A Week in Parliament

My Spokesperson role at Westminster has now changed to Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change. Given how important the latter is, and that both aspects are so intertwined I am looking forward to both challenging the UK Government on this and hopefully developing policy proposals as well. I have also been reviewing how we do outreach surgeries, in order to be even more accessible and planning survey work to engage with constituents who might otherwise struggle to interact with the office. Busy times ahead!

Australian Bushfires

Many of us will have friends or family in Australia. The ongoing bushfires are both an environmental disaster and devastating for communities and wildlife.  Bushfires are a natural risk in Australia, but this is unprecedented and there is no doubt climate change is a factor. The last 6 years are the hottest years on record and the top ten hottest years occurred since 1998, so there is something happening that cannot be denied. Yet, the Australian Prime Minister is a climate change denier, and in international rankings and assessment of climate change policy, Australia is bottom. The US is second bottom on policy and ranks bottom overall. Things need to change massively for the health of those countries and the wider world. Bear in mind this means Australia and the US faring worse than other massive developing countries such as India and China who often get the finger pointed at them.

Unelected Bureaucrats

We know the Tories rail against the “unelected bureaucrats” of Brussels. Yet Boris Johnson was quite happy to put Zac Goldsmith into the Lords and make him a Government Minister after he had just been kicked out by the voters. He added another ex-MP to the Lords right away and made her a Secretary of State. Neither of these positions is therefore open for us elected MPs to scrutinise and ask questions of directly in Parliament. This sums up the absurd constitutional set up of Westminster and Tory hypocrisy.

Harry and Meghan

I am surprised at the backlash against Harry and Meghan stepping away from Royal duties and that they say they will become financially independent. Why should they be forced to do a job they don’t want to? [I accept this may be a harsh reality for some]. Equally, financial independence should be good for us taxpayers and means they stand on their own two feet like the rest of us have to. Good luck to them being non-royals.

Brexit

So, the third reading of the Withdrawal Agreement was passed on January 9th. Officially the UK leaves the EU on January 31st, although nothing changes at that point as there is an implementation period until December 31st. To avoid a no-deal crash out then there is only 11months to negotiate a deal and have it ratified in both the UK and the EU. We are moving to the period where our future could be left in the hands of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump who he wants to trade with. Who really wants that as our future?