Here’s a summary of my work for Brighton Pavilion locally and in Parliament from March 3 – March 11. As usual, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need my help with anything.
NHS Reinstatement Bill
I’ve spent a significant part of my week working on the NHS Reinstatement Bill, which I presented at Prime Minister’s Questions. The NHS is being dismantled by stealth and it’s time to reverse 25 years of marketisation and privatisation to protect our service for future generations. I’m honoured to be working with NHS campaigners presenting this cross-party Bill to keep our NHS publicly paid for and crucially publicly provided. You can read my Guardian Comment is Free piece here , read a piece from the New Statesman about the Bill here and watch a short video with local residents I made here.
Time to Act climate march
Over 20,000 people took to the streets of Westminster on Saturday 7th to call for real action on climate change ahead of the election in May and the global climate summit in Paris in December. The atmosphere was hugely positive and the urgent call for bold government action to keep fossil fuels in the ground was beautifully illustrated by different blocs and banners from students to elders, faith groups to local food campaigners. I was delighted to be asked to give a speech at the rally, alongside fantastic speakers including 12 year old Laurel who made an amazing call to action.
Lobbying for community and cooperative energy
The Government’s planned changes to tax relief threaten locally-owned renewable energy schemes and their potential to end the dominance of the Big Six energy giants in Brighton and beyond. Together with Green MEPs, I’ve written to the Energy Secretary to set out our concerns and call for action. I’m following this up with a parliamentary question pressing for a transition period, at the very least.
Maximus
On the first of March Maximus took over the contract to assess people claiming sickness benefits. Its predecessor, Atos, was not fit for purpose, and many constituents have experienced unacceptable delays and problems when dealing with them.
I’ve written to Maximus to ask what steps they will take to reduce the huge backlog of applications waiting to be processed, and I’ll continue to argue in Parliament that the current assessment process should be scrapped altogether, as I don’t believe that a private company, which has won a contract from a Government with a clear agenda, should be charged with decisions about eligibility.
Northern Lights
Last week a Licencing Panel meeting took place to review the licence held by the Northern Lights bar and restaurant. I wrote to Brighton and Hove City Council to say that I thought it would be hugely disproportionate to remove the licence in this instance. They agreed and the licence wasn’t revoked. I’ve now written to Sussex Police about the way they handled the situation.
World Book Day at Westdene Primary School
Thursday marked World Book Day and I visited Westdene Primary School - which celebrated the day with much enthusiasm! Whilst I was there I also saw the school’s ‘My Brighton’ art exhibition which included wonderful photos and writing. It was lovely to meet the school’s Art Ambassadors and to hear about the project.
Preston Park Velodrome
I spoke to John Mills from British Cycling about the work needed to bring the cycle track in Preston Park back up to competitive racing standard. I’ve now gone back to Brighton and Hove City Council to see whether a way forward might be identified.
An Idiot’s Guide to Politics
On Tuesday, I was joined by the talented comedian and political commentator, Jolyon Rubinstein, at the University of Sussex, to showcase his new film “An Idiot’s Guide to Politics”. The event was a huge success, with a packed auditorium and an interesting discussion about democracy.
We were also able to help students register to vote, which is extremely important as many people have dropped off the electoral register due to a change in Government regulations. The new rules mean that students are likely to be under-represented in the General Election. If you are worried about your own registration, details about how to register can be found here.
University of Sussex Politics Society
The Politics Society held a Question Time event on Wednesday. It was a lively debate with questions on tuition fees and the EU.
BBC Schools Report
Having enjoyed a fantastic discussion and Q&A with students from Patcham High School as part of their BBC School Report project, I filmed a short political slot for the initiative which will be aired later this month. It’s crucial that politics, and politicians, become much more accessible – a large part of that must come from Parliamentary reform: MPs must be fully accountable and the political system fully representative and transparent. But initiatives like this, the Speaker’s Digital Democracy initiative, digital media projects and everyday social media sites, can be important tools in helping re-engage people in politics.
Green Party Conference
We had a great spring Conference at the weekend in Liverpool. I was delighted to give an opening speech and to chair a fascinating panel discussion on what Syriza’s election victory means for the political left in the UK. I also held a ‘Meet your MP’ gathering so people could just come along and ask questions – many people came, and it was a great session.
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