🗣️Last week, during a debate on special educational needs and children’s mental health services, I spoke about my experience as someone who is neurodivergent, and the long-term mental health impact of late diagnosis. Young people today deserve action to cut waiting times and improve screening so we can ensure early diagnosis of all neurodiverse conditions. You can watch my speech here or read about it in the Yorkshire Post here.
💬I also chaired our first meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on SEND last week, where we discussed the intersectionality of SEND with race, gender, sexuality, class. Thank you to all those who came and contributed to the discussion. You can sign up to future sessions here.
💰Children with life-threatening eating disorders are being denied vital mental health support – because specialist services are at breaking point. The Government must address the chronic underfunding of these life-saving services and ensure specialist care is available to everyone. Here is my speech during last week’s debate in Parliament on mental health.
🏳️🌈Following my debate in Parliament, I wrote this piece for Pink News about the effect of the Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill on the LGBTQ+ community.
✊This week is #HeartUnions week. As a proud trade unionist, I encourage everyone who isn’t already part of a union to join one and to support the many workers in Sheffield who are currently striking right now against cuts to pay and pensions.
🎓I also want to send my solidarity to all Sheffield University Staff who have been out on strike this week, fighting against a 35% cut to their pension. This is on top of a decade of pension cuts which have left University staff £240,000 worse off. We must fight these cuts!
⚽I met with campaigners last weekend to hear about the challenges they are facing providing a safe environment for Sheffield kids to play football. They have started a petition to clamp down on dog fouling on the pitch, which you can sign here.
🧪To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science I shared this photo of me in a past scientific life! There’s still a long way to go but I’m always inspired by all of the amazing women I have met in academia and industry.
🛢️As Shadow Minister for Climate Change I have been campaigning for Windfall Tax on Oil and Gas companies. The likes of BP and Shell have made record breaking profits this year. Meanwhile energy prices are rising exponentially and millions of people across the country are being forced to choose between eating and heating. We need a Windfall Tax now to address this crisis, as well as urgent investment in the green, renewable energy of the future.
☀️It was great to be out visiting Lembas and the South Yorkshire Energy Centre last week, with Ed Miliband, Louise Haigh and Oliver Coppard, and to hear about the transformative projects being run by Sheffield Renewables, to provide secure, affordable energy to people in our city. You can see some pictures of the day here.
🌳It was also great to visit Porter Valley – and hear about their important work desilting the dam and restoring wildlife to the area. Thank you to everyone at Friends of Porter Valley who have worked for years to raise the funds for this vital renovation.
🚨Finally, thank you so much to everyone who came along to our meeting last Friday to discuss what we can do to fight the dangerous and discriminatory policing bill in our city. It was a great evening and I am looking forward to working with you all to sound the alarm about the Government’s authoritarian plans.