Weekly Update – Friday 4 March 2022

Russian Sanctions must go further

It’s now more than a week since Russia launched its aggressive colonial war of conquest against Ukraine. The tragedy that has unfolded is already too much to bear and worse is surely to come. Putin and his Generals are guilty of war crimes and we must now do everything we can to support the Ukrainian people in their war of liberation and eventually bring those responsible for this crime against humanity to justice.

But the government also needs to do more and bring in tougher sanctions against Russian oligarchs. In many other European countries, the assets of Putin’s pals are being seized before they can be sold off, yet the Tories are letting the likes of Roman Abramovich sell his assets before he does a runner. That isn’t right and I fully back calls from the Mayor of London for the government to seize the mansions of sanctioned Russian Oligarchs in London. Those already empty properties should be used to house Ukrainian refugees. That would be a real measure of justice.

Ukrainian Refugees

The Government is treating Ukrainian refugees as it treats all refugees – with cruelty, inhumanity and hostility. While the last-minute changes in our policy towards Ukrainian refugees represent a more generous approach than the one that was taken to Afghan and Syrian refugees, it will still result in the UK taking far fewer refugees than our European neighbours. Public opinion on this matter is clear, the public wants us to do our bit and take our fair share of refugees. But the Conservative Party’s right-wing hostile attitude towards refugees has meant that we have repeatedly failed to do that.

In the wake of the Syrian civil war, the UK took just 11,000 refugees from that country while Germany took more than half a million. Since the victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan the UK has taken only 12,000 Afghan refugees, while Germany has so far taken more than 180,000. Per population, the UK is almost always towards the bottom of the list when it comes to the numbers of refugees that we take in.

This Tory Government is washing their hands of the responsibility we have as a country to help those in need.  That’s why I’d like to see the Government step up and ensure that the UK does its duty and takes a fair number of refugees. We should work with our European partners to organise that and waive visa restrictions, not just for Ukrainian refugees, but for all refugees fleeing war.

Furthermore, I’m completely opposed to the cruel Nationality and Borders Bill that will criminalise refugees. I’ve voted against the Bill previously and will do so again when it comes back to the Commons.

Ukraine – How you can help

The outpouring of support for the Ukrainian people across Edmonton and London has been incredible. Everybody you meet wants to do anything they can to support the Ukrainian people. The death toll in Ukraine is climbing at an alarming rate and the number of people who have fled the country has already reached a million. There is help needed in the country – aid to those who are trapped – as well as help to the refugees who have fled – a safe and secure place to live.

The good news is that even if our government is slow to help those in need there is a lot that we as individuals can do. The Mayor of London has put together a really useful list of resources that Londoners can do use to help those in Ukraine here.

Rail Fare Increase

This week rail fares will go up by another 3.8%, meaning average fares will rise to an eye watering 48.9% more than they were in 2010. Here in Edmonton that means paying £491 more for a season ticket between Edmonton Green & Liverpool Street since the Tories came to power.

In Boris Johnson’s own Uxbridge constituency, the cost of an annual season ticket from West Drayton to London Paddington has risen by £715 since 2010. This announcement piles more misery onto commuters at a time when millions are facing a crisis in living standards. Continuous fare rises undermine urgent action to tackle the climate emergency by pricing people off the railway.

Passengers are paying more and more each year to travel on increasingly overcrowded and unreliable trains where average fares have risen twice as fast as wages. It’s clear now that the privatisation of our railways has failed. It’s time to bring them back into public ownership.

There is another way. By bringing the railways back into public ownership we can follow the examples of other leading public transport networks across Europe by freezing fares for passengers and investing the profits that are currently going into the pockets of a few rich shareholders.

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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