Weekly Update – Friday 10 September 2021

We need a Social Care Service Now

After more than a decade in Government, the Tory’s finally unveiled their Social Care plans this week and it was even worse than many had imagined.

Under the Government’s plans, a landlord renting out dozens of properties won’t pay a penny more, but their tenants will face tax rises of hundreds of pounds a year. A care worker earning minimum wage doesn’t get a pay rise under this plan but does get a tax rise.

Meanwhile, the plan fails to resolve the fundamental problems with Social Care in this country. Under the plans, people will still have to sell their homes to afford the cost of care and the plans appear to contain no blueprint for reforms and investment within the NHS and Social Care system.

Our Social Care System is fundamentally broken. Made up of a disjointed patchwork of private companies whose sole incentive is to make a profit, the quality of care is often poor and the cost is far more than it should be.

The solution is clear. We need to create a Social Care Service, paid for by a wealth tax. A publicly owned and run care service would provide better care and cost us less. We would save money, guarantee care for all who need it, and improve the wages and working conditions of carers. That is the solution I will fight for as the MP for Edmonton.

Tories launch attack on our democracy

On Tuesday this week the Government was sadly able to pass the Elections Bill through its second stage so that it will now move onto the Committee Stage. We should be clear; this Bill is an attack on our democracy and a deliberate act of racist voter suppression straight out of the Trump playbook.

Using the cover of the Pandemic the Government is attempting to sneak through this backwards attempt to rig democracy in favour of the Conservative Party. One of the main purposes of the Bill would be to introduce Voter ID at the cost of millions of pounds at every election.

The fact is that voting is safe and secure in Britain. Instances of voter fraud are incredibly rare and statistically insignificant. Voter fraud has never even come close to influencing the outcome of an election. At the 2019 general election out of the tens of millions of votes cast, you could count the number of instances of voter fraud on one hand.

If these ID measures were introduced tens of thousands of voters would be prevented from voting. Voters who we know from studies are far more likely not to vote for the Tories and very likely to be from ethnic minority backgrounds.

The Labour party stands against this attack on our democracy, and I will continue to speak out against it when it returns to Parliament for its final stages.

Renting Reform is Long Overdue

This week I wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP to urge him to take action now to help renters. At the end of September, the last of the Government’s Covid protections is due to end for people who rent privately.

Landlords will once again be able to evict their tenants for no reason and with just two months’ notice. Meanwhile, rent arrears for those in the Private Rented Sector are at a historic high following the pandemic and the failure of this Government to provide renters with debt relief.

Many renters are therefore facing a cliff-edge in Autumn when the furlough scheme ends and many will face being made homeless in the middle of a pandemic.

The Government promised long ago that it would take action to introduce reform for renters, including scrapping No-Fault evictions. But that was yet another promise it has so far failed to keep. That is why I wrote to the Secretary of State to urge him to prioritise this matter and give renters in Edmonton the security they deserve.

The Government must Urgently publish the terms of the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme

Over the past few weeks, I have made representations on behalf of a huge number of constituents fearing for the lives of their relatives in Afghanistan.

Those who have approached my office include hundreds of individuals who have directly or indirectly supported the UK’s objectives in Afghanistan, as well as those who fear for their lives simply because of their gender, sexuality or religion or because they have refused to join the Taliban. I have heard from constituents whose family members have received direct threats from the Taliban and of the Taliban placing markers on the doors of my constituents’ family members, indicating they will be killed. I have also heard from hundreds who have played a significant role in standing up for democracy and human rights including lawyers and members of the judiciary. Out of the hundreds of constituents who have approached my office, I have yet to receive a single substantive response from the Home Office.

On 18^th August, the Home Office announced that it intends to launch The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme to provide protection for people at risk identified as in need and that the eligibility requirements would be announced in ‘due course’. Almost three weeks have now passed and the scheme is yet to open. This is unacceptable. This week, I wrote to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel to ask that the terms of the scheme are urgently released.

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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