MY WEEKLY UPDATE

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Dear John,

Last Friday, I like so many around the country, was shocked to hear of the
death of Sir David Amess MP and offer my condolences to all. Public
servants choose their line of work first and foremost to help people and so
to see this brutality targeted against such a dedicated parliamentarian is
tragic.

Sir David’s death has also reminded us of the late Jo Cox and the other
attacks on MPs like Stephen Timms and Rosie Cooper. This has led to many
discussions about security over the course of the last week around how we
respond to this.

While I take this threat extremely seriously and have discussed safety with
my staff, I will continue to meet with my constituents and support them
with the problems they are facing. I too have received threats,
intimidation and have had to call the Police, more than once, to my advice
surgeries.

I firmly believe it is our duty to make ourselves available to
constituents. How else are we to be their voices in parliament if we are
not able to freely meet with them?

However, it is often not just physical threats we face. Labour is calling
on the Prime Minister to bring forward the Online Safety Bill and revisit
the recommendations from the Commission for Countering Extremism that would
make us all safer.

Extremism isn't a political issue. We need to start working together on a
cross-party basis to tackle violent extremism and those who enable it to
grow, particularly on social media. That is why Labour is committing its
support should the Government bring forward the Online Safety Bill.

VOTING IN FAVOUR OF THE ENVIRONMENT BILL

This week I voted in favour of the amendments to the Environment Bill which
seeks to end sewage being released into our rivers, for a new clean air
standard to protect people from dirty air, and to ensure the safety of
habitats and ecosystems.

In contrast, Conservative MPs voted against the entirety of the Environment
Bill, a cause we so clearly need to protect.

Here are the amendments:

1) For water companies to end sewage releases into rivers. By allowing this
to continue, we are unable to hold water companies contributing to
environmental hazards to account, and this challenge is therefore shifted
towards local communities to manage.

2) To implement World Health Organisation (WHO) targets on air quality by
reducing air pollution levels and as a result, long and short-term
illnesses. Labour acknowledges these targets and would introduce a Clean
Air Act and a new right to breathe clean air.

3) To control the felling of trees in England. The rejection towards this
amendment exposes the natural environment to unregulated destruction with
serious knock-on effects to habitats and species.

4) To limit the powers to amend regulations relating to protected species,
habitats or sites.

5) The ‘Protection of pollinators from pesticides’ clause will ensure
that risk assessment of pesticides are independent & scientific, providing
the public the opportunity to participate in the important decision-making
process. The promotion of public participation will further help protect
bees and other insects.

6) The Government also voted against the independence and funding of the
Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). Interestingly, this amendment in
particular raises concerns as it restricts the OEP and allows Ministers to
regulate their own work on environment and climate change.

Climate change is the most consequential issue facing our world and will
profoundly affect the world our children and grandchildren grow up in.
While progress has been made since global summits in Paris and Copenhagen,
it is time we recognised the importance of climate change and take urgent
action ahead of the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow.

FINDING A SOLUTION FOR NURSERY ROAD

I met up with Councillors Jayne Francis and Wazeem Zaffar as well as
highways officers from the City Council, to address the danger of cars
mounting the pavement on Nursery Road in Harborne.

There we discussed a range of potential options to solve this issue,
including a potential one-way system, restrictive parking measures as well
as a residents parking scheme. I am very aware of the impact that this is
having on local residents and have tasked the council officers with
providing us with clear data that would show the impact of introducing some
of these schemes and to report back as swiftly as possible.

As this work progresses, I will continue to listen to residents and ensure
that we see an appropriate resolution for all.

GETTING PROACTIVE AGAINST COVID

We have started to see Covid cases once again start to reach alarming
figures. Our constituency case rate is currently at 293 per 100,000 with
wards like Quinton reaching a high of 431.

I have found it immensely frustrating to see the Government continue to
fail to act time and again. With this in mind, I wrote to Dr Justin Varney,
Director of Public Health at Birmingham City Council regarding these high
figures in Birmingham. I urged Dr Varney to look at the precautionary
action we could take across the city, learning from other places across the
UK.

For example, in both Trafford and Hertfordshire, local authorities have
taken their responsibilities seriously and shown leadership in their
regions by reintroducing masks in schools and other similar settings to
reduce the number of cases. This is a simple step that could be taken and
one which the government has recently released data that proves how even
non-medical masks (such as cloth masks) made of two or three layers, have
similar filtration efficiency to surgical masks.

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LAUNCH OF EDGBASTON CONSTITUENCY NEWS GROUP

Today we launch our constituency news group. This new channel will help you
stay up-to-date with the latest news and information across Edgbaston,
Harborne, Quinton, Bartley Green and North Edgbaston. Follow the link below
to get added to WhatsApp on Birmingham: Edgbaston news.

To get access, please follow the link using your mobile phone.

PLEASE CLICK HERE

© 2020 Printed from an email sent by Preet Kaur Gill. Promoted by A.J Webb
on behalf of Preet Kaur Gill, both at 56 Wentworth Road, B17 9TA.
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