Dear John,

This week I have been appalled to watch the footage of the violence that has escalated horrifically in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

At the time of writing, 119 Palestinians have been killed, including 31 children, and at least seven Israelis have died. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy, and I want to express my absolute condemnation of the targeting and killing of civilians.

I have received hundreds of calls and emails from constituents who are worried about this tragic conflict in the past week.

On Monday, I wrote to the Prime Minister to express my opposition to the illegal evictions of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and the inexcusable attacks on worshippers at the al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan. I asked the UK Government to set out as a matter of urgency the steps it would take to support the de-escalation of tensions and ensure international law is upheld.

The fallout from this episode has sadly and predictably had devastating consequences for everyone in the region.

We cannot go on generation after generation trapped in this spiral of violence. We owe it to children growing up in Israel and Palestine today to break that cycle, and work together towards a negotiated two state solution that secures a safe Israel living in peace alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

Earlier this week, I visited the Covid Memorial Wall in Westminster. It was a really touching sight to see the thousands of hearts displayed and absolutely heart wrenching to read all the messages written by those who have lost loved ones during this pandemic. I was so thankful to be able to pay my respects.  
 
I was also pleased to hear that the Government has committed to launching an inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has seen 127,000 lives cut short before their time. We have the worst mortality rate in Europe and the bereaved need and deserve answers. 
 
The inquiry must be fully public and independent that properly consults with bereaved families. We need answers as to why the UK was so underprepared, where Ministers were getting their advice, why our response was so slow off the ground, and how we can best protect Britain against future pandemics. 
 
While an inquiry is a big undertaking, it is still perfectly achievable in this Parliamentary term. With such a huge loss of life, we must have these answers before we can move on and heal as a country. 
 
What I would like to understand is why the Government is making bereaved families wait until the middle of next year for an inquiry to begin and why has it taken until now for it to agree to learn from its mistakes. 

In the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday, plans were announced to launch a new mandatory voter ID system. While it might seem like a sensible step forward, in practical terms, it would require voters to have accepted forms of ID to take to the ballot box.

In the West Midlands, only 79% of people have a passport. That’s 1,149,137 who would no longer be able to vote. This number drops even further, to 75%, when talking about the number of voters with a driver's licence.

These new measures which the Government wish to introduce will politically silence more than a fifth of people in the West Midlands and is a dangerous precedent to set against our democratic rights.

The Conservative Government are looking to put this in place, at a cost of around £20 million per election in a bid to prevent voter fraud. While preventing voter impersonation is a laudable goal, it is a costly and unnecessary one and simply distracts people from the growing issues that are at the heart of our country.

At the elections in 2019, Birmingham City Council experienced zero cases of voter impersonation. This means a £20 million cost will be enacted to address something which is not a problem. Surely, there must be a more cost-effective solution which can be found for such a relatively non-existent issue?

Most concerningly, we do not have information on how this will affect minority groups or low-income households. There is only data available to tell us about the age, sex and region of ID holders.

The pandemic has shown us the stark inequalities that are rife throughout our country and are growing. While solutions to address some of these inequalities might be more complex to correct, this is straightforward. Simply, do not introduce legislation that will have a disproportionate effect on those who are already facing a huge imbalance.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those who celebrated yesterday a Happy Eid. While this Eid, like last year, has not been like it would ordinarily, I would like to thank everyone for playing their part and celebrating safely and observing social distancing measures which are still in place.  
 
Eid Mubarak