🌍 Thank you to everyone who has written to me about the horrific situation in Afghanistan. The heartbreaking scenes in Kabul must be a reminder to us all: people fleeing violence and suffering should always be welcome here. We must secure amnesty for Afghans in the UK, provide safe routes, and step up our fight against the Anti-Refugee Bill.
🗣️ Parliament was recalled on Wednesday but unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to speak in the debate. However you can read what I was planning to say here. I also joined with other female MPs to send a letter of solidarity to all the Afghan women MPs.
📞 If you live in Hallam and have family members trying to leave Afghanistan please get in touch and my team and I will do everything we can to help.
✊ This week launched a campaign to end the abuse of public-facing workers. Since the start of pandemic, more than half of customer-facing workers have experienced verbal or physical abuse at work. In September, I’ll be bringing a motion to Parliament to make this abuse a criminal offence. You can share the campaign here, or if you are a public-facing worker, you can share your experience here.
🏥 I have also been continuing to campaign for better miscarraige support. Alongside Hallam resident Lauren, I spoke to ITV News about the urgent need to reform care pathways and shift the narrative. You can watch the programme here.
🏞️ Last week it was announced that the Planning Inspector has upheld Sheffield City Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for the proposed Loxley valley township.This is fantastic news and a huge credit to the great work of Friends of the Loxley Valley and CPRE. We should be protecting and expanding our green spaces for all to enjoy – not building on vital green belts. You can read my full statement here.
🐦 Ahead of Hen Harrier day I joined the RSPB and National Trust in the quest to tag a beautiful hen harrier chick. These are such a precious and magnificent species deserving of protection. You can watch the video here. I also took part in an event put on by Chris Packham, and spoke to Wild Justice about the need to licence grouse shooting and ban all peatland burning.
🐟 It is unacceptable that private water companies are being allowed to get away with dumping raw sewage into rivers across England and Wales, polluting our waterways and damaging marine habitats. I have written this piece for I News laying out Labour’s plans to safeguard our waters from source to sea!
🏭 I know many of you will have seen the terrifying but frankly unsurprising IPCC report which came out last week. My Labour colleagues and I are continuing to push for an immediate global Green New Deal to enable the rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions we urgently need.
💨 ☀️ Last but definitely not least, this week I had a great discussion with Hallam residents, Common Wealth and Unite the Union about how an ambitious Green Industrial Strategy can help address the Climate Emergency and deliver real social and economic justice. Thank you so much to everyone who came!