British Steel Scunthorpe
The Labour Government has passed an emergency bill to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant. The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act will allow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to direct the board and staff of British Steel. Reynolds said the government had “no choice but to act” to save the Scunthorpe plant, after Chinese company Jingye, which bought British Steel in 2020, said it had been suffering financial losses of around £700,000 a day. We’ve now secured supplies of coking coal and iron ore to keep the blast furnaces going. Following this swift action by the Government, British Steel has officially withdrawn plans to make up to 2,700 workers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant. This is the difference a Labour Government makes.
Tariffs
A trade war with the US is not in anyone’s interests. The Prime Minister has put the UK in the best possible position to navigate an unpredictable situation and deliver economic security for working people. We don’t want any tariffs at all, but a lower levy on the UK than imposed on others vindicated the approach we have taken. We are now waiting to see what the USA does. We want to negotiate a sustainable trade deal with the USA, and of course to get tariffs lowered. But the UK will only do a deal which reflects this government’s mandate to deliver economic stability for the British people.
National Minimum Wage Rise
Earlier this month, millions of workers got a pay increase worth up to £1,400 a year through Labour’s boost to the National Living Wage. This is the latest step that the Labour government has taken to put more money back into people’s pockets and make working people better off. Since the General Election, interest rates have been cut three times and we’ve kept our promise not to raise personal taxes. Living standards are now set to rise twice as fast this Parliament as in the last. We all know that this won’t fix everything overnight, but this pay rise is a big step forwards in our mission to provide economic security for working people and deliver the decade of national renewal this country deserves. When we make a promise, we deliver it.
Free Breakfast Clubs
This week, Labour’s first phase of free breakfast clubs opened their doors to nearly 180,000 children. Our breakfast clubs will boost parents’ work choices and children’s life chances. Under the Tories, these clubs were available in just one in ten primary schools across England, Labour will make them available for all our children. Labour will give children the best start so that where you’re from doesn’t determine where you end up.
I visited one of the new breakfast clubs in Dronfield in Derbyshire. The children enjoyed it and the headteacher was very enthusiastic about the difference it would make. The evidence shows that children learn better and do better on a full stomach.
Supreme Court Ruling
On 16 April, the Supreme Court ruled that sex in the Equality Act means biological sex, meaning that a person will be considered as their biological sex for the purposes of the Act, whether they have a Gender Recognition Certificate or not.
The Government has welcomed the judgment for bringing clarity and confidence for women and service providers. Single-sex spaces must be protected, and that clear guidance must be available across a range of settings, from healthcare and prisons to sport and single-sex support groups. At the same time, the Supreme Court stressed that trans people retain clear protections in law and should be able to live their lives free of harassment and discrimination. Single-sex spaces should not come at the expense of treating trans people with respect. Following the ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission is now revising its code of practice, which will then be reviewed by the Government. This case is not about winners or losers, or ‘us or them’. We need a society that treats everyone with respect.
Local, Political and Parliamentary Activity
- Meeting with NI Veterans
- Oral Questions in the House of Commons
- Urgent Question on NI and tariffs
- Visited the National Archives
- Meeting with Party Leaders in NI
- Interview on BBC Good Morning Ulster
- Visited Mill Strand integrated primary school in Portrush
- Campaigning in Doncaster
- Visited Springwell Academy in Belle Isle
- Visited Kurdish House in Hunslet
- Coffee morning and door knocking in Halton
- South Leeds Life Column