Weekly Update – Friday 11 February 2022

Now its time to rebuild the Met

I’ve been calling on the Met Commissioner, Cressida Dick, to be sacked for months so I was relieved when she was finally pushed out yesterday. The career of Cressida Dick is littered with awful examples of corruption, complacency and the ‘our gang is bigger than your gang’ mindset that sadly dominates in many parts of the Met. Commissioner Dick should have been sacked last year after her botched response to the killing of Sarah Everard, but her role in the unlawful killing of Jean Charles de Menezes and her attempts to frustrate inquiries into the murder of journalists Daniel Morgan, who had been investigating corruption within the Met, should have meant she was never appointed to the role of Commissioner in the first place.

Cressida’s legacy will be the reversal of much of the progress made since the Macpherson report and the entrenchment of a culture of opaqueness, misogyny and racism across many parts of London’s police force. That will take some time to undo and the next Commissioner of the Met must be somebody who is willing to open the police up to scrutiny and work with the public until this culture changes and the force is cleaned up from top to bottom.

Changing the Commissioner won’t by itself bring about real and long-lasting change but it is the right place to start and while it should have happened a long time ago, now that it finally has, the job of rebuilding public trust can start in earnest.

Edmonton Incinerator – we must pause and review

I was unable to attend the important debate in Parliament this week on the expansion of the Edmonton Incinerator as I was working with the International Development Select Committee, but I would like to take the opportunity to re-state just how important I think it is that work does not begin on the expansion.

If the expansion of the incinerator goes ahead it will be an environmental and public health disaster. For too long the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) had bullied and pushed their plans through against the advice of scientists and the wishes of the public. Edmonton is one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse areas in the country. Its make-up means many of our residents are particularly susceptible to the risks associated with air pollution. They need support, they need cleaner air and they need investment in the infrastructure in Edmonton.

That’s why it’s time for NLWA to stop and think again. My constituents in Edmonton and all Londoners deserve better than this. The governing members of NLWA are no longer acting in the interests of ordinary Londoners. That has to change, or more people will die as a result of the NLWA’s short-term thinking and failure to act in the interests of those they should be representing.

There must be a pause and review of plans to expand the Edmonton Incinerator.

Another cruel Tory benefit cut

12,109 pensioners in Edmonton will see any energy bill savings wiped out by the Tories’ real terms cut to the state pension. As a result of rising inflation and the Conservative’s decision to only increase the state pension by 3%, a basic state pension for an individual will be worth around £222 less in real terms over a year than in 2021/22. For a couple, it will be worth around £255 less. Similar real terms cuts for those on Universal Credit and legacy benefits have also been pushed through Parliament.

This comes just weeks after the Government gave bankers a huge tax cut. The Tories are literally taking from the poor to give to the rich. After 12 years of Conservative government, we know by now how awful the consequences will be.

Families will be pushed into poverty, with many being forced to choose between eating and heating and others having to rely on food banks to get by. Once again, the Conservative party are balancing the books on the backs of the most vulnerable. Given the Chancellor is worth billions, it’s no wonder he is so out of touch with the needs of ordinary people in this country.

I will stand up for my constituents and continue to call on the Government to increase the state pension and benefits to a decent standard. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we can afford to ensure that nobody has to live in poverty. But for that to happen we need to ask the very richest to pay a little bit more in taxes and that is not something the Government is willing to do.

Select Committee Update

This week as part of my role on the International Development Select Committee, I visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in a fact-finding mission to see what more the UK can do to support resilient communities in the region. The three-day trip included a walking tour of Sarajevo Old Town, a meeting with some of the organisations who are working on reconciliation in the country and a meeting with the Srebrenica Memorial Centre Director. The conflict and genocide that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina is only recent history and it’s a history that the country’s citizens live with every day.

Much is being done in the country to heal the wounds that are still so raw after the conflict. But much more needs to be done and progress cannot be taken for granted. The UK has a role to play, and we must fulfil our duties to foster peace, democracy and economic prosperity in all countries that have been impacted by war and genocide.

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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