Harpers Green Visit
27th May 2021
Charlotte pledges support for local pubs in Warrington North
21st October 2021Harpers Green Visit
27th May 2021Charlotte pledges support for local pubs in Warrington North
21st October 2021Warrington North Newsletter:
May Update
Supporting Our Key Workers
Abuse should never be part of the job. But polling commissioned by the Institute for Customer Service found that 1,000 customer-facing workers suffered increasing levels of hostility directed towards them in recent years, with more than half having experienced abuse from customers during the pandemic. Nottingham Labour MP Alex Norris had a Private Member’s Bill to tackle this, but it will fall when Parliament is prorogued shortly. We need legislation to be brought in to increase the protections for service workers in line with those given to emergency service workers.
Defining 'Levelling Up'
At the Business Select Committee, we had an oral evidence session as part of our enquiry on ‘levelling up.’ The Government got elected on the promise to level up opportunities in our country. But eighteen months on we have seen absolutely nothing concrete on this- Darren is right that the evidence from Ministers was vague and flimsy.
This Government has had 11 years to level up the country. Now they have discovered the need to do this, the least we can expect is a definition for levelling up and an explanation for who is responsible for this.
Supporting Our Nuclear Sector
I questioned the Business Secretary on the Government’s failure to support our nuclear sector. The nuclear sector is an absolutely crucial part of the skills, levelling up and net zero agendas. It is also provides thousands of high quality, high paid and unionised jobs in Warrington North and across the country.
Three large scale nuclear projects have been abandoned because of the lack of a financing mechanism, which this Government claims to have been working for years. It really does beg the question of why, to this Government, it seems as though nuclear financing is more complicated than nuclear science. As your MP and a member of the Business Select Committee I will continue to fight for a resolution to this, so that we can continue to support our crucial nuclear sector.
Harpers Green Visit
It was great to visit the Harpers Green Extra Care scheme. Based in Padgate, the new scheme has 97 one and two bedroom apartments and on my visit I saw the really high standards to which they are built.
Extra care schemes provide an important balance between maximising independence and catering for care needs. This fostered an amazing community spirit at Harpers Green, as I saw myself when chatting to its lovely residents there. Residents were telling me how the staff ensured they have felt safe and secure when they moved in and all about all the activities that were available to help build the community and help with their health and wellbeing.
Supporting Our Armed Forces
The Government’s 10,000 cut to our armed forces is a reckless and misguided error. The Prime Minister may talk the talk, but he has clearly broken his election pledge not to cut the armed forces. Instead, the Government want to focus on shiny new tech- but this won’t go anywhere near enough in replacing the expertise of our military.
From helping in the fight against flooding to their remarkable work during this pandemic, our armed forces have stood by us. It is time that the Government stands up for them. Warrington North has a proud military history and as a member of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme and an employer signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant, I will always champion the amazing work done by our military.
Fire and Rehire
I asked a parliamentary question on the scourge of ‘fire and rehire’ at British Gas. The Government have paid lip service to its problems but this is simply too late for the loyal British Gas workers who have lost their jobs. As this has happened the Government have sat on their hands, they must now bring forward legislation to ban fire and rehire for all workers.
Fighting Terrorism
I spoke in the debate on the Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism motion- which added the so-called "Atomwaffen Division" (and its aliases) to the list of the UK's proscribed terror organisations, membership of which can carry a penalty of up to ten years in prison. While supporting this motion, I noted that other Nazi organisations, including the Order of the Nine Angles, have not been acted upon despite the threat they pose to public safety and to the very fabric of multicultural life in Britain.
I hope the Home Secretary will act in ensuring that we are able to move more quickly to proscribe these organisations, to give the police the powers they need to disband them and stop them radicalising others.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
My question following the Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Special Committee Report on Historical Inequalities, which found that tens of thousands of Commonwealth soldiers have been commemorated unequally or not at all having given their lives in the World Wars.
The report estimates that between 45,000 and 54,000 casualties (predominantly Indian, East African, West African, Egyptian and Somali personnel) were commemorated unequally, usually by registers or collectively on memorials but not by name. A further 116,000 casualties (predominantly, but not exclusively, East African and Egyptian personnel), but potentially as many as 350,000 were not commemorated by name or possibly not at all. In many circumstances, this was avoidable and a policy decision that the lives of these soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country were not as worthy of remembrance as British soldiers.
I am glad that the Secretary of State apologised on behalf of the Government for this historic wrong, and accepted the findings of the Committee's report as well as the steps required to right this historic wrong. The Unremembered must now be remembered.
Supporting Local Football
At Parliamentary Business Questions I talked about the need to support non-league and grassroots football as we come out of the pandemic. In Warrington North we have some amazing teams like the newly promoted Warrington Rylands, Cheshire League teams like Greenalls Padgate St Oswald’s FC and Warrington Sunday League teams including Wolfpack FC, Cheshire Cheese FC and Winwick Athletic.
Protecting Survivors From Civil Actions
I asked the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, about the fact that for all the Government's talk on Britain being a global leader in human rights, that we continue to sign trade deals with countries committing appalling human rights abuses and he'd been caught on record defending this.
Despite a large number of rebellions from their own benches, the Government voted down the cross-party Genocide Amendment to the trade bill which would prohibit the UK from signing trade deals with countries engaging in genocide.
This Government's stated commitment to human rights in the UK and abroad is being shown for what it is- utterly worthless.
Disability and Access to Services
I represented the Labour Party in the Westminster Hall debate on Coronavirus, disability and access to services. The Women and Equalities Select Committee’s excellent report on this has given the focus and consideration that the Government has failed to give. The way the Government have treated disabled people during this pandemic has been a damning indictment on their shameful lack of care.
This includes the difficulty 60% of disabled people had accessing food and essential supplies; the Do Not Attempt to Resuscitate notices that were put on over 500 people with learning disabilities without discussion, with a third that may still be there; and the failure to communicate with disabled people symbolised by the fact that the Prime Minister still doesn’t BSL interpretation at his briefings.
That’s why Labour agree with the report's recommendation that the Government needs to adopt a social model of disability that recognises the lived experiences that go beyond medical impairments, and that we need a public inquiry to learn the lessons of the pandemic.
As the unlocking continues, it promises to be an exciting summer here in Warrington North. I'm really looking forward to continuing the hard work as your MP!