John,

Last week, the Prime Minister surprised us all by finally calling the next general election on July 4th. This is great news for our country which so desperately needs change: the sooner we can all have our say at the ballot box the better.

But it also means that this is sadly now my final newsletter to you all. As you know, last year I announced my decision to stand down at the next election, which means that as of midnight tonight, I will officially no longer be the MP for Brighton Pavilion and will not be allowed to email you again.

I will miss serving and representing this wonderful community more than I have the words to say. I will forever be grateful that this city had faith in a different kind of politics, took a risk and made history by electing me the first ever Green MP to Parliament.

To everyone who has supported me on this journey over the last fourteen years, everyone who said hello in the street, or came to a surgery, or reached out with an idea: thank you all so very much.  It has been the honour of my life to hear your stories, represent your concerns and stand up in Parliament to hold this Government to account on your behalf.

I have done my best to make you proud. I will always love this most special of cities and all the people who make our community so unique. And no matter what comes next, I will never stop campaigning for a fairer, greener and better future for people in Brighton and across the country. 

There are no words to describe the horrors that have been unfolding in the continuing war. My heart goes out to all those whose lives are being torn apart by the unspeakable atrocities that are taking place. With barely any power, sanitation, healthcare, water or food in Rafah,  NGOs have warned that the ground invasion which has now begun would cause a catastrophic ‘complete collapse’ of the humanitarian response. 

As your Green MP, I have always tried to be a strong, independent advocate for an immediate bilateral ceasefire, securing the release of the hostages, ending arms sales to Israel, restoring funding to UNRWA and recognising the Palestinian state  – and for lasting peace and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis.

Now that a general election has been called, there are no further opportunities for me to ask formal written or oral questions in Parliament about Gaza. You can see my most recent questions, including on the Government’s position on legal advice in relation to war crimes here. And in my final question to the Foreign Secretary, I asked if he agreed that the attack on Rafah is in clear breach of international humanitarian law.

Even though I am standing down, given the location of L3Harris in our city, I will continue to campaign for an end to arms sales and use my voice to put pressure on Ministers and all the other political parties to do the right thing. 

Following the publication of Lord Walney’s dangerous, draconian and undemocratic report recommending a crackdown on our democratic rights to protest and trial by jury, this week I raised a point of order in Parliament about the so-called “independence” of this highly politicised report, which failed to disclose Lord Walney’s interests as a paid adviser for the arms and fossil fuel industry. In my final words in Parliament, I called on the Government to accept the High Court’s recent judgement against the Home Office’s illegal crackdown on protesters and to abandon any further restrictions on the right to peaceful protest. 

Last year, water companies discharged raw sewage into our waters for a record 3.6million hours – 105% worse than the year before. These greedy companies have racked up debts of over £64bn since they were privatised debt-free under Thatcher, deliberately using the revenue from customer bills to pay out £78bn in shareholder dividends, rather than investing enough in infrastructure. Now they have the sheer audacity to ask Ofwat to raise our bills to pay for their financial mismanagement – with Southern Water asking to hike bills by an outrageous 91%. I joined nearly 40 MPs across parties calling on Ofwat to reject their demands and set out the case to bring water back into public hands here. 

Last week, a Newsnight investigation highlighted more concerning cases of alleged medical negligence at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Argus covered the case of an 80 year old left in A&E for more than 50 hours. While I am confident that frontline staff are doing an amazing job providing care – as reflected in the most recent CQC report – I do not have confidence that the Trust’s senior management are being as open and transparent as they can or should be. At this juncture the Trust’s management need to go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to change. I have been making my concerns clear to the Integrated Care Board, who have assured me that the Trust will be putting their improvement plans in the public domain so they can be open to scrutiny.

If you have the right to vote on Thursday 4 July, please make sure you are registered to vote by the deadline of Tuesday 18 June – you can sign up here. And don’t forget on polling day, that thanks to the new rules brought in my this anti-democratic Government, you will need to bring photo ID with you. If you don’t have any official form of ID, you can apply for free voter ID here by Wednesday 26 June at 5pm.

It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be elected as your MP.

With love and gratitude to you all,

Caroline

P.S. Sorry about the message below regarding contacting me - this is a fixed part of this template that I can't change, but as of tomorrow I will no longer be the MP for Brighton Pavilion. Incoming emails to [email protected] may be received and read, however this email address is only being used to respond to urgent constituency casework. 

If you are a local resident and need help with case work or to find out more about my activities locally please do contact me at the office of: Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Media Centre 15-17 Middle Street, Brighton BN1 1AL. Tel: 01273 201 130. Email: [email protected]

I hold regular surgeries across the constituency. If you would like to book an appointment at a forthcoming surgery please call Liz Collis on 01273 201130. She coordinates my constituency office and is able to help with most local enquiries.

If you would like to know about my parliamentary work please get in touch at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Tel: 020 7219 7025. Email: [email protected]

You can also keep up to date with my news on:

Twitter: @carolinelucas

Facebook: /carolinelucas.page

My Website: www.carolinelucas.com

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