A-Level students in Edmonton and across the country are owed an apology. The Government has completely failed students and put their futures at risk. The ‘algorithm’ used to determine grades this year in the absence of exams is fundamentally flawed. Not only have almost 40% of grades been downgraded but it is disadvantaged students who have suffered the most.

Many students, parents and teachers have contacted my office since exam results were released and one common theme that has emerged has been the extent to which grades have not reflected the students’ previous work or results. This is wrong and the Government needs to now take urgent action to fix this disaster, including making Universities take a more flexible approach to admissions and waiving appeal fees. The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, must take full responsibility for this disaster and resign. I will continue to do whatever I can and call on the Government to take action now to clean up their mess.

Tottenham Park Cemetery Concerns

Over the past few months, a number of constituents have contacted me with concerns about the way in which Tottenham Park Cemetery has been run since it was sold by Enfield Council. I appreciate the severity of these concerns, which include the desecration of gravestones, new burials taking place despite the site being ‘full’ and the lack of any COVID-19 protocols. I contacted the Ministry of Justice to raise these issues and they have now contacted the owners of Tottenham Park Cemetery to ensure they take whatever action is necessary to fix these problems.

I appreciate that the cemetery is of particular importance to the Turkish-Cypriot, Turkish and Kurdish communities. All families of loved ones who have been laid to rest in the cemetery deserve reassurance that they have a safe future and that the cemetery will be maintained to a high standard. I will continue to work with other members of the House of Commons, Lords and the Ministry of Justice to ensure that moving forward the Cemetery is properly run and maintained.

I will always defend refugees

Over the last few weeks Priti Patel and the rest of the Government have attempted to distract us from their failing on COVID-19 and the Economy by targeting refugees with dog-whistle politics. Their claims of ‘invasion’ would be laughable if they didn’t put the lives of refugees at risk.

It makes me proud that refugees who flee violence and persecution choose to come to the UK to make a new life. Every single piece of available evidence shows that migrants contribute more to this country than they take. We are better for having them here. That is why I signed an open letter this week calling on the Labour Leadership to protect lives, not borders. The Labour party exists to speak up for people who don’t have a voice and as I’m an MP I will always do that.

The Likes of Tesco shouldn’t be in receipt of UK Aid

Following on from its decision to scrap the department for International Development and cut aid funding by £2.9 billion the Government has now decided to funnel UK Aid directly into the pockets of wealthy companies like Primark and Morrisons. The newly announced aid programme will see £6.85 million of taxpayers’ money spent helping multi-national corporations to improve their supply chains, despite these companies making billions in profit each year.

UK Aid should be spent on alleviating poverty in the world’s poorest regions, not increasing profits for private companies. As a member of the International Development Select Committee, I’ve previously raised the commercialisation of UK Aid as a big concern and when Parliament returns in September I will continue to do so.

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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