I voted against the Nationality and Borders Bill/Speech

This week I voted against the Tory’s Nationality and Borders Bill and spoke in favour of Amendment 6B in Parliament. You can watch my speech here. Amendment 6B would have mitigated some of the cruellest parts of the bill, ensuring that refugees were not discriminated against based on their method of arrival in the UK. Unfortunately, the Amendment did not pass and the Bill as a whole passed as the Tories backed it.

Yet it is clear, this is an unworkable Bill that will do nothing to stop dangerous crossings across the channel. All it will achieve is the breaking of our obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. Priti Patel is trying to criminalise those fleeing war when we should be using our considerable resources to help them and offer them a safe refuge.

The UK is one of the richest countries on earth. It is right that we take our fair share of refugees and do not leave it to countries that border conflict zones to offer safety to those fleeing persecution, war or other forms of violence. Sadly, this Bill means that all but a lucky few who seek safety in the UK will be criminalised for doing so and some will even be deported to detention camps in Rwanda in a move that is shocking even by this Government’s low standards.

Sadly, this Bill is now in its final stages and will likely soon become law. But I will continue to speak out against this government’s inhumane treatment of refugees and much of the Bill is likely to be challenged in court as it is clearly unlawful.

PM referred to the Standards Committee

This week I was in Parliament to support calls for the Prime Minister to be referred to the Privilege Committee for misleading Parliament. The Government initially tried to persuade Tory MPs to vote for a cover up, but facing the possibility of a large rebellion they eventually backed down. The Prime Minister’s conduct will now be investigated by the Privilege Committee and if they find that he intentionally misled the House he could face a number of sanctions, including being suspended from Parliament for a period of time.

The PM refuses to put the country before his own personal ambitions. This has to change. It is clear for all to see that the Prime Minister broke lockdown rules, knowingly and on multiple occasions. What we also all know is that he then attempted to cover up his rule breaking, blaming staff and lying to Parliament in the process.

Now his only tactic for survival is delay. But he is only delaying the inevitable and when he can no longer point to on-going investigations as a reason to delay judgment, he will have no choice but to resign or be forced from office. The Conservatives should do the right thing, cut out the waiting and get straight to inevitable conclusion. Britain deserves better than a lying Prime Minister who partied in Downing Street as the rest of the country sacrificed more than he will ever understand.

End Cladding Rally

Almost five years since the Grenfell Fire, this week the Government yet again voted down measures that would have ensured that leaseholders were protected from the costs of remediating historical cladding defects.

Dangerous Government de-regulation and a lack of any regard for human life means that up and down the country buildings have been clad in material that is incredibly flammable. It’s clear who is responsible: the Government, who deregulated the industry and the greedy private companies who saw an opportunity to lower costs and drive up their profits. But in many cases those same property developers are passing on bills to leaseholders, the victims of this scandal. Not only is that immoral, it puts leaseholders in an impossible position. They cannot move out of their properties while the remediation work remains unfinished and they cannot afford the huge costs of getting that work done. They remain trapped in unsafe properties.

That’s why it was so disheartening to see the Tories vote down a Labour amendment to the Building Safety Bill this week that would have guaranteed that remediation work got done and that leaseholders, the victims of this scandal, didn’t have to pay for it. But after 12 years in power, it’s clear this Government will always prioritise the profits of their friends in the property sector over the lives of ordinary people.

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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