August Newsletter

Welcome to my regular newsletter, keeping you updated on my work as your Member of Parliament.

Firstly I want to thank everyone who has gotten in touch with me about the horrific situation in Afghanistan. It is unbearably sad and distressing, especially for those that have friends and family unable to leave. My office and I have been working hard to support people, and I have raised my deep concerns with the Government’s response. I will continue to do everything I can to support those stuck in Afghanistan, as well as campaign to secure amnesty for all Afghans in the UK, ensure safe routes are provided for everyone fleeing war and violence, and step up my fight against the Anti-Refugee Bill.

With Parliament on a break for August I have had time to catch up with constituents in Hallam. I have been out leafleting with volunteers and talking to people across the constituency about the issues they would like me to focus on in the Autumn.

I have also launched a consultation for Hallam residents, following the shocking rise in abuse of front-line workers over the past year. I have heard story after story of constituents who have experienced verbal and physical abuse from customers on a near daily basis, and will be working hard to change the law so that everyone is protected in their place of work. You can read more about the campaign and how to get involved below!

I am also really looking forward to our next Hallam Climate Manifesto assembly in two weeks time, where we will be joined by TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham and Royal Society for Protection of Birds to discuss the extremely important issue of nature and biodiversity. If you have yet to come along to one of these events, please don’t miss it!

REGISTER

In Hallam…

• This week I held a Nature Emergency Summit, following the declaration of a nature emergency by Nature Recovery Sheffield, and then by Sheffield City Council. It was great to bring together key stakeholders in our city to discuss how Sheffield can tackle the nature emergency, and what actions we can take locally. Our city’s expertise, unique landscape and the strength of feeling as highlighted by the nature emergency declaration means Sheffield has a huge opportunity to really lead the way on nature recovery. I am excited to help to push this work forward with the urgency needed.

• As mentioned I have 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 continued to campaign for better miscarriage support. Alongside Hallam resident Lauren, I spoke to ITV News about the urgent need to reform care pathways and shift the narrative on how people speak about miscarriage. You can watch the programme here. 

• A few weeks ago 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 Campaign to Protect Rural England. 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.

In Parliament…

• 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 all Afghans in the UK, provide safe routes for those fleeing war and violence, and step up our fight against the Anti-Refugee Bill.
• Parliament was recalled for the day 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.
• I am supporting a Private Member’s Bill tabled by my Labour colleague MP Barry Gardiner to outlaw the practice of Fire and Rehire. Workers are being bullied, sacked and told they will only be re-employed to do the same job if they accept less money and poorer conditions. We should be strengthening workers’ rights, not standing by whilst bosses use bullying fire and rehire tactics to reduce pay and worsen conditions. It’s way past time fire and rehire was banned and I will be working in Parliament to ensure this is the case.
• I know many of you will have seen the terrifying but frankly unsurprising Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report which came out at the start of the month. 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.
• Following the shocking statistics about tree species decline in Britain, I wrote this piece for the Yorkshire Post about the importance of large scale tree planting in the UK, to tackle the climate and nature emergency. We should be scaling up our tree planting capacity – to reverse the decline, limit the risk of flooding and address the ecological and climate emergency. By closing Wykeham nursery, the Government is doing the exact opposite. With more than 40% of tree species in Britain at risk of extinction, in part due to pests & diseases from commercial imports, we need more British tree nurseries, not less.
• In my role as Shadow Minister for Nature, Water and Flooding, I have also been campaigning for an end to the pollution of our waterways. 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 have pledged my support to the Disabled Children’s Partnership as a Disabled Children’s champion. Nearly 3/4 of disabled children have seen progress managing their conditions regress due to the pandemic. We need a well funded, targeted recovery plan for Disabled children now.
• I was really disappointed to see the new ME guidelines delayed again. We must listen to expert groups like Action For ME, MEAssociation and those with experience of ME, and fully recognise ME as the medical illness it is.
• I took part in a Q&A session hosted by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority’s LGBT+ forum , to discuss LGBT+ equality, women’s rights, disability and my experiences as an MP.
• The Government is about to make a huge cut to Universal Credit, which is predicted to plunge 500,000 people into poverty, including 200,000 children. Earlier in the month I joined the Unite campaign, calling on the Government to stop this disastrous cut. You can watch my video message here.

Get involved!

For our second to last Hallam Climate Manifesto we will be joined by TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham and charity RSPB to discuss the important issue of nature & biodiversity. Only by addressing the Nature Emergency can we tackle the climate crisis and ensure climate justice. You can read more about the event here and sign up to it below:

SIGN UP

If you are a public-facing worker and have experienced abuse at work please share your experience with me, so I can help raise the alarm and change the law, so that everyone is protected at work.

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

Nature Recovery Sheffield are asking everyone to join us by declaring a Nature Emergency for Sheffield. It is vital we tackle both the climate and ecological crises together, and ensure solutions to the climate crisis are good solutions for nature too.If you’ve not already, please sign up to the declaration:

DECLARE A NATURE EMERGENCY

There will be a foodbank collection point in Fulwood between 10am and 1pm on the 4th September and in Crookes at the same time on the 11th September. If you are able to help out with either of these, please get in touch with me here:

VOLUNTEER

Dates for your diary…

3rd September: Extinction Rebellion Sheffield are holding a memorial event outside Barclays on Pinstone Street to remember and celebrate all those we have lost and will continue to lose due to the effects of the climate crisis.

4th September: Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust have organised a Sheaf River Clean Up between Broadfield Park and Saxon Road between 10am and 1.30pm.

5th September: Fulwood Old Chapel is holding a Fete with games, drinks, food and local performers.

17th September: The Gardeners Rest are hosting an illustrated talk on the history of Sheffield’s allotments from the 1700s, through industrialisation and two world wars, to the present day!

20th September: Join Pluto Press for a joint launch event to mark the release of two exciting new books, ‘Make Bosses Pay: Why We Need Unions’ by Eve Livingston and ‘Burnt: Fighting for Climate Justice’ by Chris Saltmarsh.

If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving my monthly newsletter you can do so by clicking on the button below. You can view my privacy policy 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!

Olivia Blake

MP for Sheffield Hallam