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War in Gaza

We have experienced another week of seeing the devastating scenes from Gaza where thousands of men, women and children have been killed and injured, essential supplies continue to run out and with a ground invasion possibly looming. I am continuing to clearly call for a humanitarian ceasefire. There is no path to a safe and secure middle east through the intensive attacks on Gaza. Instead, this reaction may sadly only help create the conditions for the terrorism of the future to flourish, as we saw in the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The World Health Organisation recommends one person needs 50-100 litres a day to meet basic health requirements, yet only 3 litres per person is now available in Gaza according to Oxfam. The protests around the world in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the groundswell in public opinion have played a crucial role in forcing the British and American governments to call for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Gaza to allow safe deliveries of aid. However, this is far from good enough. Even if enough aid is allowed in, which Israel is currently preventing, civilians across Gaza will still be in constant danger from aerial attacks. There appears to now be no safe place in Gaza. Dozens of medical workers, journalists and UN staff have been killed in the bombing with hospitals and places of worship both targeted.

It seems clear to me that Israel has breached international law in its siege and bombardment of Gaza which is collectively punishing the Palestinian people for the actions of Hamas, as the UN Secretary General has said. Therefore, the UK should suspend weapons sales to Israel and an investigation should be carried out into the involvement of British-made weapons or components being used in the current assault on Gaza to assess the complicity of the UK in any war crimes being committed. We also need a commission of inquiry to be set up at the United Nations to investigate war crimes on all sides during this terrible conflict. In a show of its disregard for the rules-based international order Israel has made it clear that it intends to refuse visas to UN officials as well as denying international reporters access to Gaza.

I am continuing to receive regular briefings on the situation and I’m sure we will all be following the situation closely in the days and weeks ahead.

Renters Reform Bill

This week the Renters Reform Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons, which was good news for renters everywhere. A ban on ‘no fault evictions’ cannot come too soon for families across the country.

Shockingly, the Conservatives are trying to move the goalposts again. They have now said that the ban will not be enacted until reforms to the courts have been put in place, to enable swifter repossession proceedings. This effectively indefinitely delays the ban and shows once again that the Conservatives will always be on the side of landlords, rather than those facing the brunt of our housing crisis.

I am also deeply concerned that there is a loophole in this bill that removes the right to immediate help from local authorities when households are served with a possession notice on their home. This must be remedied through an amendment. The Labour Party and I will be closely scrutinising and seeking to strengthen the bill as it continues its passage through Parliament.

End of the Parliamentary Session

Parliament has now prorogued until November 7th, when the King’s Speech will take place and the Government will announce it legislate agenda, marking the end of this Parliamentary session. Sadly, it has been another year of the Conservatives failing to meet the needs which this country faces. Instead, it has focused inordinate amount of Parliamentary time passing partisan and immoral bills such as the Strikes Act, attacking the right of workers to withdraw their labour, and the Illegal Migration Act, running roughshod over the long-established right of refugees to claim asylum.

This trend of partisan lawmaking has continued with the Anti-BDS Bill, which will be carried over into the next session, seeking to prevent local councils and universities from boycotting and divesting from foreign governments for moral reasons. This is an attack on freedom of expression and local democracy, and I join the long list of organisations such as the Trades Union Congress and Liberty in strongly opposing it.

We should expect the Conservatives to bring forward further similar bills which are designed to try and fight a culture war, as they become increasingly desperate ahead of a looming election. I will also be closely watching to see whether the Government will bring forward the long-awaited bill to finally outlaw conversion therapy practices used to seek to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my latest update. If you have any issues that you would like to raise directly with me then please do email edmontonconstituency@parliament.uk.

I’m always happy to help whenever possible.

Kind regards,

Kate Osamor

Member of Parliament for Edmonton

 

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