Welcome to my regular newsletter, keeping you updated on my work as your Member of Parliament.
As the weather turned this weekend I hope you are all staying warm and safe and you were not too affected by Storm Arwen or the disruption to transport and electricity. I have been out and about supporting the huge number of workers out on strike this week, fighting pay cuts and precarious employment conditions. If you are currently striking or supporting someone who is striking, solidarity! Hopefully I will meet some of you out on the picket lines in the coming weeks.
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At the start of the month I went to COP26 in Glasgow, to share the ideas in our Hallam Climate Manifesto, march on the streets with climate justice campaigners and attend the conference for Nature Day in my role as Shadow Minister for Nature, Water and Flooding. I imagine many of you will be feeling hugely disappointed at the outcome of the talks, I know I am. I will keep pushing for action, locally and nationally, joining campaigns and unions to hold the Government to account and demand the transition we need.
I am also so pleased to announce that I have been awarded the Sense Parliamentarian of the Year award for my work as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group of MPs on SEND.
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Finally, I am now inviting entries to my Season’s Greetings card competition! If you or a family member want to enter, you can send a photograph you have taken or a picture you have drawn to my email: olivia.blake.mp@parliament.uk. Please send your entries by next Friday 10th December! I am really looking forward to seeing them.
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- Over the weekend Our Cow Molly got in touch with me, really concerned about the welfare of their cows, after being left without water for two whole days! South Yorkshire fire service were amazing and were able to make it down to the farm on Sunday evening to make sure there was water for the cows to drink. I want to say a massive thank you to the fire service for being so understanding and going above and beyond to save the day.
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- It is unacceptable that Our Cow Molly – and other residents and businesses – were left completely without water for two whole days, not provided emergency supplies, and then not properly informed by Yorkshire Water when the issue was finally resolved. I will continue to hold water companies to account to make sure they deliver for people in our city and across the country.
- Earlier in the month, on remembrance Sunday, I joined people across Sheffield at the Cenotaph for Sheffield’s remembrance service.
- I sent a message of solidarity to UCU members in Hallam and across the country who are striking in the face of impossible workloads, stagnating and unequal pay, casualisation and attacks on their pensions.
- I visited Unite bus drivers and workers at the Holbrook picket over the weekend to show my solidarity. The weather was frosty but spirits were high!
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- I also joined the IWGB South Yorkshire Couriers on Sunday at their rally and spoke to the Morning Star. They are currently being threatened with a 24% pay cut. They’ll be out on strike throughout December, so join a picket if you can!
- I met young activists to hear about their inspiring campaign action plans. Thank you to the Children and Young People’s Empowerment Project and Living History Project for setting up this project, helping empower young people in our city.
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- I also took part in a panel discussion with Afghan activists at the University of Sheffield discussing the situation in Afghanistan.
- Last week I met with Friends of Loxley Cemetery to hear about their work restoring the area to provide safe access for visitors, maintaining the local environment and ensuring access to historical records. You can fnd out about their future activities and how to get involved here.
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- At the start of the month I took the train to Glasgow to attend Nature Day at the UN Climate talks, COP26. I was sad not to be able to join the march in Sheffield but I joined Sheffield campaigners from Green New Deal Rising at the Climate Justice Global Day of Action in Glasgow.
- Following the end of the talks I know many people will be feeling really let down by our leaders, myself included. If COP26 has shown us anything, it’s that climate action can’t be left to the whims of the rich and powerful, bent on business as usual. It is something we must all have a stake in. It is on all of us to get involved and get organised so we can keep fighting for climate justice and a Green New Deal. You can watch my video message here, and if you can, please share it!
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- As mentioned, I was honoured to receive the Sense Award for Parliamentarian of the Year! Since being elected I’ve made it my mission to be a voice for Disabled people in Parliament, who too often are sidelined by government policy. To have my work as the Chair of the all party group on special educational needs and disabilities recognised, means such a lot. You can read more about the Covid inquiry we carried out last year here.
- Earlier in the month the Government announced their plans to scrap HS2 to the North and Northern PowerHouse Rail. We were promised a rail revolution. What we got instead was more meaningless slogans and broken promises to the North. I’m proud to back calls to extend the Supertram to Sheffield’s hospitals and to bring our buses back under public ownership, to provide public transport everywhere it’s needed. I will also keep up the campaign to bring rail services back to the Sheaf Valley and reopen former stations. Because we need all of this, and massive investment in national and regional transport infrastructure, if the North is to have a viable economy and if we’re going to tackle the climate crisis.
- This month I have been on the Bill Committee for the Kept Animals Bill. Unsurprisingly, the Tories again broke a Manifesto promise – voting down Labour’s amendment, which would ban keeping primates as pets. But on puppy smuggling the votes came down to the wire, with cross-party MPs supporting our amendments! I, along with my Labour colleagues and campaigners across the country, will keep pushing the Government on this in the next stages of the Bill – so we can properly crack down on puppy smuggling and win much needed animal welfare improvements.
- Private companies running Covid-19 testing centres are currently not required to meet the same minimum standards as other diagnostic lab services – risking lives and livelihoods and damaging public trust. I wrote to Sajid Javid demanding that all testing centres are fully accredited.
- I visited Richard Ratcliffe on his 17th day of hunger strike and I wrote to the Prime Minister calling for the Government to step in and do all they can to free Nazanin. Thank you to the many people who have written to me about this important issue.
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- I have been speaking out about the Government sleaze scandal and the unacceptable behaviour of Conservative MPs working dodgy second jobs and abusing their Parliamentary power. Labour gave the Conservatives the chance to do the right thing and vote to immediately stop MPs working on dodgy second jobs. Sadly, they didn’t do it. Politicians should remember that we are elected to represent the people – not private interests – and Labour will continue to hold the Government to account over this.
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Debt advice is an essential service. But funding for face-to-face debt advice is being cut, debt advisors are being made redundant and services are closing. Yesterday I spoke during a debate on this issue, which you can watch here . If you can, please support debt advisors from Unite who are organising against these dangerous cuts:
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SIGN THE PETITION
Sheffield City Council are consulting on a set of proposals to give buses more priority along Abbeydale Road and Ecclesall Road, to reduce delays for people on public transport. You have until the 16th December to feed into the consultation!
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As I mentioned, South Yorkshire Couriers are currently being threatened with a 24% pay cut and will be on strike throughout December. If you are able, please show them some support by donating a takeaways worth to the strike fund:
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75% of disabled people say their needs were overlooked during the pandmeic, half experienced difficulties accessing care and 61% feel less optimistic about their future. Please sign Sense’s petition, calling on the Government to ensure that Disabled people – who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic – are put at the heart of the Covid Inquiry.
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3rd December : There will be pickets at University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University tomorrow morning – join them if you can and support UCU members striking against working conditions, pay stagnation and attacks on pensions!
4th December: This Saturday University of Sheffield Duck Society will be heading to Endcliffe Park to feed the Mandarin Ducks – and everyone is invited!
4th December: The National Emergency Services Museum is putting on a Ghost Hunt this Saturday!
4th December: There are a number of litter picks going on in Hallam this weekend, one in Crosspool and another in Nethergreen and Ranmoor!
6th December onwards: IWGB couriers have asked people to support their pickets next week. You can sign up here.
19th December: Sheaf and Porter Rivers Trust are running a free tour on how the Sheaf was lost and how to get it back.
29th December: The Ball pub in Crookes is holding a Big Quiz of the Year!
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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!
Olivia Blake
MP for Sheffield Hallam
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