My latest update from Harrow and
Westminster ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌


[UPDATE]

 

Dear John,

 

In 2020, OVER 23,000 RESIDENTS signed my petition to save Mount
Vernon Cancer Centre after a devastating inquiry found that the
hospital was so dilapidated and short of doctors and nurses that it
couldn’t provide modern cancer care or even basic elements of
treatment.  

 

[Mount Vernon]

Bosses of University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
(UCLH) submitted a £260m bid to urgently relocate Mount Vernon Cancer
Centre in 2021. Since then, they have been waiting to find out if the
Mount Vernon site would be included in a shortlist. 

 

Last week, in his statement to the House, it was revealed Mount Vernon
would not be included in the Government’s “new hospital
programme” 

 

Ministers have had 13 years to sort the future for Mount Vernon’s
world leading Cancer Centre. Instead, they have buried their heads in
the sand and ignored the need for capital investment to keep this
service in the high-quality state of the art buildings necessary to
support the next generation of cancer patients. 

 

Mount Vernon has saved so many lives. It’s staff are doing a
remarkable job in difficult circumstances. Staff and the patients who
benefit so much deserve to see our Ministers caring enough to resolve
the long term maintenance and buildings needs of this vital local NHS
service. 

 

Over 23,000 residents signed my petition calling to save the Cancer
Centre, which serves as one of the primary specialist cancer centres
in the country. I WILL NOW MEET WITH NHS EXPERTS AND PLAN NEXT STEPS
MOVING FORWARD IN THE LONG-TERM FUTURE OF MOUNT VERNON.

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]

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. Each month, I am also working
with the Harrow Litter Pickers to organise a clean-up of local parks
and sometimes neighbouring roads…

[litter picking]

If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to host a surgery
or park clean-up, do please drop me a line. I also continue to 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. 

[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]]

VOLUNTEERS, CARERS, MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

[VolunteersWeek]

Wednesday marked the END OF #VOLUNTEERSWEEK, my thank you to so many
hard-working volunteers in Harrow that are providing advice, cleaning
up our streets, planting trees, ensuring people do not go hungry,
building our life skills, looking after us and more. 

 

Thank you all for the work you do and for giving back to our
community, it is greatly appreciated by me and should be valued much
more year-round. If you know a Harrow Hero that deserves some praise,
please consider nominating one before Sunday, July 23rd:  
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

[Carers Week]

Wednesday also marked the BEGINNING OF CARERS WEEK across the
country and I was privileged to join ‘Conversation Café’ once
again in the Town Centre with Harrow Council Carer lead, Allie Brice
and Colin Powell of Harrow Carers. You can watch a video on
Conversation Café and the support they can provide unpaid carers
here:

 

This year’s theme for Carers Week is to raise awareness of caring.
I’m proud to be a Carer Champion and want to do all I can to help
properly identify and support Harrow’s unpaid carers. From the young
that quietly look after close family, or those older, taking care of
loved ones, there are many carers we need to support and help them
reduce poverty, combat loneliness and improve carers' wellbeing. We
need to help identify people who don't think of themselves as having
caring responsibilities to understand why they should register as
carers and access much-needed support. 

 

Allie and Colin host weekly Conversation Cafes across the borough,
offering much needed support and advice to unpaid carers. The council
has a great page to get started on where to register and get started
as a carer here: 
[link removed]
[[link removed]]

[Mental Health Awareness students]

During Mental Health Awareness Week, it was a privilege to host some
Harrow students in Parliament to discuss their mental health
experiences in schools and Labour’s policies to help people old and
young with their mental health.

 

Our discussions were enlightening for me, especially in understanding
the kind of transformation in conversations surrounding mental health
since I was in school, or even since I was a teacher. It was also
important for me to discuss how a prospective Labour Government could
support people young and old with their mental health in schools and
in our communities. 

 

YOU CAN WATCH MY DISCUSSION WITH HARROW STUDENTS
HERE: [link removed] [[link removed]]

 

In between parliamentary business, I also enjoyed taking work
experience students to a meeting with other keen runners in
Parliament. According to  Great Run
[[link removed]],
95% of runners use running to manage their stress and anxiety! Harrow
has a number of great running groups and clubs for all (beginners to
athletes), to help us run and talk more.

PARLIAMENT ROUND-UP

[GT Parliament]

THE GOVERNMENT’S DISMAL RECORD ON TRADE

 

In my role as Shadow International Trade Minister, I have been
watching closely the implementation of the UK-Australia and UK New
Zealand Free Trade Agreements. Agreement’s which have since their
negotiation been described as “one-sided” against the UK by no
less than the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. 

 

Closer trade deals with our allies are always welcome, but the
Government’s record on negotiating trade deals for the UK has been
dismal. Few think the trade deal with the EU was well negotiated and
Japan’s exporters are set to benefit 4x more than ours from the
UK-Japan deal.

 

Indeed, Great British foods are still awaiting protected status in
Japan, almost 3 years to the day since the Government promised it and
claimed these special protections were one of the most important
benefits of the trade deal they’d negotiated with Japan.

 

More on the government failure to deliver these promised protections
can be found here: 

[link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

On the Australia deal specifically, it will deliver just a 0.08%
increase to the U.K.’s economic growth by 2035; nice to have but
hardly the turbo boost we need.  With exports expected to drop by
over 6% this year Britain needs to do better on trade. It will take a
Labour government to deliver it.

 

TRADE QUESTIONS

Unfortunately, the trade negotiating skills of government Ministers
haven’t got any better as Department for Business and Trade
predicting joining the CPTPP will see just a 0.08% increase in
economic growth with secret courts able to let overseas firms bypass
Parliament and ignore the will of the British people.

 

I put this to the Secretary of State who insists that Investor State
Dispute Mechanisms actually protect British Companies, which was
somewhat puzzling as the Government did not include them in the deals
that they poorly negotiated with Australia and New Zealand. 

 

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

PERMANENT MUTUALS SHARES

 

Treasury Questions provided the opportunity to ask Minister why they
are dragging their feet in introducing Permanent Mutuals Shares? This
reform would allow financial mutuals to access the capital they need
to expand & without having to demutualise. I again received no more
that warm words as a response.

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

Read more on my Bill to Introduce Permenant Mutual Shares
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

SAFETY OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS

 

An important debate on the Safety of our school buildings allowed me
to question the Minister for Schools on whether there are any school
buildings in Harrow that pose a risk to life or the safety of
children? And to push for urgent investment into both school buildings
and staffing.

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

RIGHT TO ROAM

 

On the rare occasions when parliamentary duties and childcare allow I
enjoy canoeing, but only 7% of the appropriate inland waters in
England & Wales have an unfettered right of access for boat users &
canoeists. Voluntary Access Arrangements have simply not worked. I
believe that the Countryside Rights of Way act must be extended to
cover water as well as land. 

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEAN

 

The Government’s terrible record on pumping sewage into UK waters is
well-known, but also over 8 million tonnes of plastic are dumped in
the world’s oceans every year. More action is urgently needed and
the government should implement tougher product standards to sharpen
incentives to reduce single-use plastics and encourage recycling will
be essential.

 

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

TAMIL REMEMBRANCE DAY

 

Tamil Remembrance Day is marked every year on this day to remember the
thousands of predominantly Tamil victims of human rights abuses in Sri
Lanka. I asked for the Foreign Secretary to explain why Britain has
still not used Magnitsky Act sanctions or made a referral to the
International Criminal Court to hold the worst perpetrators of
extra-judicial executions, torture & rape to account.

 

Available
here: [link removed]
[[link removed]]

 

IMPORTANT VOTES THIS MONTH:

·       I voted against the ‘Sack the Nurses Bill’ 

·       I voted to end the unfair & outdated leasehold
system. 

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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Promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, Labour Central Kings Manor, Newcastle, NE1 6PA, United Kingdom
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