Much of my time in Westminster last week was taken over by being the Opposition Whip responsible for scrutinising the Government’s Automated Vehicles Bill.

What this involved was agreeing a timetable with my equivalent in the Government Whip’s Office for the Bill to be scrutinised, as it progresses through Parliament, then sitting in scrutiny sessions to ensure this timetable is stuck to. This is about ensuring our legislative process runs smoothly, and that MPs have the time needed to ask questions and hold the Government to account on its proposals.

For those that are interested, the Automated Vehicles Bill sets out a legal and safety framework for the development of self-driving vehicles, which will become increasingly common in the years ahead.

Around my duties on this Bill, I found time to attend a meeting on Labour’s proposals for a National Infrastructure Council. This council will be essential to a Labour Government’s efforts to rebuild our shattered infrastructure and turbocharge the economic growth our country so badly needs.

I was pleased to share my ideas on how this could work in practice with one of the senior members of the council – you won’t be surprised to learn that I talked about the importance of improving northern transport links!

I also attended a drop in event with Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, who are tasked with improving the supply and quality of affordable homes in England.

The drop in was organised so MPs could raise housing issues in their own constituency, and I asked for Homes England to act on the disgraceful situation at Aura Court in Old Trafford. Some of the flats are uninhabitable and the communal areas have been allowed to fall into terrible conditions. Despite this, the leaseholders at Aura Court are still on the hook for high service charges and insurance payments. I’m pleased Homes England will now be working with myself and Trafford Council to try and find a resolution to this longstanding problem.

Later in the week, I organised a call with Greater Manchester MPs and Kellogg’s to discuss the company’s deeply worrying proposals to close their Trafford Park site. I will continue to push for Kellogg’s to reconsider their proposals and I’ve offered my full support to the trade unions that represent Kellogg’s staff. You can read more about this here.

Before heading back to the constituency, I managed to drop into an event organised by Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end-of-life charity.  It’s vital that the right care is in place for people at the end of their lives but a lack of funding for hospices, the NHS and social care means that far too often this isn’t the case. It was fantastic to speak with Chris Kamara at the event. Chris is an ambassador for Marie Curie, and he spoke passionately about the hugely important work the charity does to support the terminally ill.

I had a busy but brilliant weekend back in the constituency. It started with a community coffee morning at Greenfield Church which was very well attended by residents. I lost count of the amount of people I spoke to, with the dire state of our NHS being the main area of concern.

I then went to St Ann’s Primary School in Stretford to see the building work that is set to make it one of the first net-zero schools in the Northwest and to talk to the apprentices working on the project. It was fascinating to hear about how construction is being carried out to minimise carbon emissions and it was a reminder of the skills and opportunities young people can access through apprenticeships. Boosting apprenticeship numbers is rightly central to Labour’s offer on education.

After my visit to St Ann’s, it was straight over to the St John’s Centre in Old Trafford for an advice surgery before another advice surgery later in the afternoon in the Stretford Library. Accessing therapy on the NHS, adult social care costs and immigration status were just some of the issues I was helping constituents with.

I ended Friday with a door knocking session in Gorse Hill, with the local Labour Councillors for the ward. We had lots of good chats with residents about the issues in their area and their view on what’s going on nationally.

It was back on the campaign trail on Saturday as I visited Blackpool to support the fantastic Labour candidate there, Chris Webb. Chris is standing to become Blackpool’s next MP, with the previous MP, Scott Benton, resigning after becoming the latest Conservative politician to be engulfed in scandal. The people of Blackpool, like people throughout our country, deserve so much better than this endless Tory chaos and sleaze.

I ended my week by joining an Iftar at the Pakistani Community Centre in Gorton. An Iftar is the fast-breaking evening meal of Muslims who are observing Ramadan. It was a huge privilege to attend such an important event and it was a brilliant way to cap off a busy weekend.

Thank you for reading.