The weather has been awful, but looking forward we can hope for some warmer weather moving into spring…
This week, the Prime Minister has faced criticism from both sides of the House this week with his less than useful approach to the flooding situation in the North of England. Fortunately in Hull we have been spared the worst of it, but it has been horrendous across much of Yorkshire.
For myself, I started Monday by doing a keynote speech at the Annual Apprenticeship Conference in Birmingham where I talked about the problems we have with lack of funding for further education, higher education, apprenticeships and skills and argued how the government can improve its performance and provide the services and education our young people need.
I followed this up by asking how the government is going to implement its new T-Level qualification in rural areas that can not provide the work placements needed to fulfil its criteria. Also on Monday we saw the first of the allegations of bullying by Priti Patel, obviously I don’t know the details but its sufficient to say there should be an investigation as bullying of any kind in the workplace should never be tolerated.
Tuesday was a good day as it saw the launch of the APPG SEND, in which we will look at how we can reform SEND provision within schools. We collected over 300 signatures from Heads of schools in a petition and hand delivered it to 10 Downing Street, hopefully we can get some results for SEND soon.
Wednesday saw me stand up in Parliament again and ask if the Minister would come along and have a meeting about the flooding, discuss Lagoon Hull and the University of Hulls proposal to build a National Flood Resilience Centre in Scunthorpe.
I have had some good responses from Ministers from across the House and have so far secured 2 meetings to discuss child services and flooding.
Regardless of the balance of power in Parliament it is paramount that cross party groups and MP’s try to work together to change the mistakes of the past. Obviously the government doesn’t agree with everything I wasn’t, but I shall always try to make headway for the important issues.
Thursday and Friday saw me return to Hull were I have had many meetings including at The Warren with young people to discuss how we can better police our identities online so they don’t end up being used unscrupulously. This is a complex issue but one that needs addressing, especially with young people and vulnerable children being involved.
I presented an award at the George Orwell Youth Prize to young writers that engage with todays political climate and wrote some fantastic pieces on their viewpoints. It was an honour to attend and see so many talented individuals.
So you can see that what I do in parliament links directly to what happens in Hull, I am always trying to get the governments attention to Hull, to see what issues we have and to provide further funding and services that we need.
I hope you all have a great weekend and I will see you soon.
Emma x
