Holocaust Memorial Day
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. A date that marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, which took place on 27 January 1945. This day serves as a reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust and honours the memory of the millions of innocent victims.
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 is “Ordinary People,” which highlights the disturbing reality that genocide is facilitated not just by those in positions of power, but by ordinary individuals who turn a blind eye, believe in harmful propaganda, and participate in murderous regimes. This theme serves as a reminder that those persecuted, oppressed, and murdered during the Holocaust and other genocides are not being targeted for their actions, but for their identities as members of a particular group.
It is important that we take the lessons of the Holocaust to heart and continue to educate ourselves and future generations about the dangers of antisemitism and other forms of genocide. The United Nations resolution on Holocaust Memorial Day also calls on member states to develop educational programs to instil the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent such atrocities from occurring again. As your representative, I will continue to support and advocate for Holocaust education and remembrance in our community and beyond.
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Thames Water dumping raw sewage in Edmonton Green
Last Sunday, Thames Water began discharging raw sewage into Salmon Brook, in Edmonton Green and it continued doing so for 14 hours until it finally stopped on Monday morning. This is utterly disgusting and unacceptable. The Government is allowing Thames Water and other private water companies to fail in their basic duties while charging customers increasing expensive rates.
Just a few months ago, I voted to hold companies like Thames Water accountable for sewage discharge, but unfortunately, the Tories blocked that vote. It is clear that my constituents are now suffering the consequences of that decision.
However, Fining these companies for their actions is not enough. We need to fundamentally overhaul this broken system. The UK is the only country in the world with a completely privatised water and sewage system. It is a unique experiment which has gone terribly wrong. Poll after poll shows that an overwhelming majority of the public, including Conservative voters, want our water system to be brought back under public control. It is time for the government to listen to the people and put an end to the scandal of raw sewage discharge once and for all.
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Child Refugees Kidnapped
On Wednesday I wrote to the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, expressing my grave concern over the kidnappings of dozens of asylum-seeking children by gangs from a Brighton hotel run by the Home Office, in a pattern that appears to be happening across the south coast.
This is truly alarming and completely unacceptable. As a Member of Parliament, I am deeply troubled by the welfare of these vulnerable children and the lack of government response to this crisis. It is also deeply concerning that the Home Office was warned repeatedly by police that the vulnerable occupants of the hotel – asylum-seeking children who had recently arrived in the UK without parents or carers – would be targeted by criminal networks, yet nothing was done to prevent it.
I have urged the Home Secretary to take immediate action to ensure the safety and protection of these children. I have requested information on the measures being put in place to track down and return the missing children and steps being taken to prevent future kidnappings. I have also asked whether any children have gone missing who were housed in Edmonton.
This is just the latest example of the government’s failure to protect the welfare of vulnerable children. Over the last 13 years, the government has consistently failed to put in place policies that safeguard the rights and welfare of refugees. It is a total dereliction of duty for the Home Office to so badly fail to protect child safety.
I have requested a prompt response to my letter and a detailed account of the measures being taken to address this serious issue. The safety and well-being of these vulnerable children must be a top priority, and it is imperative that the government takes swift action to ensure their protection. This is just the latest terrible example of how poorly this Government treats refugees. We have a duty of care towards those who seek safety in this country and it’s a duty we should be proud to carry out. Sadly, this Government’s focus is on punishing refugees for imagined crimes rather than helping them.
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Economic Crime Bill
This week the Economic Crime Bill was put before Parliament. It’s difficult to underestimate how important this Bill is. For far too long, this Conservative government has turned a blind eye to corruption and dirty money, allowing Russian illicit finance to flow into our country and allowing Putin’s cronies to enjoy luxurious lifestyles in London. The Conservatives have dragged their feet on clamping down on illicit finance, delaying the first Economic Crime Bill for several years. Even when the Bill was finally introduced, the Conservatives blocked a number of Labour’s amendments that would have reformed Companies House and made it more difficult for Russian oligarchs to hide their illicit activities.
This new Bill is long overdue and must be an opportunity to finally end Britain’s role as a global hub for dirty money and set a new standard for transparency while supporting honest businesses to trade and flourish. However, this Bill falls short of what is needed to truly tackle illicit finance. The provisions on Companies House and the supervision of third-party enablers, especially Trusted Company Service Providers, are weak and do not match international standards. The Bill also fails to address the weakness of the government’s response to labour market enforcement, including infringements of the National Minimum Wage law.
Labour proposed amendments to fix these gaps in the Bill, unfortunately, the government failed to act in the national interest and support them. The Bill also failed to legislate to close the loopholes connected with businesses registered in the British Overseas Territories and failed to set out a strategy to recoup assets seized through economic crime enforcement and compensate their victims. Despite fraud now accounting for over 40% of all crime, only 1 in 1000 offences are prosecuted, with only two convictions by the Serious Fraud Office in 2020/21. It is clear that more needs to be done to combat economic crime and we must do everything in our power to make sure that it is done right.
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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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