Catherine West MP MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Labour Candidate for Hornsey & Friern Barnet
My latest e-newsletter has gone out to thousands of homes across Hornsey & Wood Green. You can read it below or online with all the photos here.
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Welcome to my February e-newsletterThere were no strikes in our precious National Health Service over 13 years of the last Labour Government. Now, after 13 years of Conservative neglect and mismanagement we are seeing the biggest strikes in NHS history. I welcome the news this week that the Government has finally agreed to talks with the Royal College of Nursing, but why on earth have they dragged their heels for so long? More strikes of healthcare assistants and ambulance workers are due next week and now junior doctors have voted to strike, joining the long list of burnout frontline staff, struggling with chronic staff shortages and the rising cost of living. This mess is on Rishi Sunak and his Government, and at Prime Minister’s Questions this month I asked him if he had any actual plan to sort out this crisis .
I receive so many messages from constituents about what’s happening in our NHS and the crisis in our social care system. People understandably want change, and I’m delighted that Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP and Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Care & Wellbeing Cllr Lucia Das Neves have agreed to speak at a Parliamentary meeting I’m hosting and chairing for constituents on Tuesday 18 April on the future of health and care. Places are free but limited and must be pre-booked. Click here to reserve your place.If you know anyone who would like to receive these updates, please share this link .
Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria: UK must play full role in providing assistanceThe scenes from Turkey and Syria are heartbreaking and sadly so many in our community have had loved ones affected by the tragic earthquake. I held an advice surgery at the Kurdish Advice Centre following the disaster, and it was overwhelming to see the scale of the relief effort and the generous donations of local people. There’s been such an outpouring that local community groups have told us they can’t manage any more clothes/blankets. Instead, they urge people who want to help to make a financial donation. Find out how here: Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal 2023 | Donate Now | DECIn Parliament, I have joined with Labour colleagues to write to the Immigration Minister requesting a meeting to discuss issues including visa arrangements for those with family members in the UK who are currently in the disaster zones in Turkey and Syria. Do get in touch if you are affected, and my website also has information which might be helpful. Free School Meals for all primary school childrenI am delighted that the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is stepping up where the Government hasn’t and will be introducing free school meals for all London’s primary school children for one year from September. We know the benefit a hot, nutritious meal provides for learning, for child health and for socialisation, yet too many children currently miss out. This move by the Mayor will help children, families and schools who are struggling through the cost of living crisis and shows the difference that Labour in power can make. The next Labour Government will start by delivering a breakfast club in every primary school in England (funded by ending unfair tax breaks for private schools and non-doms).
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Devastating austerity cuts to school budgets together with soaring energy costs and a SEND funding crisis have left 90% of schools saying they’ll run out of money next year. This is a failure of the last 13 years, and I was proud to stand with young people from Hornsey & Wood Green, who visited Parliament on the first school strike day, to show my support for our dedicated teachers and schools. I hope the Government will come forward before next week’s scheduled strike with a serious proposal to end the dispute. |
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Standing up for refugeesIn my last e-newsletter I expressed my horror at children disappearing from hotels run by the Home Office and trafficked across the country. This month, we have seen appalling, violent scenes outside another hotel being used by the Home Office to house refugees in Knowsley, which must have caused terror and panic to people who have already fled unimaginable horrors. Language matters and the words that politicians and the media use must be chosen carefully, rejecting inflammatory language and racism. Labour secured an Urgent Question on Parliament’s return this week to press the Government on the action they are taking to tackle the growing problem of far-right extremism and to seek answers on why they’ve failed to act on the report by the former Commissioner for Countering Extremism three-and-a-half years after its publication. Hope not Hate research revealed a doubling in far-right activity around asylum accommodation in the last year and the Government has a responsibility not to inflame these tensions or divide communities, but to act to protect vulnerable refugees. The Home Secretary also has a responsibility to speed up the failing asylum system, so people are not left struggling in unsuitable hotels for months or even years. I am proud that our diverse community in Haringey has shown such compassion to refugees, and I stand in solidarity with them. Northern Ireland protocol – BrexitBoris Johnson’s botched “oven ready” Brexit deal continues to haunt the Tory Party, with ongoing reports of potential Ministerial resignations and the right-wing European Research Group sounding ever more critical of Rishi Sunak’s approach to the hard-line deal they forced on the country. Labour has always accepted there are genuine problems with the protocol, and we have consistently offered to work with the Government to fix it in the national interest. This offer remains on the table should the Prime Minister reach a deal with the European Union and the political parties in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement and businesses confidence rely on a common-sense and pragmatic approach prevailing and we will always act sensibly with the best interests of Northern Ireland and the peace process at heart. My month in numbersThis month, my office has responded to over 1,200 casework emails and opened 203 new cases. The temporary closure of Park Road Pools and the ongoing closure of Tottenham Green generated lots of concerned emails, and you can read the joint letter David Lammy and I sent to the Council here and my column in the Ham & High here. It was also high on my agenda when I met with Haringey Council’s Leader Cllr Ahmet and Chief Executive, as was the Council’s plans to tackle the issue of damp and mould in local authority homes. In Parliament I urged the Minister to properly fund the decent homes work that are so desperately needed. 1,150 of you contacted me on policy issues, with the flawed Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill generating the most emails. You can read my thoughts on this bonfire of disaster here. Hundreds of you also told me loud and clear that you oppose the Government’s anti-strike laws. So do I and I voted against them, but sadly Labour’s amendments were voted down and the Bill was passed. A Labour Government would repeal it. I’ve asked 69 Parliamentary Questions on subjects from CAMHS waiting times to the forced installation of pre-payment meters. Read the full list – and the responses I’ve received – here. |
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It was lovely to see so many of you at our Ed Miliband fundraiser, which sent the message loud and clear that tackling the climate emergency will always be front and centre for Labour, both nationally and locally. |
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Non-dom tax statusIf you make your life here, you should pay your taxes here. As the Tories hike taxes on working people, they still refuse to axe the non-dom rules that research shows costs us more than £3 billion a year. In Parliament, I asked the Minister if they’d publish their own figures of the cost of this inaction for small businesses & taxpayers. A Labour Government would abolish the non-dom tax loophole and use that money to fund free meals for school children. Voter IDThe new voter ID rules are wrong, and I voted against the Bill in Parliament. This is a backwards Trumpian attempt to rig democracy in favour of the Tories, and it will reverse decades of democratic progress in the UK. While many of us carry identification as a normal part of life, a significant number of people in the UK don’t, and whilst London doesn’t have elections this May, there are serious concerns that people are going to be wrongly excluded from voting in the places that do. I have submitted Written Parliamentary Questions on these concerns and asked whether the Minister has contacted all households to inform them of voter ID, as well as how they are working with local authorities. |
In the community:
Closure of Wood Green Post OfficeSadly, the Post Office has now confirmed that Wood Green Post Office will close on 11 March. I’m pleased that positive progress is being made on finding a new site, and I presented a petition to Parliament signed by over 1,000 people demonstrating how important these services are to local residents. It’s vital the new branch is up and running as soon as possible, as even a temporary loss of service will be a real blow. You can read my full statement on my website, and I will continue working with Haringey Council and other partners to offer any support I can. Warm Home DiscountI’ve had several worrying emails from disabled or low-income constituents, who’ve found that this year for the first time they’re not eligible for the Warm Home Discount. That’s despite energy prices soaring in recent months and is because the Government quietly changed the criteria for eligibility. It’s shameful that vulnerable people are facing this additional worry, and I have written to the Minister and raised my concerns in Parliament. I was pleased to read that Martin Lewis is also looking into it, following the news that across the country almost 300,000 people are now not eligible despite no change in their personal circumstances. Please get in touch if you are affected by this, and remember my website has lots of useful contacts for anyone struggling with the cost of living crisis. Safer streetsI meet with Haringey’s Borough Commander regularly to raise residents’ concerns around crime and anti social behaviour, as I know this is something that concerns many of you. A particular concern that a number of you have raised with me is around your children’s safety as they start secondary school and begin to travel around independently. Everyone needs to feel that they are safe in their homes, streets and communities, and crucially everyone needs to feel that, when things go wrong, someone will come and there are consequences for law-breakers. Sadly, over the last 13 years of Conservative Governments, we have seen neighbourhood policing decimated – by a staggering 75% in London – and communities are paying the price. The next Labour Government will bring back neighbourhood policing, with a fully-funded package for 13,000 extra neighbourhood police on our streets, and we’d tackle the court backlog that has left a record 17,000 victims waiting over a year for justice. I’m looking forward to an interesting discussion at my sold-out meeting on “Is our criminal justice system in crisis?” this weekend, and I will use it to help inform my work in Parliament. Do get in touch if you have been affected by these issues – it is really helpful for me to hear your experiences.
Shadow Foreign Affairs:
It was an honour to be in Westminster Hall to hear the address from President Zelesnkyy to both Houses of Parliament. I know many people in Hornsey & Wood Green, and indeed across the country, have been moved by the dogged determination of the Ukrainian people in their fight for their freedom in the face of a brutal Russian onslaught over the past year and my Labour colleagues and I have always been steadfast in our support for Ukraine. That includes pushing the Government to ensure that those Ukrainians who came to the UK through the Homes for Ukraine scheme don’t end up pushed into homelessness or destitution due to high rents, deposits and barriers such as the need for guarantors. I am supporting the work of the All-Party Group on Ending Homelessness on this issue. In my own brief I have been busy both inside and outside Parliament. In the Commons, I outlined Labour’s deep concern about the proposed visit of the Governor of Xinjiang to the UK and I held a meeting with the foreign affairs spokesperson of the exiled opposition National Unity Government from Myanmar on the 2 nd anniversary of the coup there. Outside Parliament I was delighted to speak at Asia House to a range of business leaders to outline how a future Labour Government would engage with China and the wider Indo-Pacific region, following on from David Lammy’s keynote speech as shadow Foreign Secretary at Chatham House recently .
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t was wonderful to present awards at the Off West End “Offies” celebration at Ally Pally Theatre and pay tribute to the importance of the arts and the achievements of our brilliant independent, alternative and fringe theatre in London. Pictured here with genius playwrights James Graham and Jack Williams. |
Advice & support:Remember, these e-newsletters are only a snapshot of the things I’m doing each month. If there’s an issue that concerns you which I haven’t covered here, please drop me a line.If you’d like to speak to me at one of my regular advice surgeries, held by telephone and in-person across the constituency, find out here how to book an appointment. My website also has helpful information and support for residents struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. You can also keep up-to-date on my work in Parliament and in the community on Twitter , Facebook or through my website at www.catherinewest.org.uk . Best wishes,
Catherine |