MP’s UPDATE FOR Brentford & Isleworth Residents June 2025 RUTH CADBURY MP

You can find previous reports of my work on my web site; www.ruthcadbury.co.uk I also report regularly on my Facebook page and via Twitter and Instagram @RuthCadbury. Also – I’m now on Bluesky! (@RuthCadbury) If you would like to raise issues with me please email on [email protected] with your address, a quick summary of the issue (and relevant reference numbers). See my Web page for information on local and national services For full details of my questions and speeches in Parliament, get regular updates about my Parliamentary activities TheyWorkForYou (votes) or see Hansard (speeches) & on YouTube

Welcome to the bumper (2 month catch-up) edition of my regular update and apologies for no edition last month.

I won the seat from the sitting Conservative MP by 465 votes and held it in three subsequent general elections. I’ve spent nine years in opposition and almost one on the government side of the House; experienced the Parliamentary twists and turns of Brexit, and the even stranger time of Parliament during the Covid lockdown. I have served on Labour’s front bench as shadow minister variously for Housing, Planning, Trade, and Prisons; and been a member of the Women & Equalities, Justice and finally Transport Committees, the last of which I now chair. I have chaired several All-Party Parliamentary Groups, many transport-related. With the help of my wonderful staff team I have responded to almost 90,000 requests for help and support from constituents, and their concerns set my priorities in Parliament. Leasehold and Fire Safety, Heathrow noise, the rights of Palestinians, Special Education provision and safer streets are among the issues that I have consistently raised over the years in the Chamber and with Ministers. I am really pleased to see the impact of a Labour Government already in the constituency: In the last month alone we have seen announcements about funding for two local Health Centres and two secondary schools so that they can carry out much needed building improvements.

IN THE COMMONS in April and May:

SWR and Network Rail (Wessex) came to parliament to hear from MPs with constituencies along their route. I raised with their representatives the issues of cancellations, the progress on providing step-free access to platformd and the 2-day power cut at platforms 20-24 at Waterloo.

Businesses locally have consistently told me that increased barriers to importing and exporting to Europe has hit them hard and I support the Government in working to pull down these barriers. I therefore co-signed a letter to the PM prior to the May European summit, calling for a better trading deal and an improved relationship between the UK and the European Union, with key agreements around youth mobility, security & trade. Here is the article I wrote in the Hounslow Herald on this. After the announcement that the Palestinians in Gaza were to again start receiving aid the Middle East minister came to the chamber. I demanded that the UK Government insist that this aid is distributed by the UN and international agencies, according to the UN’s recognised humanitarian principles, and not by private military contractors. We are now seeing the appalling consequences of Israel’s actions in ignoring these pleas.

AS TRANSPORT COMMITTEE CHAIR: Following the complete closure of Heathrow Airport on 21st March due to the fire at the nearby electricity sub-station, the Committee held a one-off session. We questioned the CEO of Heathrow Airport Ltd (HAL), representatives of SEE and National Grid and the airlines based at Heathrow on the necessity of a complete closure and whether the airport could and should have been better prepared for such an eventuality. We didn’t get very convincing answers and learned there is no requirement for the airport to compensate the airlines, and thus the passengers, impacted by the closure. It was then interesting to see that when Spain and Portugal had a complete power cut on 28th April, no airport there closed, because they all had adequate backup power. Only around 500 flights out of some 6000 potential flights, were grounded (a point I made when the Energy Minister came to the Chamber about that outage 2 days later). We’ve completed our sessions on Streetworks and their impact on road users, and also held a one-off session with Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, that covered the full breadth of her Transport responsibilities. In the Chamber I asked the Energy Minister what discussions he is having with power networks and the Transport Department to address the national shortage of charge points for electric vehicles. As a Select Committee Chair I sit on the Liaison Committee which meets quarterly to question the Prime Minister. I used the opportunity to probe his level of ambition about the need for new rail lines; including completing the HS2 route and linking Manchester and Yorkshire via the Pennines. I am hoping we will have more news on this in the spending review. I am also “guesting” on the Environmental Audit’s Inquiry into Airport Expansion – which will involve several sessions in the weeks ahead.

COMMUNITY UPDATE

The Moon Under Water is a popular Weatherspoons pub on the edge of Hounslow Town centre, that has been plagued by anti-social behaviour and crime in the immediate area. I met the manager and senior staff of Wetherspoons over their concerns. I then wrote to Ch Supt Jill Horsfall asking that the remit of the Town Centre police team be extended up the Staines Road, to cover those businesses that are impacted.

The Purple Elephant Project, supports children across Hounslow and Richmond who have experienced deep trauma by providing professional psychological counselling. They asked for my help as they faced a cliff-edge at the end of March due to a delay in the Government deciding the future of the 'Adoption and special guardianship support fund'. Along with other MPs with similar projects, I raised this in the Commons. The government minister responded by announcing £50 million in funding for 2025-2026. However, we subsequently heard that the full funding will not be reinstated, which could have a devasting long-term effect on both the children, and their adoptive families. I will continue to press this issue.

Brentford and Chiswick Rotary is 100 years old and with Cllr Amy Croft, I attended their 100th anniversary fundraising dinner. Some people will, like me, remember Stan Goddard, but perhaps don’t know that he was one of the original founders of the branch.

Not only does Hounslow continue to be without a Post office, but now so does Chiswick. Council leader Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, Andy Slaughter MP and I have jointly written (again) to the Post Office to demand action on behalf of the many residents and businesses of both towns that depend on the Post Offices services. I have also met with PO representatives on this issue that matters to so many residents and businesses, especially as we continue to lose banks from our high streets.

With best wishes,

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