Tomorrow Edmonton (along with the rest of London) will be move to the ‘High’ Covid alert level, or Tier 2. This was inevitable as cases rose past the 100 per 100,000 mark but I understand how worrying this is for many residents and that there are serious consequences of this decision. The main obstacle however is not to hospitality or shops, but social contact. While the rule of 6 remains outside, two households are no longer able to meet inside.

The bigger picture is that the Government continues to ignore scientific advice, failing to control the virus and protect our economy. The Government’s scientific advisory group, SAGE, has made it clear that the best way forward for the economy and our health is a short two to three week ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown. SAGE estimate that taking this course of action could save tens of thousands of lives and get the economy back on it’s feet much more quickly.

The Government now needs to listen to it’s scientific advisers and follow the scientific advice as it has said it would do. At the same time, the Chancellor needs to reverse his decision to give up on huge parts of the economy and back workers through this crisis. It’ll cost us a great deal more if the Conservatives once again let entire sectors, communities and towns fall by the wayside.

Full advice on what Tier 2 restrictions mean can be found here.

We need to let Local Authorities run Test and Trace

Serco’s Test and Trace system has failed. Rather than being ‘world-beating’, as Boris Johnson described it, it has consistently failed to contact 30% and sometimes more than 50% of contacts. Having been paid more than £100 million, with possibly another £400 million on the way, Serco has simply sub-contracted the vast majority of the work out to a myriad of different private companies who have been unable to do the job and who are unaccountable.

We know, and the Government have themselves stated, that a competent Test & Trace system is the key to keeping cases low and beating this virus while we wait for a vaccine. In failing to deliver that and once again handing out huge contracts to private companies without giving it a second thought, the Government has failed to control the virus.

This is not new. Over the last 10 years this Government has systematically dismantled the state, only to replace it with companies like Serco, who cost tax payers more but constantly provide us with an unacceptably poor level of service. You can find Serco and others operating our prisons, immigration service, hospitals and anywhere else the Government has had the chance to put them. In every job they have and by every measure, they fail and yet over and over again Gthey are awarded huge contracts. Test & Trace is no different. They have failed again and again. It is the public who are forced to bear the cost, both financially and tragically also, in terms of deaths. Meanwhile, Local Authorities have been ready, standing by, to knock on doors and have shown they are able to perform the job successfully. It is only the Government’s ideological hunger for privatisation that is stopping them. That’s why its time to sack Serco and bring Test and Trace back into public hands.

End SARS

This week protests have erupted across Nigeria, and globally, in support of the movement against the brutal Nigerian police unit – the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). SARS is a corrupt and brutal police unit in Nigeria who are guilty of torture, ill-treatment and extra judicial execution. After years of brutality, young people in Nigeria are calling on the Government to disband SARS and hold those responsible for their crimes to account.

This week, President Muhammadu Buhari announced the disbandment of the agency. However, a new agency called SWAT has been formed to take over duties performed by SARS. A change of name is not good enough. The brutal crimes need to end and those responsible must be held to account.

The UK Government also has a responsibility to speak out against SARS and also to ensure that we do nothing to support the group. That is why this week, I wrote to the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Rabb to ask him for clarification regarding the “Conflict, Stability and Security Fund” project funded via our development budget, which may be connected to the SARS unit. It is vital that the Foreign Secretary urgently confirms that no UK funds have gone to those units. As a member of the International Development Select Committee, I understand how important aid is and fully support the delivery of aid aimed at poverty reduction. That why it’s important that aid is never funnelled into projects which facilitate human rights abuses. The Government has questions to answer and I hope they will do so soon.

I voted against the Spy Cops Bill and to protect Farmers

This week, in two important votes, I voted to protect UK Food and Animal Welfare standards in future trade deals and to improve climate change targets and I voted against the ‘Spy Cop’ Bill.

On the first votes, I voted in favour of keeping amendments to the Agriculture Bill from the Lords which would have protected farmers and stopped a race to the bottom on food standards and animal welfare. Unfortunately, we lost the vote as the Government refuse support us.

Yesterday, I voted against the ‘Spy Cop’ Bill on it’s third reading. The Bill could put undercover police officers and security agents above the law, granting a range of state agencies the power to licence agents and officers to commit grave crimes. That is not something that I can support on a moral level and I believe it is a worryingly damaging blow to democracy and transparency in this country.

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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