Olivia Blake Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam
🏥 Last week I held a debate in Parliament – on the recent findings of the Lancet report into miscarriage and the state of miscarriage care in the UK. A re-focus on miscarriage is desperately needed, and long overdue. The days of leaving women to suffer in silence must become a thing of the past. I made this argument to the Minister during the debate, spoke to the Guardian about the issue, and wrote a piece for Politics Home outlining the changes we need to see.
🗞️Whilst the response from the minister was promising, so much still needs to be done to improve miscarriage care. I wrote this piece for the I paper, outlining what is next for the campaign.
👂This week I also met with representatives from the Sheffield Maternity Cooperative to hear about the amazing work they do in our city to provide information and care for people and to learn more about what I can do to support this work.
🌱 In my new role as Shadow Minister for Nature, I asked the Government why they are only committing to “further the objective” of halting nature decline, rather than meeting it. The government seems to have forgotten that we are in a nature emergency and time is running out. We need concrete targets to reverse the decline now, not next year.
🐦On Monday I spoke during a Westminster Hall debate on grouse shooting, following a petition which was signed by over 111,000 people. Sadly the Government rejected the petition, but the Labour Party will continue to push for the introduction of licensing to ensure these habitats are managed responsibly and birds of prey are protected.
🌍I also spoke to the Sheffield Telegraph about my new Shadow Minister role and how I plan on using this role to push for the urgent action needed to tackle the nature and climate emergency.
✊🏿I wrote this statement of support ahead of the day of action organised by These Walls Must Fall. Campaigners across the city are calling for an end to the Hostile Environment. Please join their campaign to demand justice for our migrant siblings.
🗣️As Chair of the All Party group on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), I gave a speech at the National SEND conference. I also spoke at a SEND conference organised by Westminster Insight.
🗳️ I spoke at a Labour Party event earlier in the week about democracy and proportional representation. It is our duty to ensure more and more people are involved in politics and have a stake in our society.
🌹I have also been out on the doorstep in Batley and Spen, listening to people and supporting our wonderful candidate, Kim Leadbeater ahead of the by-election next week.
🚜I wrote this piece for Labour List about the Government’s new damaging trade deal with Australia, which will cause irreversible damage to our farming communities. Our rural communities have deep-rooted cooperative traditions and values that stretch back generations – values at the heart of our Labour movement. As the Labour Party we must build on these values to offer an alternative, supporting local farmers to thrive. You can read the full piece here.