Israel and Gaza
I welcome the temporary pause of hostilities in Gaza, the significant increase in aid and humanitarian supplies – including to the north of Gaza – and the phased return of hostages we have been seeing in recent days.  Crucially, as Labour has repeatedly called for, we must use this space to take more steps on the path towards a full and enduring cessation of hostilities. 

In the long term there can only be a political solution to this crisis and my colleague David Lammy, the shadow Foreign Secretary, has been in the region in recent days in discussions with various partners – including the Saudi Foreign Minister, and Israeli and Palestinian representatives – to reiterate our desire to work with international partners to secure a lasting peace with a free and sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel. 

I continue to update my website with the work Labour is doing within Parliament and more widely, including community reassurance, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any specific questions.

New Parliamentary session, same old Tories
This month saw the State Opening of Parliament as the King delivered his speech to signify the start of a new Parliamentary session (the last before the next General Election which can’t come soon enough).  Unfortunately, the measures announced were simply more of the same.  We face stagnant growth, sky-rocketing mortgages, crumbling schools and hospitals, a cost-of-living crisis, yet Rishi Sunak offered no change on public services, no change on the cost of living and no change to an economic model that has failed to give working people security and opportunity.  

There are steps in the speech I welcome. I support Jade’s law to remove parental rights from those who murder their co-parent, Martyn’s law to force UK venues to draw up anti-terror plans, and an independent regulator in football. I also support measures on smoking and public health. 

But in the main, it was a missed opportunity that failed to address the housing crisis, failed to deliver on skills, failed to deliver an Employment Bill to end fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts, or make work pay with a real living wage. Its Oil and Gas Bill chose climate wrecking fossil fuels over cheaper, greener renewables in a shameful political gimmick that even the Energy Secretary admits will not take a single penny off anyone’s bills. 

WATCH my speech during the debate, where I challenged the Government on the housing crisis they’d presided over and the struggles our once thriving high streets face at the end of another difficult year.

 

Campaigning for warmer homes
It was a pleasure to meet Tottenham & Wood Green Friends of the Earth to receive their petition signed by over 1,650 local residents campaigning for action on warm homes.  WATCH here.  The next Labour Government will insulate 19 million homes, helping to slash energy bills and create thousands of high quality green jobs.

Tory maths bungle will leave schools in Haringey £360,000 worse off next year
I met with the Head of the National Association of Head Teachers this month to discuss the challenges facing our schools including crumbling buildings, staff shortages, and support for SEND.  These have been compounded by a Department for Education error that will now see schools in Haringey lose over £360,000 when they can ill afford to after years of uncertainty over long-term funding.  The next Labour Government will put education at the heart of national life again – starting by recruiting 6,500 more teachers and putting mental health counsellors in every secondary school, paid for by ending private schools’ tax breaks.

 

• I had a useful online catch up with Royal Mail bosses in advance of the busy festive season. Our area has been particularly hard hit by postal delays over recent winters, and I pushed them on the actions they’re taking to support hard-working posties and prevent any repeat.  They told me they have 38 additional staff starting, and that they’ve put in place systems to make sure all postcode areas are covered if staff are off. That’s something I’ve long been calling for. They also said complaints were down and they were confident service levels will be better this Christmas.  However, do let me know if that isn’t your experience.
• I welcomed young people from Haringey Learning Partnership to Parliament as part of their action day.  Such passionate advocates for global education.
• I opened the fabulous Green Christmas Fair at Hornsey Community Centre – please support our local businesses where you can this festive season.
• In advance of Small Business Saturday I joined the Muswell Hill Business Forum to meet with local businesses and chat about the support they’d like to see and the issues our high streets face.
• As Co-Chair I hosted a meeting of Foundation Years Information and Research looking at the Finnish early years model and what we can learn from their experiences here in the UK.
• I attended moving Remembrance Services across Hornsey & Wood Green as our community came together to pay their respects this Remembrance Sunday.

Shadow Foreign Affairs:

Lord Cameron and his links with China
Since my last e-news we have seen an unwelcome blast from the past with the unexpected appointment of David Cameron as the Foreign Secretary in the reshuffle which took place after the belated and overdue sacking of Suella Braverman. Mr Cameron’s domestic legacy is well known, with the disastrous results of the austerity he and his Lib Dem coalition partners thrust upon our communities, but his foreign policy legacy and his links with foreign states are now a serious concern. As Labour’s shadow Asia Minister I am acutely concerned by suggestions that he has implicitly worked on behalf of the Chinese state-backed Belt and Road Initiative, and I have demanded he come clean and reveal his links and relevant interests in spite of the fact we – as your elected representatives – are not able to question him in Parliament.

Mongolia & Malaysia
As part of my shadow Ministerial role I held extremely productive meetings with the Mongolian Culture Minister on her visit to London and the Malaysian High Commissioner to Britain. As we inch closer to the election we desperately need, part of my role is to represent Labour as a potential future Government to the international partners we want Britain to reconnect to, and I will be having many further meetings with partners in the region to demonstrate Labour’s sincere commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation.

 

Last month was a busy one for constituents needing my support, and my team and I opened 303 new cases and responded to over 1,800 emails.  With the cost-of-living crisis and colder, winter months seeing energy bills soar, Moneyhelper’s benefits calculator can provide much needed advice on the support available. 

Delays are yet again the theme of so many of the emails I receive.  Whether it’s waiting on a visa application, a Universal Credit payment or a vital housing repair, nothing feels to be working after thirteen years of the Tories causing so much damage to our public services.  Whilst my intervention can help individual cases get resolved, we need a change of Government to really tackle their appalling record.

I’ve also heard from constituents worried about crime, and following my walkabout on the Campsbourne Estate, Haringey Police have shared details of OWL local crime alerts – a way of keeping you updated on what’s happening in your ward.  More information and how to sign up can be found here.

My regular advice surgeries take place on the second Friday of the month in December.  Do get in touch if I can be of any assistance.

Best wishes,

Catherine

Catherine West MP
Labour MP for Hornsey & Wood Green
Shadow Foreign Minister – Asia and the Pacific