MP’S UPDATE TO  RESIDENTS – DECEMBER 2020

I provide regular updates on my work.

You can find previous reports of my work on my web site;
www.ruthcadbury.co.uk [1] I also report regularly on my Facebook page [2]
and via Twitter [3] and Instagram @RuthCadbury [4]. You can see full
details of my questions and speeches in Parliament, and get Regular updates
about my Parliamentary activities on TheyWorkForYou [5]in Hansard [6]and on
YouTube [7]

SEE MY SPECIAL CORONAVIRUS WEB-PAGE [8] FOR INFORMATION ON

LOCAL AND NATIONAL SERVICES, HELP-LINES AND VOLUNTEERING;

 AND TO SIGN UP FOR HOUNSLOW COUNCIL’S DAILY UPDATES.

2020 has been a tough year for so many; those who have lost loved ones, or
jobs, students who have missed out on vital learning, and we have all
missed seeing friends and wider family members. We all miss hugs and
holidays. And many of us miss meeting voters on their doorsteps!

2021 is going to be a year of further uncertainty until we get an effective
vaccination programme. On top of that, we still face the inevitable
disruption of a bad trade deal with the EU or (worse), No Deal. As it’s
too late to go back, we’ll finally experience what it means for the UK to
sail off into the unknown waters of “full sovereignty”; something I and
most people in this constituency didn’t vote for.

One event I am looking forward to though is the delayed London elections,
with Sadiq Khan as our Labour candidate again, and the wonderful Candice
Atterton (Hounslow’s own) our London Assembly candidate for the South
West London seat.

Whatever 2021 brings, I do hope that you have a very merry (but
Covid-safe!) Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best wishes

RUTH CADBURY MP

COVID RESTRICTIONS have changed the way Parliament works, in particular
getting a chance to speak. Instead of “bobbing” to catch the
Speakers’ eye, we now go into a ballot for every debate and session of
Ministerial Questions, Urgent Questions and Statements. As you can see I
was drawn quite a few times in November, (including Prime Minister’s
Questions) but there were still debates I wanted to speak in but wasn’t
drawn.

IN THE CHAMBER IN NOVEMBER:

* At PMQs I asked the Prime Minister why so many of the Windrush victims
were still waiting for the compensation they have been promised. I also
asked him how he would prevent this happening again. (Because many others,
in the UK legally, are experiencing delays and bad decisions by the Home
office, an issue I pressed again at Home Office questions.)
* I challenged the Treasury and later the Health Secretary on government
spending over £12bn on dodgy contracts for PPE, test & trace etc, that has
led to too many companies with a poor record being overpaid and
under-delivering; I compared this with their refusal to support those
excluded from the various Covid funding programmes.
* At Culture Media & Sport Ministerial questions I spoke up for those
freelancers working in the West End who are excluded from support

At a debate on bringing spectators back to football, I described the work
Brentford FC have done to support fans during lockdown, and backed their
call for a safe return to matches.

We finally saw this, at BFC’s first game with fans at Lionel Road on 5th
December, 7 years to the day after Hounslow Planning Committee agreed the
planning permission for the stadium

* At Housing questions I addressed the worrying rise in young rough
sleepers with particular mention of young people leaving prison
* I demanded the Education Secretary give urgent clarity over the 2021
exams. I relayed the message headteachers gave me, that they felt the
Government had no respect for them or for teachers, trying to do their best
without clear guidance from Government
* I asked the Health Secretary to provide more funding for local councils
and directors of public health if mass rapid testing is to be rolled across
the country

* Following the emergency evacuation of over 800 residents on the Paragon
estate in Brentford (see my October update) I raised concerns about fire
safety in buildings that go far beyond flammable cladding

* Called on the Government to take further action to tackle plastic
pollution, an issue often raised by local school children, and warned that
the 2042 schedule to reach net zero plastic was already falling behind

* At the weekly Covid questions to the Health Secretary, I raised a
concern that an 11pm curfew would still be a risk as Londoners crowd onto
tubes and buses at the same time
* Four Parliamentary select committees commissioned a Climate Assembly of
a representative group of 150 UK voters at the start of 2020. Their report
on achieving net zero [9] was presented to Parliament in a debate. I
welcomed their recommendations, and focused on the role that aviation
should play, not only with technological solutions, but also addressing the
relative cost of flying vs rail travel
* WELFARE SUPPORT: I spoke in the debate about the role of the DWP during
the pandemic and mentioned local examples of people who've suffered due to
problems with Universal Credit. I mentioned the impact that the benefit cap
is having on local families, and also how job losses are leaving migrants
who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) destitute.

LETTERS:

I wrote to the Department for Education about delays experienced by school
in receiving laptops and other IT support for self-isolating pupils

I also wrote to the Foreign Office about the Armenia/Azerbaijan conflict
and the recent ceasefire; raising concerns of constituents about the
humanitarian impact & damage to cultural/religious sites

I launched the PERIOD EQUALITY ALL PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP. A growing
number of students miss school because they cannot afford pads or tampons.
The Government launched a Free Period Products scheme last year so that
schools can apply for free supplies. As many schools have not applied,
there is a risk the funding will be pulled, so we are asking fellow MPs to
encourage schools in their constituencies to join up before it’s too
late. We also plan to bring a Free Period Products Bill to Parliament,
following Labour MSP Monica Lennon’ success when the Scottish Parliament
unanimously approved her Bill to enable free period products to be
available at schools and other public places [10]

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY

Several valuable local charities have asked for help; so in addition to
those I mention in every update, I have been asked to pass on information
on these appeals. If you, like me, your income has not been hit this year,
please do donate to these important local causes. You can also volunteer
your time to help.

With growing numbers of local people unable to afford to buy food, it’s
good to know that so many people support local food projects with their
time or money. With Cllrs Steve Curran and Hanif Khan I attended the
Christmas appeal launch of FoodWithLove – based in Osterley and now
delivering an incredible 500 hot meal packs every day across the borough.
For donations & offers of help _HTTPS://FOODWITHLOVE.CO.UK/ [11]_

WATERMAN’S ARTS CENTRE has lost all its ticket income this year, and
although they have had some help from the Government schemes, their
financial future is precarious. As the only Arts Centre in Hounslow, and
providing community performances across the borough, they need your support
now.

The #SaveWatermans Emergency Appeal page is here [12]

MANY CHARITIES NEED HELP TO SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED.  FOR INFORMATION ABOUT
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE BOROUGH CONTACT _HOUNSLOW VOLUNTEERING
CENTRE [13]_

IF YOU CAN SPARE MONEY TO OTHER HARD-PRESSED LOCAL CHARITIES please do:
_HOUNSLOW COMMUNITY FOODBOX  [14] IVYBRIDGE_ Foodbank (_RUN BY ALL SOULS
CHURCH, ST MARGARET’S) [15],  AGUE HOUNSLOW [16],_ and _HOUNSLOW OPEN
KITCHEN [17]_

THERE ARE REGULAR UPDATES about national and local information and services
from Hounslow Council _HERE [18]._

COMMUNITY UPDATE

LOCKDOWN HAS MEANT I’VE MISSED THE MANY COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND EVENTS I
WOULD NORMALLY ATTEND – BUT SOME HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY ZOOM INSTEAD.

For the ANNUAL PARLIAMENT WEEK I “met” pupils at Grove Park and at St
Mary’s Catholic Schools in Chiswick. They all asked interesting questions
(as ever) about my role as an MP

I was able to help on the poppy stall at Tesco with former Councillor Linda
Green just before the start of the 2nd lockdown. At one of the very scaled
down Remembrance Sunday services, I laid my wreath at Hounslow war
memorial, and would like to thank those who laid my wreaths at the other 4
services.

HOUNSLOW FRIENDS OF FAITH [19] links faith leaders and places of worship
across the borough, and I was delighted to attend their Zoom 20th
anniversary AGM.

I’ve attended two conferences locally addressing how our local economy,
being so dependent on Heathrow, is going to recover from the devastating
impact of Covid-19. Hounslow Council organised an _AVIATION COMMUNITIES_
[20] event. And business and community leaders around Heathrow organised
the _BLUE SKIES CONFERENCE_ [21] I chaired the Green Future panel, where we
discussed not only low emission planes, the skills needed for low-carbon
technology development, but also alternatives to flying.

And while on the Heathrow theme, it’s shocking that HEATHROW AIRPORT LTD
have followed BA by forcing their staff to accept a new permanent contract
involving significant pay cuts, or take redundancy. I sent a message of
support to strikers on the picket line, and am working with other West
London colleagues to get HAL to rethink – after all John Holland-Kaye is
doing this while being awarded £3m in shares

When I visited the Co-op in Chiswick to meet staff there along with the
USDAW regional officer, I was shocked to learn about the level of abuse and
assault faced by so many shopworkers on a daily basis. I was also horrified
to learn of the knife attack on a staff member at Isleworth Co-op last
month. I am joining fellow MPs to seek stronger legal protection for
shopworkers who are attacked doing their job.

UNSUBSCRIBE [22]

Printed from an email sent by Ruth Cadbury MP 367 Chiswick High Road
London, LON W4 4AG
United Kingdom




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