We need to change more than just the Tory at the top

This week the Government ceased to function altogether as the Conservative Party tore itself apart attempting to rid itself of Boris Johnson. The Prime minister’s refusal to resign until yesterday morning has meant that the normal business of government has almost completely stopped. We’re being prevented from doing our work and tackling the cost-of-living crisis because the Conservative party is once again forcing its own disfunction on the country.

Whether the Prime Minister leaves in the next few weeks or in September will make no difference to the people of Edmonton. After 12 years in Government, it should now be dawning on Tory MPs that the problem isn’t just their leader, it’s the party itself.

Who can honestly argue that this country is better off after 12 years of the Tories? We are heading into yet another recession. Inflation is at record levels. Energy bills are souring to record rates. Wages are falling after 12 years of failing to rise. The country is getting yet another pay cut and bankers are getting yet another tax cut. The truth is, the Tories are just not working and changing the person at the top isn’t going to change that.

What we need is a fresh start, a new Labour government that will tackle the problems of poverty, economic stagnation and the climate crisis head-on. The country is done being subjected to the Tory’s out-of-touch and out-of-date policies. We need a general election now so we can finally kick the lot of them out.

Teachers deserve proper pay

Earlier this week I was able to ask the then Education Minister, and now Chancellor, Nadihm Zahawi MP, if he would commit to giving teachers an above inflation pay increase. For 12 years the Tory party has cut teachers pay by a 5^th in real terms.

Young teachers have left the profession at alarming rates, leaving the ratio of teachers to pupils in English schools at an all time high. It’s bad news for children and bad news for teachers. They deserve better. You can judge a society by the way it treats its teachers and for too long this government has treated teachers as if they are expendable.

The Minister wouldn’t confirm a specific pay increase offer but the chances of a reasonable pay offer being made to teachers has risen now he has taken up the post of Chancellor. However, it’s unclear how the paralysis of the Government will impact the situation and whether any offer may be delayed until a new Government has been formed. What is clear is that teachers deserve real terms pay rise after more than a decade of cuts. If they don’t get that and decide to strike, they will have my full support.

Government must respond to the Lammy Report

In Parliament on Monday I asked the Minister for Justice if the Government will commit to providing a full progress update on the recommendations of the Lammy Review into the treatment of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority people in the Justice system.

The Lammy Review was an independent report commissioned by the Government that found BAME individuals face bias, including overt discrimination, in parts of the justice system.  The report recommended a set of concrete steps the Government could take in response, including demystifying the decision-making progress, but the Government has failed to act.

The Conservatives have a record of commissioning independent reviews and reports and then ignoring their findings. The reason for that is simple: those reports and findings, based on the careful consideration of the facts, often conclude that Tory party policy needs to fundamentally change.

When the right-wing ideology of this Government bumps up against facts and reality, the Government retreats and defends its ideology, ignoring the facts. That is what they did with the Lammy report, the Lessons Learned Review and the findings of their Child Poverty Commissioner. It is the sign of a weak Government that has no answers. That must change if we are to make any progress on the key challenges facing us as a society.

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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