It was a slightly less hectic week in voting terms in Parliament last week, but a really special one for me personally as I was able on Thursday to make my maiden speech. It was a such a privilege to be able to talk about Stretford and Urmston’s rich and vibrant community and the many incredible assets we have here.
I made the mistake on Monday of travelling down to Parliament slightly later than usual as I had a meeting at Trafford Town Hall beforehand. By the time I had arrived at Piccadilly the services to London were again in chaos. A combination of problems earlier in the day and having a train but no driver meant Avanti cancelling trains again. I mentioned last week that I had raised the performance of Transpennine Express in the Chamber but Avanti – and at times Northern too – are also badly letting commuters down. I will be picking this up again in the weeks ahead given that on Thursday night Urmston appeared in the list of the top 10 stations experiencing the most cancellations anywhere in the country. I’ve always been clear that I support nationalisation of the railways but at the very least the Government needs to look at stripping franchises from providers that so consistently let people down. There were no votes for me to take part in on Monday evening but I did listen to Angela Rayner challenging the Tories on the process for ministerial appointments light of the Zahawi affair.
On Tuesday we had an urgent statement on the shocking news that hundreds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children have gone missing from hotels they have been placed in by the Home Office. This is such a devastating story and it was shocking to hear that a Tory MP shouted that they should never have come here in the first place. These are some of the most vulnerable people on the planet – children, terrified and alone – and we need urgent change to ensure they are properly safeguarded and not left desperate and alone in hotels.
Wednesday’s PMQ’s was an interesting affair. I thought Keir was right to raise the case of Zara Aleena and her horrific murder. This is a tragic case that shows the failings of the probation service after 12 years of Tory rule. Not one of our public services is running better after 12 years of Tory rule than it was is in 2010 and this was another devastating example of the impact that is having. On Tuesday and Wednesday the main business in the Chamber was the Economic Crime legislation that builds on a bill pushed through last year to clamp down on kleptocrats in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Whilst I welcome any action that stops the current ‘London Laundry-mart’ for dirty money, I was disappointed to see a number of amendments that would have strengthened the legislation fall.
Thursday’s main business was the Holocaust Memorial Day debate and it was here that I made my maiden speech. It was a really moving debate with powerful testimony from many colleagues reminding us of why we must never forget the victims of the Holocaust or other genocides throughout history. I had hoped to attend the Parliament’s official Holocaust Memorial Day event but the debate had not yet concluded, and parliamentary rules require anyway who has spoken on a particular topic to be in the Chamber for the frontbench ‘winding up’ speeches. After the debate I was disturbed to hear Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary’s Point of Order setting out that the Government has to date not delivered on its promise to fully compensate those affected by the shameful Windrush scandal. So far only half of these payments have been made and I will be looking to support the Frontbench’s work to ensure that everyone due compensation receives it as quickly as possible.
The highlight of my constituency visits this week was a visit to the Greater Manchester Youth Federation’s new youth centre in Partington. This was established when I was Leader of the Council after the Labour administration agreed to lease the site to GMYF so I was absolutely delighted to see the Centre up and running. It’s a really impressive facility that has had hundreds of thousands spent on it and is supporting hundreds of local children every week. The Open Day offered a fabulous insight into the work they are doing and their future plans so I was delighted to be able to attend.
This coming week I should finally move into my London flat which will be great after a month of hotels, while I’m hoping to speak in my first Westminster Hall debate on Thursday. I also have what’s known as a Delegated Legislation Committee on Monday which is where a lot of secondary legislation is passed so I’m looking forward to that too. I’m also looking to formally sign up to a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups so my Westminster diary is starting to fill up now!