Welcome to my regular newsletter, keeping you updated on my work as your Member of Parliament.
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has emailed me about the Prime Minister’s conduct over the past few weeks. My thoughts are with all of the people across our city who have sacrificed so much over the past two years, and especially those who were unable to say goodbye to loved ones due to lockdown rules.
Whatever the police investigation reveals, the Prime Minister has demonstrated a complete failure of leadership. He must finally do the right thing and resign. People in our country, who have sacrificed so much during the pandemic, deserve much better than Boris Johnson.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been working with campaigners in our city and across the country to fight the Tories authoritarian Policing Bill in our city and in Parliament. This Friday I will be holding a Zoom meeting to discuss what more we can do in our city to fight this dangerous and discriminatory Bill.
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The Government’s Anti-Refugee Bill also returned to the House of Lords in January. I am currently working with campaigners to raise awareness about the dangerous effects of this Bill on the LGBTQ+ community. You can read more about this campaign below.
Finally, thank you to the over 500 of you who took my survey to let me know what issues I should prioritise over the next year. It will come as no surprise that the climate and nature emergency, protecting our public services, reforming public transport and defending refugee and asylum rights were the top issues that came up time and time again. Below is just some of what I have been doing to hit the ground running on these issues.
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- Over the past couple of weeks I have been working with campaigners in our city and across the country to fight the Tories authoritarian Policing Bill. I recorded this video message asking people to write to the Lords and attend the National Day of Action and I wrote this piece for Now Then Sheffield on our city’s proud tradition of protest. I was also really pleased to have the opportunity to speak at the rally held outside the Town Hall on Saturday.
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- Thanks to pressure from all of you, the Lords defeated the Government and voted down some of the worst parts of the Bill. But the fight is far from over – the Government still wants to ban protests and criminalise the Gyspy, Roma and Traveller community. I am holding a meeting with Sheffield Against the Policing Bill to discuss what more we can do in our city to fight this Bill. Everyone is welcome to join! Please register here.
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- As many of you will already know Unite Stagecoach bus drivers, who have been on strike across Yorkshire, have won an above inflation pay rise! This is amazing news and a huge testament to the power of unions. If you’ve not already, join your union now!
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- I am continuing to support the IWGB couriers striking against pay cuts and worsening conditions. Sheffield will not stand idly by while JustEat and Stuart Delivery exploit and ignore our key workers. I have written to Stewart Delivery CEO in support of the strike. If you can, please get involved in their solidarity action below.
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• I am also scaling up the campaign for funding for mental health services. Building on my campaigning in 2021 in this area, I met with South Yorkshire Eating Disorder Service this week to discuss what more I can do to address the crisis facing these services.
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- The Government’s Anti-Refugee Bill returned to the House of Lords earlier this month. I am concerned that this Bill presents a very real attack on our international legal obligations to those fleeing war. I joined hundreds of people in Sheffield City centre towards the end of last year, to rally against the dangerous Nationalities and Borders Bill and will continue to champion Sheffield’s City of Sanctuary.
- I am currently working with campaigners to raise awareness about the dangerous effects of this Bill on the LGBTQ+ community and yesterday I held a debate in Westminster Hall to push this issue up the agenda. You can read more about the Bill in my piece for the Independent here and watch my speech here.
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- I am also proud to have been elected as vice chair for the All Party Parliamentary Group on migration and I am looking forward to working with this group to hold the Government to account over their hostile migration policy.
- As if attacking our right to protest wasn’t enough, earlier in the month the Tories pushed through new laws requiring people to present photo ID before they vote in local and national elections. This will make it harder for working class, older and Black, Asian and ethnic minority people to vote and represents yet another attack on our democracy. I, along with my Labour colleagues, voted against these dangerous laws. Sadly, the Government voted them through.
- In my role as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) I am organising a number of meetings over the next two months on issues including intersectionality and mental health. I also met with Sense to discuss their new report and how we are going to work together on the upcoming SEND review. I spoke at the launch event of the Ask, Listen, Act report into the experiences of children and young people with SEND during Covid-19.
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- As Shadow Minister for Climate Change I questioned COP26 President Alok Sharma on the Government’s inadequate net-zero strategy. It is very worrying that they have seemingly published this strategy without any understanding of how far individual policies will help reduce emissions or meet vital targets. We are in a Climate Emergency. We don’t have time for more empty promises and Tory greenwash. You can watch my question here. I also spoke to the Independent.
- I also spoke at the Fabian’s New Year conference on how we can solve the climate emergency and the Cynon Valley Climate Assembly.
- This week I attended the debate on the use of bee-killing pesticides. The Government has gone against the explicit advice of their own scientific advisors and approved the use of bee-killing, nature-harming pesticides. It’s like they don’t know we are in a climate and nature emergency. Thank you to my colleague Luke Pollard for securing today’s vital debate.
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- There have been reports that some Trusts re-introduced Covid-19 rules – forcing people to once again attend maternity appointments alone. I have written to Sajid Javid to ask what he will do to ensure guidance is followed and hospitals have necessary resources to support pregnant families. I also spoke to the Yorkshire Post about my concerns.
- I was really pleased to join Holocaust Memorial Day UK for a moving event ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day. I would like to thank the organisers and the speakers for their powerful testimonies. On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember all those who were murdered and persecuted during the Holocaust and subsequent genocides, and we re-commit to creating a better future – free from persecution, genocide and war.
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• Yesterday I met with PCS union members to show my solidarity. These workers have done so much to keep our country going during this pandemic – they deserve better than this Tory Government.
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Get involved!
I am supporting the campaign to stop dog fouling pollution on children’s football pitches in Sheffield. Please join me and sign the petition here:
Sign petition
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This month we celebrated World Braille Day – a day dedicated to creating awareness of the importance of braille as a vital means of communication for blind and partially sighted people worldwide. You can find out about braille from RNIB here:
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The pandemic has left a large backlog in vital services for Disabled children, exacerbating the already huge levels of unmet need. As a result 3/4 Disabled Children have seen their progress regress. I am asking people to please support Disabled Children’s Partnership’s campaign to ask local councils to invest in the services that disabled children and families deserve as they set their budgets for the next year.
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The APPG on SEND, which I Chair, has three upcoming Zoom meetings on SEND intersectionality; the long-awaited SEND review; and social, emotional and mental health in SEND support. If you would like to join these meetings, please register here:
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I am looking for two people to join my team as either a London or Sheffield-based Personal Assistant – supporting my work as the MP for Sheffield Hallam. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, you can find out more about the role 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!
Olivia Blake
MP for Sheffield Hallam
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