Weekly Update – Friday 25th March 2022

Spring Statement

In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation going through the roof, particularly for essentials such as energy and food, we desperately needed some serious measures from the Chancellor this week in his Spring Statement. Sadly, we were left sorely disappointed. Meanwhile, the Office for Budget Responsibility say that the country is set for the sharpest fall in living standards since records began in the 1950s. The seriousness of the crisis we are facing cannot be overstated.

A few pence off the price of petrol and the raising of National Insurance thresholds do not get anywhere near meeting the scale of the crisis that we are facing and is in truth an insult. The Government like to act as if they are completely powerless to the forces of the global economy and that there is nothing more they can do to protect people’s incomes and standards of living. That doesn’t cut it and doesn’t explain how the French Government have managed to restrict energy price rises to just 4%.

Every extra person who is freezing cold at night because they cannot afford their energy bills, or who must go hungry in the evening to feed their children, is an indictment on this Government. A windfall tax must be implemented now on the extraordinary profits energy companies are currently making, to help provide support for paying ordinary people facing extortionate energy bills. Universal Credit and pensions must be raised to levels that meet the rate of inflation, rather than the measly 3% the Government have offered. The Office for Budget Responsibility stated that the Chancellor has more money in the coffers than was previously expected due to tax revenues, and he needs to use it desperately.

Mayor of London Visit to Edmonton

This week I was pleased to welcome the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to Edmonton on a visit to the new Maldon Road development, alongside the Leader of Enfield Council, Cllr Nesil Caliskan and London Assembly Member, Joanne McCartney. The development totals 22 homes overall, including 12 two-storey family homes at West Close, as well as 10 units of independent living accommodation at Bond Court, named in memory of Chris Bond who served as Labour councillor for 34 years.

These homes are just part of the 10,000 new council homes that have been built in London since 2018 when the London Mayor launched his Building Council Homes for Londoners Programme. I know from the casework that I receive every day that the housing crisis is one of the most critical issues in society today and urgently needs to be tackled. Everybody is crying out for the greater provision of council housing. Far too many people in Edmonton are living in substandard accommodation and we cannot build good-quality council housing fast enough.

Attorney General Questions

This week in Parliament I was drawn for questions to the Attorney General, Suella Braverman. I asked her why the Serious Fraud Office only managed to successfully prosecute 5 corporations between 2013-19, out of a total of 43 investigations and whether she believed that was an acceptable track record. Indeed, in these types of cases new and weaker enforcement techniques have been embraced by the Serious Fraud Office whereby companies can admit their guilt to evade prosecution.

This is a problem that is just part of a picture that proves the Government is lenient towards tackling economic crime and fraud. We can see this in the recent comments made by Boris Johnson, where he claimed that the crime rate was falling by excluding the figures on fraud, a serious crime which can devastate lives.

You compare this to the way in which supposed fraud by ordinary people is tackled by the Government. There are dozens of families in Edmonton who have had their Universal Credit payments suspended by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for months on end, supposedly for reasons of fraud who have approached me for assistance. They have gone hungry, racked up debt and lost homes. Yet, in none of the cases have that I have seen so far has fraudulent activity been proven, and in many cases the DWP have had to apologise and reinstate the benefits they withheld for many months. This is just another example of the elitist nature of the Government and their disdain for ordinary people and comes in stark contrast to the way in which they cozy up to rich corporations.

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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 MP