On the 1st March 2024 the House of Commons will get a chance to debate and possibly vote on the bill to ban Conversion practices. The final version is available from the House of Commons website from the evening of the 23rd February, this will include a full set of explanatory notes. All further documents…
Geographies don’t vote, people do. When we say traditional Labour heartland what we mean is traditional Labour people. But in last week’s elections Labour failed to regain people, we lost in 2019 and didn’t break through enough with people in some of the southern and shire seats we needed; traditional Labour people and new Labour…
This week I have withdrawn my amendments from the committee stage of the overseas operations bill, the government-proposed legislation that puts time limits on the criminal responsibility of British service persons.
In the aftermath of the shock election defeat of 2015, Harriet Harman determined that the electorate had spoken and that we should respect their wishes and abstain on the now infamous welfare bill. In doing so, many members and Labour voters believed we left behind a core Labour value of protecting the most vulnerable in…
This week the government introduced legislation to ban the supply of single-use plastic straws, single-use plastic-stemmed cotton buds and plastic drink stirrers in England. Finally, something we can applaud the government for – until you dig a little deeper and find it is once again an inadequate response to a growing problem. There can be…
Every day, the Brexit process delivers something more unbelievable than the last. Sometimes this takes the form of living satire, like yesterday when the House of Commons is forced to suspend its sitting because it is literally raining inside. Sometimes it takes a more alarming form. If we weren’t so worn down, the idea that…
Last year in the House of Commons, I came out as one of the 100,000 people in the UK living with HIV. While there has been huge progress in treating HIV, it remains just one of many issues which disproportionately affects gay men. Gay men like me are also more likely to earn less, be…
More than 100 years ago Ambrose Gorham set up a fund to support primary education in Telscombe Village. He did this because he knew that education is at the heart of community. It is often schools that bring generations together, that transform communities and help our children achieve their dreams. Community education has been at…
With 250,000 people affected by ME in the UK is it time for this condition to be treated with the seriousness it deserves.
From today, EU citizens in the UK must apply to stay in your homes. My message to Europeans in my constituency is, this is your home and you are welcome here. This is a difficult day for all EU citizens, and it is shaming that you must apply to remain our friends, colleagues, family, and…
Last month, I became the first MP to disclose in the House of Commons that they were HIV positive. Of course, there were personal reasons for my decision to make such a public announcement, but my primary motivation was to help destigmatise the conversation around HIV and to point out the impediments we face in…
Our country has arrived at a moment of profound political significance. For some time, the prime minister knew her deal would not pass in parliament, and all along she has mocked members of all parties with her blathering blandishments. A good deal. The only deal. A deal that is in the national interest. Even behind…
This year, as we mark the centenary of the Armistice that brought the First World War to a close, I find myself thinking of the countless soldiers, many still in their teenage years, who left home and never returned. Victims of a senseless war waged by rulers who didn’t care about the working people who…
The alleged killing of the royal court insider turned journalist Jamal Khashoggi has rightly triggered a diplomatic crisis for Saudi Arabia, but it would appear it has not jeopardised any of the multibillion-dollar arms deals between the US, Britain and the House of Saud. Many journalists working on the story, business people pulling out of…
It was in the chamber during a debate on the latest bombing of Syria that Ian Austin MP asked me “what do you know, newbie?” and told me that I should “go back to Brighton with Momentum” who he said have “never really ever been Labour”. It was unfortunately with little surprise then that I…
Please find below a message from Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP, and RSVP for the two upcoming public meetings he is hosting for women in the Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven constituency born in the 1950s and affected by pension changes. Please only RSVP for one of the events, and when you register, consider including a personal message…
Almost all media bandwidth is recent months has been taken up with Brexit and our benighted Prime Minister’s attempts to not appear completely paralysed by the political events rapidly overtaking her. While Theresa May commands no power and has singularly failed to show who she is or for what she stands. While she does nothing,…
It was with great fanfare last Autumn that the chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced he was extending discount railcards to those aged 26 to 30, offering 4.5m travellers a third off their off-peak tickets. Finally, after years of mistreatment – tripling their tuition fees, raising their VAT, denying them access to housing – the government thought…
With the notable exception of people suspected of terrorism offences, Britons – although subject to blanket state eavesdropping – are safe from arbitrary arrest, torture or extrajudicial execution. The same cannot be said for the citizens of dozens of states to which Britain is approving the sale of spy equipment, which can access people’s emails,…
As the spectre of Brexit emerges, so do the first meaningful signs of the Tory vision of “building a global Britain”. The Department for International Trade, set up by Theresa May to put some flesh on the bones of her slogan, has prioritised arms sales for Britain’s post-Brexit industrial policy. The DIT, which licences Britain’s…
This year’s national conference in Brighton saw Labour embark on an ambitious and much-needed review of party democracy. The review aims to “ensure that the hugely expanded membership is fully involved to become a mass movement which can transform society”. In that context, it is essential members’ voices are heard in local government and Labour…
Last year it was the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca, this year it is the Bermuda-based Appleby. Major “offshore legal service providers” offering transnational corporations and super-rich individuals a place to sink untaxed income have had their client lists leaked to the press. Naturally, much of the attention this morning has focused on the moral rectitude of…
I am standing in Brighton Kemptown, a seat on the south coast that we lost by just 690 votes in 2015. We bucked the trend and halved the Tory majority but it was not enough to get us a Labour MP. Although I was the PPC in Lewes, I was an active member of the…
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