Those that reach old age have done so much for us; they’ve worked hard, put money into the economy, paid their taxes, played a role in their local communities, and contributed to our society in countless other ways. The very least they can expect is to be able to grow old with dignity, good care standards, and…
I am enthusiastic about beer and believe that pubs should be cherished institutions and vital community hubs that must be protected. I believe strongly in supporting the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and local pub owners. This includes backing a reduction in beer duty and I have raised this with the chancellor before, and will…
The recently announced changes to TV licensing fees is a deeply disappointing development. Free TV licences for up to 3.7 million pensioners are being scrapped, with over 75s forced to start paying £154.50 per year to watch live television and BBC iPlayer as of June 2020. As far as I am concerned, this is…
In his first Commons statement as prime minister, Boris Johnson gave ‘unequivocally our guarantee to the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us… I can assure them that, under this Government, they will have the absolute certainty for the right to live and remain.” In less than a day, the prime minister’s official…
A new campaign called the Hands Off Moulsecoomb Primary School campaign, has recently come to my attention and I feel it is we must all get behind. You may have already heard that the Government is trying to force Moulsecoomb Primary School to become an academy school and join a private multi-academy trust. This is…
The Queen will be asked by the government to suspend Parliament days after MPs return from recess – just weeks before the Brexit deadline. Make no mistake about it: what we’ve witnessed today is nothing short of the start of an anti-democratic coup worthy of a tin-pot dictator. The Government, spurred on by Nigel Farage’s…
500 extra border guards, £434m to ensure medicine supplies, £108m to keep businesses afloat and £138m for an ad campaign. These are just a few headline figures from Boris Johnson’s £2.1bn no deal planning package revealed earlier this week. These announcements are nothing but a slap in the face to those who spent the past…
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…
I know what is happening in our schools because I speak with the parents, teachers, unions and heads and the message is the same from all of them, our schools are at breaking point.
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…
East Sussex County Council, which covers just over a third of my constituency, is following a similar path. It has declared that it can make only a core offer to meet its basic statutory duties to the very vulnerable, thereby undermining the principle of universality and its social contract with residents. The most vulnerable people…
Viscerally, something had been taken from me, and not for others to gain from, but to be destroyed and torn up. My rights, my citizenship, my culture—all had been ripped away from me and many of my constituents. On my way home on that miserable morning, I of course went to my local shop. I…
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…
Such events are also deeply personal to me, because next year I will be marking an anniversary of my own —10 years since I became HIV-positive. It has been a long journey from the fear of acceptance to today and, hopefully, advocacy, knowing that my treatment keeps me healthy and protects any partner that I…
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…
My speech on homelessness and housing in response to the government budget statement (18/12/17).
Despite the danger of sounding like a broken record, it will be no surprise to colleagues that I intend to speak about what has happened to youth services since then, and the problems that that has led to in our communities. Despite the Government’s plan, a 2016 study—these are the latest figures we have—found that…
I am not surprised by the statistics, since asylum seekers are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support of just £36.95 a week. I would be unable to live on that and I suspect that many people present would be unable to live a decent life on that, either. When…
As a campaigner for women’s suffrage, Margaret was part of a broader labour movement with other working-class suffragettes, fighting for all women to have equal rights with men. This year, of course, marks 90 years of the equal franchise, but it is also the centenary of the unequal franchise for women—that is probably what we…
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