Opinions

Whilst its Ground Rents Bill sounds like a step in the right direction for future homeowners, it doesn’t go far enough towards ending this exploitative model of ownership.

COP I’m sure it won’t have escaped South London Press readers’ attention that the Conservative Government took away the £20 uplift to Universal Credit last month.

In the lead up to COP26 my constituents in Battersea were clear – from small business owners, to churches, to our young people – the time to be ambitious and take action is now.

The climate emergency is the single biggest issue we face both nationally and globally. To prevent the most catastrophic consequences of global warming we must limit the increase to 1.5C.

A decade of austerity and cuts to public services has taken their toll on our poorest residents.

October is Black History Month. The reason this is important is that the past contribution of black people to our history in the UK is all but overlooked.

We all know the awful toll of statistics: 137,000 dead, 550,000 hospitalised, over two million estimated to be suffering from long Covid.

Last week, Sarah Everard’s killer was given a full life sentence. During the trial, we heard the harrowing impact statements from Sarah’s family; outlining the horrific effect that losing a daughter and a sister has had on their lives.

Ministers keep mouthing they want to ‘level up’ but only seem to deliver empty rhetoric. The Government cannot level up when people are parked up waiting to fill up, if they can find a petrol station with fuel.

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.

In a packed church hall in my constituency, I recently held a meeting for Lewisham’s Afghan residents following the Taliban takeover of their country. Four times as many people turned up as had booked slots, a telling sign of the despair currently gripping the Afghan diaspora.