From Gareth Thomas MP <[email protected]>
Subject Update from Gareth Thomas MP
Date May 14, 2023 11:05 AM
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My latest update from Harrow and
Westminster ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌


[gt]

 

Dear John,

 

We’re reaching the last few weeks of spring and I’m hopeful that
soon, today's warm weather will stick around a bit longer – the past
month has seen a large number of events across Harrow and it has been
a privilege to join in with many residents. The past month saw some of
the holiest dates in the calendars of the three Abrahamic faiths,
followed too by Vaisakhi as well as the Nepali and Asian New Year. It
was also a joy to join in Coronation celebrations across the borough,
from the excellent Harrow Rec Coronation Party to the Headstone Manor
celebration and the RoConnect Festivities. My last Coronation party
was a post-SATs celebration at Welldon Park School on Friday.

[GT Welldon]

[Coronation parties]

[coronation parties]

Below is my newsletter covering some of my work in Parliament and
locally in Harrow too – through out the month, you can find regular
updates from me on FACEBOOK [[link removed]],
TWITTER [[link removed]] and INSTAGRAM
[[link removed]].

 

TOURS, SURGERIES AND LITTER-PICKING

[Surgery]

 

My next walk-in surgery will be at North Harrow Community Library,
FROM 10:30AM - 12:30PM TODAY on Thursday, 25th May. This is open to
all Harrow West residents, so please drop by if you have any concerns
or issues that you would like to raise with me!

Last year, I held at least one walk-in surgery in every ward of Harrow
West, collecting hundreds of cases in surgeries across local churches,
temples, mosques and community centres.

 

If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to host a surgery
in 2023, do please drop me a line. I also run my regular advice
surgery, taking on casework at my constituency office at 132-134
BLENHEIM ROAD, this surgery is appointment-based and appointments can
be made by calling my parliamentary office on 020 7219 4243.

[Belmont Trail link]

Following successful clean-ups of Newton Park West and Wealdstone High
Street, I’m looking forward to re-joining the Harrow Litter Pickers
later this month for a clean-up with Greenhill Manor Residents
Association. Want to help clean up Greenhill Manor roads including the
ancient and historic Belmont Trail Link? Join us on Monday 22/05 from
11AM. 🌳 🚮

Open to all, so please come along and join us.

[parliament]

 

It was a privilege to show a number of families around Parliament over
the last month – as always, great questions about political
decisions in Westminster and the impact they have locally on people in
Harrow.

 

A reminder that anyone living in Harrow West and wanting to join a
tour of your House of Commons
[[link removed]],
please feel free to let me know by filling out a form here:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

PARLIAMENT ROUND-UP

[GT Parliament]

LITTER ACTION GROUPS

 

This month provided an excellent opportunity to congratulate and
acknowledge the wonderful efforts of the Harrow Litter Pickers group
in Parliament. The Group which last year collected more than 11,500
bags of litter across the Borough does outstanding work and I pushed
the Minister to work with such groups to support their efforts and
hold local councils accountable for the support they give or, sadly,
potentially do not give litter-picking groups.

 

 

Video can be watched here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

The full debate can be read here:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


 

SEWAGE IN OUR WATERS

 

[Waters]

As I mentioned, last month, the Environment Agency revealed that raw
sewage had been discharged into English rivers 825 times a day in
2022. This includes several hours of sewage discharge into rivers
serving Harrow, such as the YEADING BROOK, WEALDSTONE BROOK AND KENTON
BROOK. People in Harrow and across the country rightly value our local
rivers and lakes - but since 2016, this Conservative Government have
allowed over 1000 years’ worth of sewage to be dumped into our
waters.

 

Last month, I voted once again in Parliament to stop the Conservatives
letting our beaches, rivers and lakes be flooded with filthy raw
sewage. Tory MPs had an opportunity to put an end to the sewage
scandal once and for all by supporting Labour's Water Quality Bill,
instead they added a ‘wrecking amendment’ to our Bill to end the
sewage scandal by 2030, with automatic fines and economic impact
assessments. Instead boasting a Tory plan which continues sewage
dumping to at least 2050 – which is an insult to many millions
affected.

 

Only a Labour Government will clean up the water industry and work in
the national interest by ending the Tory Sewage scandal. Locally,
until then, I believe there is much we can do with this information
and I believe it is important we receive as much information about
sewage discharges as possible – I am still waiting on a response
from the Chief Executive of Thames Water for a meeting and I will keep
you updated.

 

 

THE ALL-PARTY GROUP FOR BRITISH GUJARATIS

 

This month it has been my deep pleasure to launch the APPG for British
Gujaratis. Monday the 1st is a day to celebrate the formal creation of
the State of Gujarat and the launch of this group, which took place on
the 25th Of April in Westminster, was attended by over 110 people from
grassroots Gujarati organisations, business leaders, showbusiness,
spiritual leaders and, of course, politics.

 

[APPG British Gujaratis]

 

There are estimated to be 800,000 British Gujaratis of different
faiths who have links to the state of Gujarat in India. The Gujarati
community in the UK has made tremendous contributions to our society
and economy. Gujaratis, of all faiths, have established successful
businesses, created jobs, and made a positive impact in our local
communities. The history and contribution of the Gujarati community in
the UK is a testament to their resilience, creativity, and commitment
to making a positive impact to British society.

 

The APPG will not be taking up issues to do with India, Indian
Politics and not be dealing with faith-based issues, there are already
well-established APPGs in those areas.

Some of the issues the Group will hope to look at include what more
can be done to support the teaching of the community languages, such
as Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi, what further work can be done by public
bodies such as the NHS to tackle those health conditions that are a
little more prevalent among the Guajarati community; and what further
planning can be done to ensure that there is appropriate care for the
elderly available for the Guajarati community.

 

The first issue that has been raised is the decision to shift, without
apparently any consultation, direct London to Gujarat flights from
Heathrow to Gatwick. A huge community campaign that began more than
twenty years ago, finally led to flights direct from Heathrow to
Ahmedabad and back, reducing time and costs for families to travel to
make the journeys to be together, or to pursue shared business
ambitions.

 

·      Link to Launch Event press:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


·      Link to Statement on the Group:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


·      Link to Heathrow Issue:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


·      Link to Gujarat Day:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

_ _

International Trade and Geo-politics

In my role as Shadow Minister for International Trade, I spoke on the
pertinent debate on International Trade and Geopolitics.

The OBR predicts that exports will plummet this year & drop again next
year only underscoring  the 13 years of economic failure that have
seen trade targets repeatedly missed. The UK has recently dropped out
of the world’s top five for exports of goods & services, yet there
is still no White Paper on trade & no consultation on what our trade
goals should be.

 

I am very much an optimist about our country, Britain will do better
but it will take a Labour Government to get Britain back on the road
to the brighter and better future that the British people most
definitely deserve.

My Full Speech can be read here:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]


 

 

UKRAINE

 

I raised with Government my concerns that Ministers have not followed
up yet on commitments to provide more long-range missiles for the
Ukrainian military. I want the Ukrainian counter-offensive to be
successful and I believe the UK’s support for Ukraine must endure
and be robust, sadly the response from the Minster was fully clear on
this specific issue.

Watch the question here:
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

SUPPORT IN HARROW

THE EXCELLENT YOUNG HARROW FOUNDATION HAS CREATED a suite of FREE new
mental health services and resources for young people aged 5-25. THE
SERVICES ARE DESIGNED TO HELP EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO TAKE CONTROL OF
THEIR EMOTIONAL HEALTH, BEFORE THE CRISIS POINT. SCHOOL BASED SERVICES
FOR TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES OPEN FOR REFERRALS FROM
PARENTS, SCHOOLS, GPS, AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS WORKING WITH YOUNG
PEOPLE.

 

VISIT THE SUITE HERE: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

LONDON’S COMMUNITY KITCHEN:

 

[LCK]

LONDON'S COMMUNITY KITCHEN (based at The Bridge, next to Harrow
Leisure Centre) run a Free Surplus Food Market open to everyone
every FRIDAY FROM 3-5PM. At the height of the pandemic, this
operation served over 10,000 people across Harrow and London. Please
consider donating or getting involved in any way that you can with
this incredible Harrow-wide response to the cost of living crisis: 
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

If you’re ever in need of their support, the Community Kitchen want
to help - they won’t ask you for any details, or anything in return,
just turn up and they will provide you with food.

[Labour Rose]
 

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