Constituency Report (July 2018) Durham Miners’ Gala
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Constituency Report (July 2018) Durham Miners’ Gala This weekend, while Theresa May held hands with Donald Trump down at Blenheim Palace, I had the honour of speaking at the Durham Miners’ Gala for the first time. In this year of so many grand anniversaries; for the NHS, the TUC, women’s suffrage, and the birth of Nelson Mandela, we are able to reflect on how far our movement has come and how much we have to celebrate, and I was proud to speak at the Big Meeting in such a year. We had a fantastic turnout of over 50,000 who travelled largely from the North and Scotland to hear speakers such Watching Durham Miners procession as Frances O’Grady, Dennis Skinner, Jeremy Corbyn and myself, to name just a few. One of my first assignments as a new barrister in 1985 was to represent local leaders of the miners’ strike, and so speaking in front of the hundreds of thousands of people who had come to keep the spirit of the Miners’ Strike alive was fantastic. The night before the Big Meeting I gave the second annual Davey Hopper Memorial Lecture, in honour of the late secretary of the Durham Miners’ Association. I spoke about how Davey and other Miners’ Strike leaders gave so much to keep our movement alive, and of the Speaking at Durham Miners’ Gala lessons they had taught me about solidarity. In the meantime Theresa May was rolling out the red carpet for Trump, in the hope that the President would guarantee a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK. In return, he has insulted our city, our country, and the Prime Minister herself. While Trump continues to isolate America, wage trade wars, and insult allied nations, we gather to celebrate our solidarity, with a leader who has shown himself to be an internationalist to the core. Lunch with Andy Tsege, 28th June Prime Minister’s Questions Last Wednesday I stood in for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions, and pressed Cabinet Secretary David Lidington on how the government’s Chequers Brexit Deal would work in practice. That deal of course now lays in tatters, as the Prime Minister accepted wrecking amendments from the hard right of her party before it was even put to a vote. Lidington’s flimsy defence of a customs agreement, for which there is no facilitating technology, and which does not cover our service industry, did nothing to convince his own backbenchers or the Labour Party. Judging by the swift resignations of the Brexit Secretary and the Foreign NHS 70th Birthday Cake with Shadow Secretary it appears that the deal was not to their liking Cabinet, 5th July either, once they returned to Parliament and had their special advisors read it for them. Standing up for my constituent Shao Jiang Foreign Office Questions At Foreign Office Questions on the 26th of June I pressed the then Foreign Secretary about his newfound admiration for Donald Trump. In addition to claiming that Trump could do a better job negotiating Brexit than Theresa May, Boris Johnson said he increasingly admired the President, despite his administrations support for neo-Nazis, instituting a Muslim travel ban, and caging children at the US-Mexico border. Donald Trump’s visit to the UK has once again highlighted this governments inability to influence the President in any positive way. It has been shameful to see senior Tories appease a President who considers the EU an enemy, in order to get a favourable trade deal Foreign Office Questions, 26th June which he has said may not even be possible. NHS 70th Anniversary This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the NHS, first created by Labour Health Secretary Nye Bevan in 1948. As the party of the NHS we will continue to ensure that services are free at the point of use, and will expand health care services to ensure that mental health is treated on parity with physical health, and properly fund social care. I attended the NHS 70th Birthday party at the Whittington hospital, and an NHS campaign day in Wycombe, to show my support for all those health workers who have helped build and maintain this wonderful organisation. Happy Birthday NHS. Get well soon! Whittington NHS Birthday Party, 5th July Foreign affairs meetings and work in parliament Media appearances have included… 22nd Jun: Chatham House London Conference 21st June: 23rd Jun: Fabian Society 100 Years of Suffrage Press Gallery Lunch Conference 24th June: 26th Jun: Foreign Office Questions 26th Jun: Labour Party Women’s Centenary Gala Kings Place Politics Festival 27th Jun: Lunch with Andy Tsege, with Jeremy Corbyn 26th June: 27th Jun: Green Alliance and NGO partners, with Helen Channel 4 News Goodman MP 27th June: 29th Jun: First Women Lawyer’s Symposium, ‘Road to 1919’ ITV Summer Reception 2nd Jul: UQ on Trump’s Visit to UK 9th July: 3rd Jul: Nicaraguan Ambassador and Minister- Sky News Secretary of Presidency, with Helen Goodman MP BBC News 4th Jul: UQ on the Demolition of Khan al Ahmar HBO News 9th Jul: Progressive Alliance Training Academy Talk Radio In the constituency and out campaigning Good Morning Britain 22nd Jun: Norwich Fundraiser with Clive Lewis MP ITN 24th Jun: Canonbury Society Summer Party BBC Radio 5 Live ITN News 25th Jun: Labour Rail Campaign Day in Stevenage Channel 4 News 25th Jun: Armed Forces Day Flag Raising at Islington Town Hall 13th July: 5th Jul: Whittington Hospital NHS 70th Birthday Party Good Morning Britain 6th Jul: Constituency Surgery Sky Sunrise 6th Jul: Opening of Islington Primary Pupil Referral Unit LBC with Nick Ferrari 7th Jul: NHS 70th Birthday Campaign Day—High BBC London with Vanessa Feltz Wycombe 5 Live with Nicky Campbell CNBC CNN Victoria Derbyshire ITN interview House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA [email protected] 020 7697 9307 (2-5pm on Mon, Tues, Thurs) If you’d like to get involved with campaigning locally, please call the office on 0207 607 8373 .