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To celebrate International Women's Day I was very proud to welcome two local women, Mickey Wells and Lisa Goodchild into Parliament for an evening reception with Keir Starmer to celebrate the work of female entrepreneurs. Mickey is an award-winning fitness instructor who kept me moving during lockdowns, supporting my mental & physical health. She has also raised £10,000 for local domestic violence charities. Lisa went to school with both me and my sister Rachel, she overcame the challenges of her childhood and set up a successful digital marketing company. Through her charity work, she also provides digital skills training to disadvantaged young people. These women are fantastic role models for our community, and it was brilliant to be able to recognise their fantastic achievements and work.  For International Women's Day this year I led Labour’s Opposition Day debate on this Government's appalling track record on tackling rape.
Under the conservatives we have seen the effective decriminalisation of this crime with just 1.3% of reported rapes being prosecuted. This is a record low despite reports of the crime being at record highs. Labour has a plan to tackle this which I put forward but until the Government backs it women and girls will continue to be failed. You can see my speech here and my article on this here. We are very fortunate to have such fantastic local services in our area but sadly they have been impacted heavily by the pandemic. I have been doing everything possible to fight for them and ensure that high standards are maintained.
One of the biggest disruptions has been the cuts to our train services from Sydenham Station. During the first lockdown the ‘loop line’ between London Bridge and Victoria was cut and is yet to be restored. In November 2021 myself and the Sydenham Society met with key officials at Southern to urge them return our service back to normal. They confirmed in the meeting that the plan was to reintroduce the service on the 4th January. However, this did not happen and in fact the East Croydon to London Bridge service has also been cut. This means that at the time of writing there are no weekday trains from Sydenham to London Bridge. This has caused huge and unacceptable disruption for many constituents, and others across South London. Commuters are now having to contend with crowded alternative routes, and I have also been contacted by families who need to travel to hospitals in central London who are now facing far longer and complicated journeys. I met with Southern again in January to ask them to sort this out. They informed me that staff absences caused by covid had led to the cuts in service. I have been assured that from 21st February there will be two trains an hour, seven days a week, from Sydenham to London Bridge. However, staff absence will need to fall below 12% before the loop line can be restored and is therefore likely to take longer. We rely on our transport links in Sydenham and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure our service is restored to the level it was pre pandemic. In better news, after a tireless campaign driven by our wonderful local community, in November the Mayor of London committed to funding the renovations for the 50m pool and diving pool at the Crystal Palace National Sport Centre. These pools have been closed since March 2020, denying local swimmers their usual routine, and preventing the next generation of elite swimmers who use the pools for training. Young people at the fantastic Crystal Palace diving club have also been forced to travel miles out of London in order to train. Given the importance of the pools to our community I have been lobbying the Mayor for some time to commit the funding needed, so I am delighted by this news. Finally, one of our services most impacted by the pandemic has been our schools. They have done a brilliant job over the past few years in incredibly challenging circumstances. But I know that many schools are currently having to teach with windows open in the bitter cold of the winter, so in Parliament I have been arguing for air purifiers to be made available for all schools. I have been delighted that as we come out of the pandemic I have once again been able to visit the schools in our constituency. This is one part of my job I really missed during Covid restrictions, and I think it’s incredibly important to be able meet with pupils and answer their questions about politics and Parliament. I have done lots of school visits over the past couple of months and look forward to doing more throughout the year. So, whilst we have faced many challenges over the last few years, I will continue to fight for our public services and to ensure that our area continues to be a fantastic place to live and work. Like many I am in utter shock at the ‘partygate’ scandal. Sue Gray’s report published in part today made clear that COVID regulations were flouted routinely in Downing Street, including on several occasions when the Prime Minister was present.
The Prime Minister has previously assured the House that the guidance was followed, and the rules were followed. But we now know that at least 12 cases have reached the threshold for a criminal investigation, and a number of these are being examined by the Metropolitan Police. Whilst Downing Street partied, we did what was right and followed the rules. Either the Prime Minister had not read them, did not understand them, or thought that they did not apply to him. When parties took place, key workers were working round the clock to keep us all safe. People suffered loneliness and loss in unimaginably tough circumstances, and for the majority of the country our freedom was limited to a daily walk. In Parliament this month I raised the case of a constituent who spent most of her labour alone then days in hospital with a newborn without her partner being able to visit, all while Downing Street partied, see here. The British people who have made so many heart-wrenching sacrifices over the past two years, deserve better than this rotten Government and the Prime Minister has now lost what little authority he had. Given this and that he is too distracted to fulfil the duties of his office I believe he should do the decent thing and resign. I was proud to recently be promoted to the Shadow Justice team as the Shadow Justice Minister. I have loved being Shadow Solicitor General over the last year and a half and am really excited to now build on top of this work in the new Justice team.
One of my priorities that I will continue pushing forward is our work on Ending Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG). The first responsibility of any Government is the safety and security of its citizens. However, rape prosecutions and convictions are at record lows, domestic abuse is soaring, and last year the number of female homicide victims reached its highest level since 2006. Despite all of this the Government has no real plan beyond a few gimmicks to address these failings. In response we have published a Green Paper on Ending VAWG and I led the development of Labour’s Survivors’ Support Plan to reverse the falling prosecution rates for rape. This plan called for the fast-tracking of cases throughout the criminal justice system, a full legal advocacy scheme for victims and a named Minister for Survivors to give this issue proper accountability. Meanwhile, it took the Government over two years to conduct their rape review which in the end made only piecemeal suggestions like extending the pilot of fast-tracking cases to just six crown courts. We could have this operating in all crown courts tomorrow if the government were serious about this. It’s not good enough and its victims who are being let down. One of my other priorities in the new role will be women in prisons, many of whom are themselves the victims of crime. Evidence shows that for the majority of offenders community-based solutions through Women’s Centres are much more effective at preventing reoffending and are far more cost effective than prison. Indeed, the Government’s own female offender strategy promises a focus on early intervention and community-based solutions. Despite this they are investing £150 million to build 500 new prison cells for women instead of investing in what works - women’s centres and community sentences. This needs to be robustly challenged. Finally, we need to challenge the Government’s ambition to scrap the Human Rights Act and curtail judicial review. These are cornerstone of the rule of law that underpins democracy - and ensures that no one, not even Government Ministers, are above the law. It's yet another example of one rule for them, another for the rest of us. This attack on our rights comes at a time when the justice system has never been more vulnerable. 11 years of Conservative cuts, a backlog of over 60,000 cases in the Crown Courts and victims dropping out because of these delays. It’s clear that we will have our work cut out defending our Justice system. As the political lead for Labour in the Old Bexley and Sidcup By-election I have spent a large part of my time over the last month out on the doorstep in this traditionally conservative heartland. And the response on the doorstep during this campaign has been fascinating.
We came across numerous voters telling us that they are fed up with being taken for granted, fed up with being told to live by a set of rules that is ignored by the Government and fed up with the Tory sleaze scandal. This has led to a large number of Conservatives no longer wanting to support this Government and even a number committing to give their support to Labour instead. Serious times call for serious leadership and it’s clear that people are ready to give Labour and Keir Starmer a hearing. And this is reflected in the result. Last week we achieved a fantastic 10.3% swing to Labour, slashing the Tory majority from nearly 19,000 to 4,478. If this swing was replicated at a general election it would put us within reach of forming a majority government. This is a really encouraging result especially in the context that this constituency is a safe Conservative seat that has never been held by Labour and nor do we have any Labour Councillors there. The result is also testament to the brilliant work of our local candidate, Daniel Francis, who campaigned tirelessly to get our message out. And this result just goes to show that amongst the Conservatives core voters’ faith is being lost. Whether it’s the broken manifesto promises, lies or the sleaze that has emerged, voters are cottoning on to this Government’s incompetence and that it’s one rule for Government Ministers and their associates and another for everyone else. This has been reflected in the billions of pounds of taxpayer money handed to their mates and donors, Tory MPs getting rich by working as lobbyists and missing votes to be in the Caribbean advising tax havens instead of representing their constituents. Recently in Parliament Labour put forward a plan of action to clean up politics and strengthen standards with a vote for an investigation into the sleaze scandal and to end paid directorships and commercial consultancies for sitting MPs. Instead of backing this and taking the first steps to clean up our politics the Prime Minister whipped his MPs against this plan. We need a Government that governs in the public interest, not their own personal interest. But it’s increasingly clear the latter is more the case. Taking Old Bexley and Sidcup was not a prospect for us, but the big swing to Labour that we achieved shows that even for Tory heartland voters this shambles of a Government is not delivering and that there is a path for Labour to form the next Government. After a tireless campaign driven by our wonderful local community, last week, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has committed to funding the renovations for the 50m pool and diving pool at the Crystal Palace National Sport Centre.
Our community fought tirelessly with a petition that received over 20,000 signatures in just a week and now stands at over 40,000 signatures. I have also been lobbying the Mayor for some time to commit to this, so I am delighted by this news. I’m also extremely grateful for the support from Swim England, who helped champion our local campaign. These pools have been closed since March 2020, with delays to repairs to the 60-year-old listed building caused partly by the pandemic and a lack of funding for remedial work, but this is a key local resource for the community. The reopening of the pools is particularly important for local leisure swimmers, but also for the next generation of elite swimmers who use it frequently for training, as it is one of only a handful of 50 metre pools in London and the only one for neighbouring Kent. The closures have meant that swimmers, divers, and water polo players have all had to travel extremely long distances for well over a year now to use specialist facilities elsewhere. I recently met with the Minister for Sport to raise this with him as well as call for funding ahead of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review and I will also be meeting with Sport England to see if they can guarantee any provision of funding for the future of the pool and National Sports Centre more widely to add to that guaranteed by the Mayor. Getting the pools open again is crucial to nurturing the talent of the future, as well as providing local people with a place to exercise and enjoy themselves. We must now ensure that this is delivered as soon as possible with a clear target reopening date put in place. During the first national lockdown, Southern train services between London Bridge and Victoria stations (‘the loop line’) were suspended, leaving just two Southern trains an hour between London Bridge and East Croydon. There was an expectation that the service would return to normal this autumn, but they have only been running an intermittent service to East Croydon at weekends since September 2021.
Last week I met with key officials from Govia Thameslink (the parent company of Southern), alongside the Forest Hill and Sydenham societies. The main reason given for the reduction in service was the shortage of train drivers, due to many being forced to self-isolate and not enough remaining staff to cover absent staff. We were provided with charts that showed the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on train crew available. Pre-covid train crew unavailability was usually around 9% at any one time for Govia Thameslink. But current staff unavailability is currently around the 14-15% mark. Those present from Thameslink stated that the ‘loop line’ hasn’t been re-introduced to a regular service because train occupancy levels show that passenger numbers are still under 60% of what they were pre-Covid levels and that they were suffering from significant staff shortages due to the self-isolation of drivers. Those present did confirm that they do intend to reintroduce services between London Bridge and Victoria on the 4th January 2022. However, this will only be a partial service, running throughout the day on Saturdays and Sundays, but only during peak times on weekdays (7:30-9:30am and 4:30-6:30pm) to improve capacity for the highest loaded trains. Therefore, in non-peak hours, Southern are still advising to travel to Norwood Junction from Forest Hill and Sydenham and change there for trains to Victoria. We also discussed the recent announcement that Southern services to Victoria will be redirected to London Bridge over the Christmas period, due to re-signalling work around Victoria station. This means that from any of the stations in our constituency, two changes will be required to get to Victoria, and we called on Govia Thameslink to make sure this work is completed as soon as possible. Good transport links for our constituency are incredibly important, and I am grateful for all the help the Sydenham and Forest Hill societies have provided to ensure we have these. But going forward we need to make sure that Southern brings back a more regular service pattern on the ‘loop line’ than the service proposed to be re-introduced and we will continue to press Southern and Govia Thameslink on this. The scenes over recent weeks in Afghanistan have been deeply upsetting as the country has faced the tragic rollback of progress that so many have worked so hard for - not least of all the gains in education and rights for women.
I know from my inbox the strength of feeling on this and me and my team have been working tirelessly on this issue. This has included helping constituents and their families get back home, support and advice for constituents with loved ones trapped in Afghanistan and making sure that those who were evacuated are not left homeless and destitute. Whilst this has been a huge job and at times deeply upsetting dealing with such traumatic cases, I am pleased to say that we have managed to help many safely return and begin to settle. But it never had to be like this and for all the families we have helped, there are many still trapped. Despite having 18 months to prepare for the withdrawal, the Government failed to plan for this moment. This, along with the complacency they showed towards the deteriorating situation in the country, resulted in the chaos we have seen. Indeed, despite the Foreign Office’s clear warnings weeks before Kabul fell, the former Foreign Secretary was asleep at the wheel. He could have stepped up the evacuation efforts, issued earlier warnings and increased resources to the department’s crisis response. Instead, while military leave was cancelled, he and the Prime Minister went on holiday. Our troops, diplomats and civil servants did a heroic job to get as many people as possible to safety. But the collapse in Afghanistan and failure of Conservative Ministers to plan ahead has left huge numbers stranded in fear for their lives. We have an obligation to help these people. Despite all of this, the local response has been heartening. Our local community has really come together, donating essential supplies like clothes, nappies, baby milk and food and I have been able to provide these items to a number of families I am helping in my area. Alongside this, Living Well Bromley and the Lewisham Donation Hub have gone above and beyond to support the local relief effort and the wonderful Melvin Hall are also taking donations for Afghan families. I cannot thank them and our community enough but whilst our community has done brilliantly, we are lacking direction from the Government. They need to urgently outline a plan to enable those who are stranded in Afghanistan to leave via a viable and safe route and work with councils to establish how they can be supported to rebuild their lives here. We are ready to do our bit but now the Government must act and I will continue to push on them until they do. Prosecutions and convictions for rape have been deteriorating since 2016 and are now at an all-time low and with court backlogs victims are waiting years for their case to be heard. Labour have been calling on the government for action to reverse this and in response we were told to wait for the publication of their End to End Rape Review.
After more than two years this was finally published last month. But sadly, its recommendations do not go nearly far enough. We needed urgent action and root and branch reform. Instead all we got were more pilots & consultations which won’t deliver the change that victims need now. I have been leading on Labour’s response to this review and back in March we published our Survivors’ Support Plan which outlined the action needed. This included fast-tracking rape cases through the courts across the country, giving rape victims a legal advocate from the moment they report the crime at a police station right through to trial and appointing a Minister for Survivors to give this issue the accountability it needs. It is unacceptable that the review contains none of these measures and goes to show the government do not take this issue seriously enough. This is also evidenced in their recent Police, Crime, Court and Sentencing Bill which could have been used to introduce measures to tackle violence against women and girls. Instead the Bill doesn’t even mention women and does more to protect statues. Our laws must send a strong signal that violence against women and girls will not be tolerated but under this government we have yet to see tough action on this. Labour believes that it is time for judges to be able to hand out enhanced sentences for those who commit crimes on the basis of their prejudice against women and our recently published Ending Violence Against Women & Girls Green paper outlines these measures. This includes toughening sentences for rape, stalking and domestic murder, reviewing sentencing for all domestic abuse and introducing whole life tariffs for those who rape, abduct and murder a stranger. Throughout the Bill’s passage in Parliament we have been tabling amendments to include these measures. However, amendments to introduce a minimum sentence of 7 years for rape, to fast track rape cases through the courts and make it easier for victims to give evidence were all rejected by the government. The violence that women and girls face is endemic, and no matter how much the government want to paint a picture of it being a rare crime, the figures tell a different story. The Conservatives are letting us down, but Labour has put tackling gender-based violence at the very top of our agenda and will continue to push for the change that is needed. |