Monday’s journey down to Westminster was chaotic to say the least with severe delays meaning I missed my first meeting of the day. That said, the parliamentary timetable was much less hectic as the Government’s lack of confidence in their ability to get legislation past their backbenchers – and extended scrutiny of some controversial items in the Lords – meant a fairly light week in terms of voting yet again.
For me on the other hand it was my busiest week so far as I sat for the first time on a Commons Bill Committee. This is for the Energy Bill, a mammoth and important piece of legislation that is supported by both major parties albeit Labour frontbench colleagues are keen to see strengthened in a number of key areas. It sets out the policy approach of the Government on key issues such as hydrogen, nuclear power and the management of the switch to heat pumps for households. As a result it’s a large Bill and will take up my Tuesdays and Thursday more or less in full for the next month.
Around the Energy Bill I was pleased to make a couple of contributions to important debates last week. On Monday night there was a debate on delivering new housing supply in which I stressed the importance of ensuring that younger generations will be able to access a safe and secure home of their own. This is true across all tenures and we need to be honest about the scale of the challenge we face to ensure we have enough social, affordable, and private sale properties in the future.
I also contributed to a very serious and emotive debate in Westminster Hall calling on the Government to impose a duty of care on universities to care for the wellbeing of their students. This is an issue that is important to me because I am working with the parents of a Stretford resident who took his own life while away in his first year at university. It’s heartbreaking to hear of the obstacles they have faced in trying to improve things for other families, but I am really inspired by their campaign and their selflessness in fighting for the changes needed to better support students who are struggling.
Outside of spoken contributions to debates I was delighted to become Vice Chair of the APPG for Council Housing. As regular subscribers will know I am passionate about housing, and am already Vice Chair of the APPG for Homelessness as well. I want to see the next Labour Government deliver the mass programme of social (ideally Council!) homes we need and will continue to push for action on the housing crisis. To this end I was also delighted to meet with Priced Out, a housing campaign focused on affordability issues for young people, who have asked me to become their Parliamentary Ambassador on the Labour side.
Recognising Carers Week I also attended the Carers Week drop-in event and spoke to a number of charities supporting carers, and to carers directly. This was an excellent event but it was the session I attended to speak to young carers about their experiences that really brought home how much more we should be doing to support those with caring responsibilities. Just chatting to these incredible young people for a short while it’s obvious the barriers they face in education, in their social lives and as they consider their future options. I’ll be taking an interest in this area in future.
As ever there were a number of constituency visits when I got home for the weekend. I must mention in particular my trip to Broadoak School where the School Council gave me a grilling on Trafford Labour’s local election manifesto for 2023. Every time I speak to secondary schools mental health provision comes up time and again and I was pleased to support Labour’s Opposition Day motion on Tuesday setting our plans for improving the system.
I can’t finish my blog without mentioning the unfolding antics in the Tory Party these past few days. It really has been appalling to see Johnson’s behaviour, if not entirely surprising. From the outset this is an individual who has only ever cared about himself and I’m relieved he has finally run out of road as an MP. I’ll be campaigning to support our excellent by-election candidates over the next couple of months and watching with interest as the spectre of Johnson – and of Sturgeon for the SNP – continues to haunt the Tories.