Parliament returned after the summer recess last week. After a lovely summer out and about in the constituency, there was very much a ‘first day of term’ feel back in Westminster. It was great to catch up with colleagues after several weeks away from Parliament, but there wasn’t much time to relax as the Government was engulfed in the RAAC scandal which dominated the week.

The handling of this has been an absolute shambles. The Government still can’t tell MPs whether they have any affected schools in their constituencies as surveys continue to be completed. The Tories are playing catch up on this and it is the culmination of 13 years of underinvestment in our school estate. For my part, I received a letter from the Education Secretary notifying me incorrectly of a confirmed case of RAAC at one educational setting in the constituency. As if this error wasn’t bad enough, she went on to tell me in the same letter that I also had a potential case of RAAC at a school that isn’t even in Stretford and Urmston. It has been a comedy of errors and children up and down the country is suffering as a result.

After an urgent question about RAAC on Monday, the topic dominated Prime Ministers Question Time before being the subject of Labour’s Opposition Day debate on Wednesday. I spoke in the debate to set out my experience of the chaotic way in which the DfE were handling things and to demand hasty action. Moving forward I fear this could be a growing scandal: we need to know whether RAAC is present in any other publicly-owned buildings, particularly social homes or the NHS estate.

The other main news from the Chamber last week was an urgent statement about the UK rejoining Europe’s Horizon programme. This is a crucial scientific research programme that UK scientists had been frozen out of for the past two years, due to disagreements over Brexit (and especially the Northern Ireland Protocol). The breakthrough means that UK scientists can once again bid for funding from a €95 billion research funding programme. If we are to compete in the race to lead on science and tech over the next few years, then this is very important. It’s excellent news that I wholeheartedly welcome.

Outside of the Chamber I attended two events with trade union colleagues to listen to their concerns about several current workplace issues. The first was an event for North West MPs with local trade union officials and there was also a reception for MPs with national political officers, organised by the TUC. I am a proud trade unionist and it is always useful to hear first hand the experiences of those on the frontline, about the impact of, for instance, the Tories anti-trade union legislation.

I popped into a number of events around Parliament, but particularly wanted to mention the event for World Alzheimer’s Month. Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that affects so many people both locally and nationally and I am incredibly grateful to the Alzheimer’s Society who provided MPs with up-to-date local statistics about cases and treatment in our areas.

This week also saw a reshuffle of Labour’s frontbench team, with a number of major changes to the composition of the Shadow Cabinet. This is likely to be the last reshuffle before a General Election and I know the new top team will be working round the clock to spread Labour’s message and hold the Tories to account. The reshuffle also saw changes to the junior roles in the frontbench team and I am very pleased to have been asked to join the Opposition Frontbench as a member of the Whip’s team. It’s going to be a big challenge, but I am looking forward to getting stuck in.

As usual I was back in the constituency over the weekend. I held my advice surgeries in Partington and Urmston, but the highlight was Sunday’s visit to a preview of the Stitched Up exhibition in Stretford Mall. This is an oral history project that tells the story of the history of the garment trade in Greater Manchester. I popped in on Sunday with Cllr Aidan Williams and it was fascinating to hear the testimony of those who worked in local factories. The exhibition is open to the public from Wednesday and I would really recommending dropping in if you are able!