🗳️ This week I have been busy on the phone and out on the doorstep, joining local councillor candidates ahead of the elections next week. If you are unsure who to vote for on Thursday, or if you want to find out more about your local candidates, Sheffield based organisation, Who Is My Councillor, have developed a new tool to make it easier to get in touch with local candidates and compare policies and priorities. 

✊ This week was also International Workers’ Memorial Day – a day to remember all those who have lost their lives at work, but also a reminder of our duty to fight for the living. We must address the injustices exposed by the pandemic and build a society where workers are safe and have their rights protected. You can read my statement for the Sheffield TUC here. 

💰 Earlier this week I wrote a piece for the Yorkshire Post calling for more funding to address the chronic underfunding of our mental health services, reverse hospital admission trends and give our vital frontline eating disorder specialists the support they need to continue their life saving work. 

✍️ On Tuesday, MPs debated asylum accommodation and immigration detention. I wasn’t able to attend, so instead I have taken the time to set out my views and my work campaigning for a just and humane asylum system here. 

🏠 The Foreign Secretary must immediately press the Government of Israel to stop the eviction of the the Sumarin family and protect the thousands of others currently under threat of eviction in Palestinian territories. I wrote to Dominic Raab along with other Sheffield Labour MPs. 

🌎 This week the Public Accounts Committee, of which I am a member, published a report into the Treasury’s lack of “understanding, leadership and coordination”, in the face of the global climate emergency. I spoke to local journalists about the need for the HMRC and HMT to set out a clear, longer-term vision for how it will work to help the UK achieve net zero. You can read the full report and recommendations here. 

💷 Also on PAC this week we looked at fraud and error in the Public Sector. I asked about transparency, business grants, skills and cross Government working to prevent and detect fraud.

🌱 Our next Hallam Climate Manifesto event is on the 11th May! We will be joined by community union Acorn Sheffield and Dr. Lee Crookes, a critical geographer/planner from the Urban Studies and Planning Department at the University of Sheffield, to discuss how we can transform our neighbourhoods and build stronger communities, which have climate justice at their heart. Sign up here.