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

I hope everyone in Hallam is enjoying the summer, staying safe in the heat and able to have some time off. I’ve been knocking on doors to hear how the cost of living crisis and bus cuts are affecting people locally. Staggeringly 13% of people in Hallam live in fuel poverty. I know our constituency is very generous and caring and I’ve been so impressed with the events I’ve been attending over the past few weeks.

If there is a constituency event you would like me to attend over the summer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, I’d love to be there!

With the record-breaking temperatures of the past month, the UK’s first ever Red weather warning, multiple fire services across the country declaring major incidents and homes going up in flames – once again minds have been focused on the deepening crisis facing people and the planet.

It has never been clearer: rather than the deafening silence in the ongoing Tory contest for leader – or worse, the active hostility to net zero – the climate and nature emergencies should be the number one priority of whoever the next Prime Minister is. You can read below about what I have been doing to hold Ministers accountable for their abysmal record on climate action.

On a lighter note, the England Women’s Football team brought it home! Well done to everyone on the squad, but particularly our South Yorkshire stars. I have loved watching them play and they have done us all proud. I will be working with Labour colleagues in Sheffield and in Parliament to ensure the legacy of this tournament lives on, and all girls are able to access football inside and outside of school.

In Sheffield…

• I visited Regather Cooperative, a worker-owned, sustainable food co-op in Sheffield. It was great to hear about the projects they are running and visit their farm in North East Derbyshire. Huge thanks to all those working to deliver sustainable food across our city. You can get involved here.

• It was a pleasure to join Crookes and Crosspool Councillor Minesh Parekh and residents of Alexander Court Nursing Home at their Summer Fete last month. It was such a great afternoon of dancing and raffles! I also attended the Stannington Garden Party, listened to the amazing Stannington Band and enjoyed delicious food made by members of the community.

• I would like to express my continued solidarity to members of the RMT union in Sheffield and across the country. These are some of the rail industry’s lowest paid workers – fighting for passenger safety and accessibility, a decent wage during a cost of living crisis and public transport fit for the future. The Government urgently needs to get round the negotiating table and support our rail workers. I attended the picket in Sheffield to speak to workers about their demands.

• Huge congratulations to the Sheffield CF Health Hub team for being awarded the Future NHS Award for North East and Yorkshire at the NHS Parliamentary Awards. I am so glad your work has been recognised. I was proud to attend the award ceremony and hear more about the team’s ground-breaking work.

In Parliament…

• Last month the Government published its Women’s Health Strategy. Instead of honouring its commitments to recording miscarriage data and 24/7 care, the document offers little in the way of concrete reform. Pushing reform further into the long grass is unacceptable. People right now are being left to suffer in silence, turned away from support, because the Government is refusing to act. I will continue to work with campaigners , constituents, Tommy’s, Myleene Klass and MPs across Parliament to ensure people receive care and advice after every loss, 24/7 support is available to all, and every miscarriage is recorded. I’ve secured a further meeting with the Minister to discuss the gaps in the women’s health strategy.

• After being invited by a number of constituents, I attended a roundtable with the BMA pensions committee to hear about solutions to the NHS pension taxation crisis. It was an insightful event and I am hoping to now meet with people in Sheffield Hallam who have been affected by this. Get in touch if you are interested in attending. 
  

• I want to share my solidarity and support to Openreach and BT workers, who have made history by taking strike action for the first time in 35 years! They are fighting real term pay cuts and leading the charge against the cost of living crisis.  
  

• Rather than deal with the causes of the cost of living crisis, the Government is trying to stop people from protesting about it and attempting to undermine legitimate industrial action, too. I wrote this piece for Labour Outlook, on the cost of living crisis and Government authoritarianism. I also joined campaigners and activists from across the movement for an Arise Festival event to discuss why we must come together to defend our right to protest and oppose Tory divide and rule.

• As the RSPB Hen Harrier Species Champion, I joined Chris Packham and Wild Justice at this year’s Hen Harrier Fest to celebrate the beautiful Hen Harrier and discuss what we can do to protect it. Thanks to many others for a truly excellent event. I will continue to work with campaigners in Parliament and across the country to defend this important species.

• Ever since Parliament passed a Climate Emergency motion in 2019, the Government has been missing in action. Now we are facing record breaking heatwave temperatures and we are completely unprepared .We need a rapid investment in real green technologies, but the Government is sitting on their hands. I questioned the Minister on the Government’s abysmal record on the climate emergency. 

• Following the damning court ruling, I also asked the Minister why MPs weren’t informed that proposals in the Government’s net-zero strategy fell short of what is needed to meet our legally binding net-zero targets. Watch my question here to hear the Government’s dismal response.

• I am proud to be supporting the Climate and Ecology Bill in Westminster, which had its second reading in the Lords last month! I wrote this piece about why I am supporting the Bill for Politics Home.

Get involved!

Foodhall Sheffield are holding a number of events over the coming months including regular community meals, coffee mornings for trans people, non binary people and women. They also have an activist co-working space every Thursday 2pm-8pm. You can find out more below, but if you are able to support their survival fundraiser, you can do so here:

SUPPORT FOODHALL

NHS breast cancer screening was effectively paused during the pandemic and as a result almost one million women missed appointments. This means that 8,000 women could be living with undiagnosed cancer. My colleague, Labour MP Dawn Butler, who was diagnosed with cancer in November last year, has launched a campaign to “find the one million missing mammograms”. If you’re a woman between 50-70, please book a routine appointment and get checked now.

FIND OUT MORE

Dates for your diary:

Throughout August: Foodhall Sheffield are holding weekly coffee mornings for trans people, non binary people and women.

21st August: The Peddler Market team are putting on an Inner-City Flower Market , with live music and art and local produce

24th August: Sheffield Greenpeace are organising a curry and quiz night. Ring Dawn on 07505244995 to book your place.

3rd September: An illustrated talk highlighting the history of Ecclesall, Dore, Handsworth, Stannington and Bradfield.

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