Dear John,

The Festive period is upon us in Harrow and it has been a delight to visit many of the Christmas Bazaars and Fairs across the borough. I’m certainly looking forward to even more of the carols, pantomimes, and Bazaars that make this period special.

I look forward to meeting with residents in the weeks ahead, whether at an advice surgery, or on a tour of Parliament, or at any of the festive functions taking place across the borough.

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 , Twitter and Instagram.

SURGERIES & TOURS 

Over the past year I have returned to my in-person surgeries by hosting roving surgeries across Harrow West, so far hundreds of residents have attended my surgeries at local churches, temples and community centres.

If you have a suggestion of where you would like me to host a surgery next, do please drop me a line. I also 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.

Following successful clean-ups of Byron Park and Headstone Manor, I’m looking forward to joining the Harrow Litter Pickers tomorrow morning, Thursday, 01/12 for a litter-pick of Newton Ecological Park from 9:30AM.  

If you don’t have a litter-pick and/or bag, we will aim to provide you with one, by the Park Lane entrance at 9:30AM. Open to all, so please come along if you can!

It was a privilege to show Vaughan School’s young eco-warriors and their parents around parliament earlier this month - some great questions on Labour’s environment policies if we do get into Government and I look forward to even more questions from more of Harrow’s youth, with a visit from another Harrow Scout group this month.

A reminder that anyone living in Harrow West and wanting to join a tour of your House of Commons, please feel free to let me know by filling out a form here: https://www.gareththomas.org.uk/parliamentary-tours/

CAREERS FAIR

Will you speak about your career with Harrow students?

My last Careers Fair with Rooks Heath College brought together hundreds of Harrow pupils with companies and institutions from across the country, from the British Film Institute, to the Royal Navy, to Heathrow and many more. While we were not able to bring together students and organisations in person in 2021, we organised a successful virtual event with many attendees.

On Wednesday, 18th January 2022, we are returning to an in-person Careers Fair format at Rooks Heath School and would love to hear from Harrow residents from a variety of occupations. If you or your business/company are able to speak with students from 9:30 AM-5 PM, or even for a few hours in the morning or afternoon – we would love to hear from you. Please respond to this e-mail or e-mail [email protected] with Subject: Careers Fair

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

🚨 Advertise your Small Harrow Business here 🚨

With the return of Small Business Saturday this weekend, I want to spotlight as many small businesses as I can once again. Last year, we were able to spotlight over thirty excellent local businesses in Harrow…

So, if you are a small business owner in Harrow, or a big supporter of one, and you would like me to promote a business in the run up to Small Business Saturday, please send me a quick note (to [email protected]) with 👇

🔵 A picture that you’re happy for me to use to promote your business

🔵 The business name and a sentence on what your customers like about you

🔵 Where people can find you online and/or in person, your opening hours and any social media pages

As we move into another dismal economic environment let’s give our small businesses the support and appreciation they deserve.

PARLIAMENT ROUND-UP

Casework

During November I have raised a number of concerns from constituents with Ministers both directly and through Parliamentary channels. Significantly, in this House I took the opportunity to press the Secretary of State for Justice to re-examine the alleged failings at Belmarsh Prison which led to the death of the brother of a constituent.

Video here: https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1595050033468014595

Trade

As Shadow Minister for International Trade, I have met with a variety of stakeholders from across the constituency, and beyond, to hear their concerns at the inadequacies of the Trade deal that the Tory Government negotiated with the E.U. in addition to further concerns regarding the lack of support for small and medium sized business who wish to export across the world.

Video available here:

https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1588152194737528834

Speaking of poorly negotiated trade deals… The House of Commons has a further debate on the Australia and New Zealand Trades deals, deals which the current Prime Minister recently, when campaigning to be PM, correctly assessed as being ‘one-sided’ in favour of Australia and New Zealand.

Whilst these, and almost any, trade deal is to be welcomed, the detail of these deals has revealed them to be rushed and placing the UK at disadvantage in crucial sectors such as agriculture. These deals will have a very negligible impact on UK growth (the New Zealand FTA will increase our GDP by just 0.03% and the Australian one by just 0.08%). In closing the debate I called for greater Parliamentary scrutiny of future deals, as is the norm in many other Nations, to ensure that this government doesn’t again tie our country into deals which put us at a disadvantage for the sake of a photo opportunity for a Minister.

Video and speech available here: https://twitter.com/GarethThomasMP/status/1592533161476775938 & https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-11-14/debates/9F6BE62D-316D-4DAA-95C2-218CE670219D/AustraliaAndNewZealandTradeDeals#contribution-BBEF14F0-1C1E-468A-924D-A7EB9B13111A

Other Issues

I have also raised the issue of the 37 men who, in 1984, tried to stop the closure of the Cammell Laird shipyards. They were sent to prison, sacked and lost redundancy and pension rights and Ministers must do more to make available all documents to correct this historic injustice.

Video here:

https://twitter.com/gareththomasmp/status/1545367470395072515?s=48&t=apLmrxL6R4Q-WRRkfo_GMQ

Ahimsa Day

It was a great pleasure to host a parliamentary reception in Parliament to celebrate the teachings of Jainism and meet with many remarkable Jains who have done so many greats things in our community.

PARLIAMENTARY BOUNDARIES CONSULTATION – FINAL WEEK

The Boundary Commission has now published revised proposals for the Parliamentary Boundaries. Many residents will remember the proposal set out by the boundary commission to retain only one ‘Harrow’ constituency. The revised proposal has returned proposals for a Harrow West and Harrow East constituency, as well as Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (with Hillingdon). The major changes being Wealdstone North and South wards are transferred into Harrow West, which was part of the Commission’s plan, with outer roads previously in Harrow West currently in Pinner and Pinner South wards being moved into the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner constituency. Kenton East and Kenton West will be retained into Harrow East as well as the addition of Queensbury ward from the borough of Brent to Harrow East.

You can see the boundary proposals for Harrow West here: https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/review2023/b65f7782-658b-4c4a-9cba-59c16c807f77/a3-maps/L_35_Harrow%20West%20BC.pdf

You can read the full details for proposals for London here: https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/london/

Thank you to all the residents who have expressed their views and made representations to the Commission. There will now be a short (four week) consultation which lasts until the 5th December. I understand that while many residents are happy with current proposals some people feel that community links have not been sufficiently retained. I would advise anyone who has concerns or anyone who considers the new proposals favourably to respond directly to the consultation:  https://www.bcereviews.org.uk/ .  My understanding is that the Commission are particularly keen to hear from individuals and community groups to understand how the proposed boundary changes will affect them personally.

I’m deeply proud to represent the ‘Harrow West’ constituency which I have lived my whole life in, and will continue to do so until at least the next General Election, when I will be seeking re-election. If you have any other concerns and queries about the boundary commission process, do feel free to get in touch.

PICTURING HIGH STREETS

An image of Rayners Lane high street submitted by a resident to Historic England for #PicturingHighStreets - if you have an image of North Harrow, South Harrow, Rayners Lane, Wealdstone, Harrow Town Centre or West Harrow Village to share, please do share your pictures for me to spotlight too.

Over the next 12 months, people are encouraged to respond to a fortnightly challenge that uncovers the secret life of the high street, posting their own photographs on Instagram using #PicturingHighStreets. From celebrating local high street heroes that make our places so special; capturing favourite hang outs and meeting places; to recording the hidden heritage of our high streets: the most evocative photographs will be featured on the Picturing High Streets Instagram channel.

https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/picturing-high-streets-photography-competition-launched/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=brand&fbclid=IwAR3Xkt91VW2mW_o4QmxBuKfTLaq5gH8h3MaW4RFdzgF8uKfYNtqR9uUY090

A selection of photographs submitted before 21 December 2022 will form a national outdoor exhibition opening in Spring 2023 filling Clear Channel advertising space, outdoor exhibition panels and shop windows on high streets across England. These photographs – alongside a selection of others submitted from January 2023 onwards – will also enter the Historic England Archive, the nation’s archive for England’s historic buildings, archaeology and social history.

SUPPORT IN HARROW

In the backdrop to all the political turmoil in Westminster this year - on the ground here in Harrow, one of the richest countries in the world will be dependent on the good will of some amazing charities, churches and mosques for  “warm hubs” this winter.

I will aim to drop by to one of the warm banks and offer my support when I can. While people are struggling to keep homes warm, I completely recognise the need to normalise the support for those that need it, so do visit a warm hub if you need a warm drink and some warm company.

Voluntary Action Harrow have set-up a very helpful map of all the warm hubs accessible across Harrow, which can be found here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?ll=51.61039799008117%2C-0.33882177684980475&z=12&mid=1ZiaaiOTQTaSI5zuDatNOjGD0b-NfKe4

NEW MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIP FOR 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: https://youngharrowfoundation.org/HarrowMHP

London’s Community Kitchen:

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:  https://www.londonscommunitykitchen.com/home-1

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.

Many congratulations to Taz and the team on their Outstanding Observer Food Award. 2 weekly surplus food markets, a cooking school and a Kind Cafe later – London’s Community Kitchen is expanding across four boroughs and we’re so proud to have the original in Harrow!

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/oct/16/ofm-awards-2022-outstanding-achievement-londons-community-kitchen