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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...

Brighton and Hove City Council are currently developing a Bus Service Improvement Plan and I want to hear your views.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan in Syria and Turkey over the last 9 months have conducted an inquiry into ‘Kurdish Political Representation and Equality in Turkey’.

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;...

What does public ownership mean in the Labour Party in 2020? In our last manifesto we laid out plans to nationalise or mutualise certain industries and to give workers greater controls of large private industries. It can seem, however, that public ownership boils down to nationalisation.

This week I have withdrawn my amendments from the committee stage of the overseas operations bill, the government-proposed legislation that puts time limits on the criminal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...

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...

The NHS is in desperate need of greater funding. Millions of Britons rely on the NHS every week and, starved of the money needed, it is becoming increasingly difficult for it to keep up with demand. I absolutely recognise that funding should be increased by at least 4% to ensure the NHS can...

This is an issue that I feel passionately for and am proud to support. I stood on a Labour manifesto that pledged to make British Sign Language a fully-recognised language - and one of the implications of that would of course mean it could be taught as a GCSE. I was very moved to see my...

I am relieved to hear that Nazanin, and her husband Richard, officially ended their 15 day hunger strike on the 29th June 2019. Unfortunately, the charity, ‘Redress,’ who have been working on Nazanin’s case, have reported that her physical health has deteriorated, suffering from blackouts,...

Refugee Action are doing crucial work and I wholeheartedly support their efforts to support those seeking asylum. I understand there are many issues surrounding the way Home Office handles asylum claims, and that is why I signed EDM 190 which reads; 'That this House notes with deep concern...

Jeremy Hunt, alongside the views of many other Tories, pledged to bring back fox hunting if he was elected as Prime Minister, arguing that it is “part of our heritage.” This would be an abhorrent move and serves as a reminder that we cannot take for granted the strides in animal...

Leaving the European Union will also see us leaving behind many of the laws that currently protect our environment. I believe that going forward it is important to cement ambitious environmental protection measures into our own laws. Therefore, in principle I do of course support and welcome a new...

This is an issue that I have long taken a stance against and will be campaigning to oppose this within Parliament - and I'm proud to back Labours recent manifesto pledge: Labour will ban fracking because it would lock us into an energy infrastructure based on fossil fuels, long after the point...

I am a strong believer in the medicinal value of cannabis and was hopeful that the change of law last November would result in medicinal cannabis being prescribed to those who clearly need it. This, sadly, has not been the case. The new law has proven ineffective and restrictive in a number of...

This is a very a important issue, and I support the creation of an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary in the Weddell Sea.  I submitted a written question to the Foreign Secretary asking what diplomatic efforts he has made to garner international support for the sanctuary, however it was referred by the...

I believe that the gambling industry has for too long been permitted to prey on vulnerable and desperate people. I am of the opinion that these addictive gambling machines are highly dangerous and that imposing a £2 maximum bet on FOBTs is an important step in tackling the problem of predatory...

A major pillar of human rights is of course the rights of children. Children are our greatest asset, they are our future, and yet they are often unable to defend themselves from exploitation. My background in youth work makes me particularly passionate about the rights of children at home and...

I am deeply concerned for the funding of our NHS. I am a passionate defender of and tireless campaigner for a publicly-owned National Health Service, that is funded properly to offer a world class service to all, from the cradle to the grave. Myself and Labour colleagues did indeed make...

I have long been very vocal in calling for the improvement of Southern Trains. Whilst campaigning in the General Election in June 2017, I welcomed Labour's manifesto commitment to build a new Train line linking London and Brighton with the following statement: "Many residents tell me of...

I am a vocal and public backer of the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home's #NotFunny campaign. Raising minimum sentences for animal cruelty was a Labour manifesto pledge I was proud to stand on in June, and I welcome the government's decision to finally listen and pledge the same. My overall...

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, aka Tommy Robinson, is not a martyr of free speech. He is a convicted fraudster and former football hooligan who broke strict reporting rules which exist in court cases for a very good reason: if they are broken, that can lead to the collapse of trials of those alleged...

Universal credit was ostensibly designed with three goals in mind – to reduce costs, simplify the benefit system, and to make work pay. Whilst many of these aims at first glance seem laudable, they were designed by people without any understanding of welfare, benefits or low pay. Moving to a...