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Kate Osamor MP – Weekly Update – Friday 20 May 2022

Mass Deportation

This week the Government had hoped to forcibly deport more than 100 people to Jamaica. Many of the people originally scheduled to be on the plane had known only one country all their lives – Britain. Many of them have lived here for decades, made families here and know nothing of Jamaica. Many of them were brought to this country as babies and almost all of them call this country home. Yet, the Government hoped to deport them, sending them to a strange country and in the process leaving children without fathers, tearing families apart.

This is the continuation of the Windrush scandal in a form that the Government thinks is acceptable. Individuals who may have fallen foul of the law, but for often non-violent offences. They are members of our communities; they may be neighbours or friends we’ve known all our lives. They are as British as anybody, were it not for a technicality or a change of the law.

 

They are people who have already been punished once for a crime and now face a second much graver and far more sadistic punishment straight out of a different century.

That’s why I spoke out against another mass deportation to Jamaica this week and it’s why I’m thankful that the courts found that the vast majority of those who were due to be on the plane on Wednesday were unlawfully placed there. In the end, only four people were on the plane that was charted by the government at a huge expense. The Home Office should now listen to the courts, learn lessons from Windrush and stop mass deportations.

British Bill of rights

In the six years since the UK voted to leave the EU, the Conservatives have done nothing but attack the foundations of our democracy and diminish our rights. From attempts at voter suppression to laws that will make it harder to protest, this Government has a record of eroding our rights and freedoms.

With the announcement of a British Bill of Rights and the Brexit Freedoms Bill in the Queen’s speech, the Government has made clear its intention to proceed with the next step of this project by attacking the independence of our judiciary, increasing the rights of the state to deport individuals, and cutting invaluable regulations from workers’ rights to food standard protections.

I’ve used my position in Parliament to speak out against the Conservative’s attacks on our democracy post-Brexit and I will do everything I can to speak out against any legislation that would further diminish our democracy. If the Government wants to continue using Brexit as an opportunity to attack our democratic rights and freedoms, then I will oppose them every step of the way.

How I voted this week

On Wednesday I voted for an Emergency Budget. The cost-of-living crisis is getting worse, but this out of touch Conservative government has done nothing to tackle it. As my constituent’s face bills they can’t pay, Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson are sitting on their hands.

That’s why Labour forced a binding vote on an emergency budget this week. If passed a one-off windfall tax on oil and gas producer profits would have been included.

What’s clear is that we face a financial crisis and need to act now. As the Tories fail to act, the economy is heading for a period of stagflation – where prices rise and economic growth stalls.

The Government has so far only tinkered around the edges of this crisis but an emergency budget would give them room to tackle it head-on. What’s clear is that the way we organise our energy sector in this country has failed. The privatisation of energy companies has failed. We need action now to move towards a future in which energy is run for the public and not profit.

Every winter, thousands of people die because they can’t afford to heat their homes. It’s time for a new deal on energy that ensures everybody has a right to a warm home. This really is a life-or-death emergency.  It’s time the Government woke up to that reality.

GCSE’s – Good luck

Finally, good luck to all students across Edmonton who started their GCSEs this week. Over recent years exams have become more and more stressful for students and the disruption of the pandemic has only added to that stress.

Yet so many students, teachers and parents have adapted to circumstances and simply got on with the business of learning and teaching.

For many, I’m sure all that hard work will pay off in the months ahead.

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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

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