 casework emails and opened 249 new cases. For the second month running, the shambles at Priti Patel’s Home Office dominates my mailbox. I’m even starting to get emails from desperate people right across the country who have seen my work holding Ministers to account on Passport delays and hope I can help them. It’s shameful that in Tory backlog Britain people are having to involve Members of Parliament just to try and get routine services. Yet instead of fixing the mess they’ve caused after 12 years in charge, the new candidates for Tory Leader are shouting about how many more staff they want to cut.Over 1,000 of you got in touch last month on policy issues. Top of the pile was the Government’s shameful attempt to charter their first deportation flight to Rwanda. I’ve also received lots of emails from constituents concerned about the Government’s plans to overhaul the Human Rights Act. I’m proud that a Labour Government introduced the HRA, bringing important rights home and giving our most vulnerable citizens a powerful means of redress. It protects the powerless against the might of the strong and the dictates of the State. I’ll always defend it as well as Britain’s continued membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.Since my last e-news, I’ve asked 47 Parliamentary Questions and you can read the full list here. Protecting our street treesAfter attending a community meeting on tree felling with residents and Council Officers, I have written to the Association of British Insurers urging them to set out best practice for insurance companies to ensure they do everything possible to meet their green targets by preventing trees being unnecessarily removed.In response to one of my written Parliamentary Questions, the Minister advised that the Tree Council will be producing best practice guidance for Councils to produce their own tree strategies. As a result, I’ve written to the Tree Council to check that this new guidance will include advice on handling subsidence claims. I am keen to see the detail of a new “duty to consult” on street tree felling, but crucially any consultation must be backed by tough action to prevent insurance companies opting to fell rather than protect healthy trees just to save money.Pressure on our hospitals: North MiddlesexThis month I met with the North Mid Chief Executive to discuss issues including the pressure on their A&E services, ambulance handovers, the impact of Covid and Monkeypox, their sickle cell services and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on staff recruitment and retention. I’ve written to the Health Minister regarding the A&E pressures the hospital is facing and I’ve called for more primary care provision there to enable their GP access clinic (funded through “winter pressures” funding) to run all year round.Save our busesThese Tory bus cuts are a direct result of the Government playing political games and refusing to agree a proper long term funding deal for TfL. I’ll be visiting Wood Green Bus Garage over the summer to show my support for hard working drivers and listen to their concerns. Londoners did the right thing and stayed at home during the pandemic. We must not pay for that in higher fares and bus route cuts. Please sign & share Haringey Labour’s petition
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