Can’t believe I haven’t posted anything on this site since the end of May – suffice to say, I’ve had a busy few weeks!
I did my maiden speech on Tuesday 8th June. It was a pretty nerve-wracking experience but I was pleased that my mum and dad were there to hear it. Unfortunately, we all had to wait 7 hours for Speaker to call me (why on earth they don’t publish speaking lists, I don’t know). It reminded me of waiting for a delayed flight – absolutely no information about when departure time was going to be, uncomfortable seats and an irrepressible urge to lie down (I managed to resist the urge!).
As is normal with maiden speeches in the Commons, I spoke about what led me into politics, a bit about Lewisham East and the things that matter to me and my constituents. Given that the new Tory-Liberal government had just announced the axing of the Future Jobs Fund, I also spoke about the impact this would have on young people in my constituency. If you want to read the speech in full, click here (you’ll have to scroll to the bottom of the page).
Since then, I’ve spoken in two other debates, namely a Westminster Hall debate on Housing Needs in London and the opposition day debate on Local Government Finance. I also put myself forward to be on the Communities and Local Government Select Committee and was really pleased to get on it – at the moment it looks like I’m the only woman on the committee – unbelievable!
Of course, we’ve also had the emergency budget on 22 June. The implications of this budget are immense. Whilst cuts were always inevitable in order to tackle the budget deficit, the scale, speed and severity of the programme put forward by the Tories and the Liberals goes well beyond what is necessary or sensible. The hike in VAT will hit poorer families hardest (hmm, didn’t the Lib Dems campaign against such an increase before the election? Yes, of course they did – so much for open and honest politics).
The £1000 increase in the personal tax allowance won’t make any difference to those people working part-time in Lewisham on very low wages who won’t even meet the threshold. The axing of child tax credits to families earning over £30k in London will mean that many mums and dads, who aren’t particularly well-off, find it harder and harder to make ends meet. And the prospect of 25% cuts in public services over the next 4 years will have a very serious impact on places like Lewisham, where 34% of the workforce is employed in the public sector. There are difficult times ahead and I’m determined to stand up for our corner of London and to fight for the public services we all depend on.
My constituency diary has also been busy. I spent a lovely few hours down at the Kendale Rd allotments with the Downham Nutritional Partnership in the week, attended the induction of the new priest Father Doug at Holy Cross in Catford on Friday and spoke to a group of pupils from Baring Primary School when they came to Parliament on Monday. I’ve been putting pressure on Lewisham Homes about repairs and maintenance on some of our housing estates in Blackheath – the tenants and residents of both Heathside and Lethbridge and the Rycluff Square estates have been to see me at my surgery and I’m doing all that I can to help them. I’m also taking up the concerns of Benbury Close residents about noise and anti-social behaviour from Beckenham Place Park and am due to meet with Network Rail about the state of the area opposite Grove Park station. I also had fun at the Tamil Sports Day at Ladywell Fields – pic below!
That’s a short summary of what I’ve been up to – I promise not leave it as long as last time before I post again …
