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This is the speech given by Alison McGovern after tabling an urgent question on the plight of the Syrian people yesterday. Last week, I and the hon. member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat) welcomed the head of the Syria Civil…
So here’s the very bad news. Our country looks set to be plunged into debt now totalling £2 trillion. By 2020/1 the UK is set to be a cool £210bn deeper in debt than George Osborne forecast at the time of the March Budget, pre-Brexit vote…
When the financial crisis was at its zenith in 2008 the Labour government intervened in Britain’s banking sector out of necessity. Faced with a situation that could have literally meant ATMs empty of cash, there was really no other choice…
Even if some of us have been disturbed by Theresa May and Amber Rudd’s horror show headlines this week, we should not be surprised. For the Conservative party over the past decade, immigration has been the keystone of any election campaign…
Seven years ago, roughly, I was on the phone to my friend Jenny. My predecessor had announced his retirement and I was arguing that I should stand to be selected in Wirral South. She was finding reasons why I shouldn’t, being the ultimate…
Politics and government are different activities and while the corridors of power are buzzing with the former, the latter is in short supply. Westminster at the moment is in a state of paralysis, poleaxed by a referendum result that few…
The last time Jo and I were in the chamber of the House of Commons together we were asking about humanitarian aid to Syria. She leant over to me, and asked what question I would put to the minister. Assad’s war crimes, I whispered. You?…
Gathering large numbers of political people in the same room can be a dangerous game. There is the risk of groupthink, of introspection and of losing sight of the outside world. I’m sure we all know the story of Michael Foot refusing to…
I would make a plea to the Chancellor to implement fair state pension transitional arrangements for women born in the 1950s in his budget this week. This issue affects women and their families across the country and the government need to…
Imagine what people in Middlesborough must think. The British steel industry en masse – three unions side by side with the leadership of Tata and Celsa – has taken their protest at the fate of their sector to Europe. Over 5000 people are…
Alison McGovern MP chaired this week’s meeting of Labour for the Common Good group in Parliament – this is her report. You can read all reports of the meetings here. Our tax credits victory in the House of Lords last week was a victory for…
In recess, some of my colleagues have made important speeches. Some have marched for great causes. Some, and some others, have set up summer schools. I went to the pub. As I keep telling my constituents, it’s hard work, politics. But I…
