Welcome to my regular newsletter, keeping you updated on my work as your Member of Parliament.
I hope this email finds you well. June has been a busy month of firsts! I held my first adjournment debate in Parliament, where I managed to secure important commitments from the Government to reform miscarriage support, a really welcome step for everyone who has been campaigning on this issue for so long. I stood at the dispatch box in Parliament for the first time in my new role as Shadow Minister for Nature and questioned the Environment Minister directly about Government’s lack of biodiversity targets. And I watched the England football team win against Germany in the Euros!
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I am also especially excited about our next Hallam Climate Manifesto event which will be happening on Monday 12th July at 5.30-7pm. The climate crisis is a threat to us all, but we do not all face it equally and we are also not all equally responsible. Any outcomes of COP26, including new national contribution commitments, must work to redress this, and centre international climate justice – a term glaringly absent from the Government’s current four priorities for the UN talks.
This month we will be discussing what we can do locally to ensure climate justice is embedded in COP26 and in our climate movements here in Hallam. We will be joined by Bangladesh-based NGO BRAC and climate justice campaigners War on Want. I really hope to see you all there!
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• A few days ago John Lewis announced it will not be re-opening its Sheffield store. This is bitterly sad news for the committed staff who will lose their jobs and for the whole of our city. I want to thank Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield who arranged for us to meet with John Lewis management earlier this year. I am really disappointed they haven’t listened to our concerns.
• This month I 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 their work. I also met with the Safe Mum, Safe Baby campaign and a Hallam constituent to hear about the campaign for safer medication for pregnant women with epilepsy.
• I met representatives from the Renters Reform Coalition and constituents from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development – to hear more about their campaigns.
• I met with the CEO of Sheffield Children’s Hospital, to discuss the issues facing their services.
• I spoke at The Eco Church Festival, an event hosted by Sheffield Diocese to create a space for people to come together and reflect on the climate and nature crises in the lead up to COP26. You can read more about the event here!
• Earlier in the month I was joined by people across Hallam for a great discussion on how we can build a clean, green energy revolution in our city to tackle the Climate Emergency. Thank you to everyone who came and to our great speakers from Sheffield Renewables, Power For People and North Ayrshire Council. I am really looking forward to the next event!
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• We have also had an update from the Government on our bid to restore rail services to the Sheaf Valley. We will find out whether we have secured the bid later in the summer. You can read the full update here and about our original bid here.
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• A few weeks ago I led 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 Minister has now committed to adopting a number of our recommendations, so much still needs to be done to improve miscarriage care. I wrote this piece for the I paper, outlining the next steps for the campaign.
• I want to thank everyone who has sent me messages of support over the past year, and I particularly want to thank all of the constituents who have shared their experiences with me. Together we have pushed the debate forward and secured some really welcome wins. You can watch my speech during the debate below:
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• Along with other Sheffield Labour MPs I called on the Government to cancel their cut to foreign aid, a dangerous decision which will risk lives. Thank you to everyone who has emailed me about this issue. You can read my full statement here.
• I wrote this piece about the Government’s new 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. We must build on these values to offer an alternative, supporting local farmers to thrive.
• I went on LBC’s radio show to hold the Government to account on their complete failure to provide adequate levels of funding to schools and enable young people to make up for lost learning over the past year.
• In my new role as Shadow Minister for Nature, I questioned the Government in Parliament over 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. I also spoke to the Sheffield Telegraph about my new Shadow Ministerial role and how I plan on using it to push for the urgent action needed to tackle the nature and climate emergency. You can read the piece here.
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• I attended the World Ocean Day debate in Westminster Hall and called on the Government to implement a strategy to protect and restore our oceans. I also wrote a piece for Bright Green which you can read here. Only by incorporating oceans into COP26 and G7 climate policy – both the dangers they face and the huge natural solutions they offer – do we stand a hope of reaching net-zero and ensuring a just transition.
• I also spoke on behalf of the shadow frontbench 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.
• Following the Government’s refusal to support Labour’s amendment to strengthen peatland burning legislation, I spoke to Now Then Magazine about the urgent need to ban burning on all upland peat.
• I spoke to the Guardian about the need for a national register for eating disorder deaths. We must introduce a better system to record eating disorder diagnoses and improve the accuracy of recorded deaths so we can properly understand the scale of the crisis we face and take appropriate steps to address it. I also attended a roundtable discussion on eating disorders with campaigner Hope Virgo.
• 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.
• 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.
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Campaigners from Save Sheffield Archaeology are holding an online rally, ahead of the council meeting on the 12th, to help raise awareness about the University department closures. If you can, please join the rally. If not, please sign and share the petition to grow support for the campaign!
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Earlier in the month These Walls Must Fall organised a day of action across the city, calling for an end to the Hostile Environment. I wrote a statement of support, which you can read here. On the 15th July there will be another (national!) day of action, calling for an end to immigration reporting. If you would like to join (or help organise!) a solidarity protest at a local immigration Reporting Centre, please get involved here:
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Trans Pride was earlier this month. I sent a message of solidarity to everyone who was able to attend events, and all those who weren’t. Find out more and get involved in the campaign for Trans Equality:
3rd July: On the 73rd anniversary of the formation of our NHS, rallies will be held across the country to demand patient safety, pay justice and an end to privatisation. Find out more here.
3rd July: Later in the day on Saturday Reclaim Sheffield Streets are holding a vigil for women who experience misogynistic and gender-based oppression on our streets. If you cannot make the vigel, please light a candle and retweet about the event.
10th July: As part of the Migration Matters festival, Ify Adenuga will read extracts from her memoir, Endless Fortune at the Theatre Deli Sheffield, examining the experience of the African diaspora and the complications around immigration from a personal perspective. You can find out about more exciting Migration Matters festival events here.
12th July: Please join me for our next Hallam Climate Manifesto event where we will discuss what we can do to ensure climate justice is embedded in COP 26 and our movement. You can sign up here.
14th July: As part of the Sheffield Libraries Wild Summer programme, Ignite Imaginations artist Charlie Hill is leading a nature walk and drawing session.
30th July: Poet Helen Mort is holding an interactive lunchtime walk in Endcliffe Park, featuring short readings and a creative writing exercise. Find out more here.
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Thank you for reading my newsletter. If you would like to share it with your neighbours or friends in Hallam, you can share the sign up link with them here.
As always, please get in touch if there are issues you would like me to raise or campaigns you would like me to get involved with!
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