I hope everyone had a good summer, although the weather was not particularly brilliant.
It was good to have a break after some very hectic months supporting constituents through coronavirus.
Parliament is now back to normal with no social distancing in the Chamber, although I am still wearing a facemask around the estate to protect others.
As many of you know, Parliament came back in August to debate the situation in Afghanistan. I spoke in the House of Commons as I am concerned about the future of Afghan women. Sadly, those concerns seem to have been realised with women unable to take part in sport and many other activities. This is an issue I will not leave. I have asked for a parliamentary debate on our role and future relationship with the country and the Taliban. It is important we get this right if we are to protect people.
This week was dominated by the decision to raise National Insurance to pay for the backlog in the NHS and for social care. Previous governments have not tackled how to fund social care so I commend the PM for doing so as the need is urgent. You can read the details of the plan on this link: https://bit.ly/3txBBoJ
I will be working hard to make sure that we get our views into the White Paper and the subsequent debate about how we should shape social care fairly for all ages. I know how hard it is for carers, both paid and unpaid. We must ensure that both are looked after for the important work they do. I supported the government on the tax rise because it is the most reliable source of income at the moment to ensure it is properly funded.
The Triple Lock for pensioners was also voted on. The Triple lock guarantees that state pensions will go up by either inflation, earnings or 2.5%. Because of the pandemic and furloughing, earnings are likely to go up by 8% this year which is unaffordable. So, for one year only, earnings will be discounted. We are expecting inflation to be around 3% so pensions will still go up.
This week I met with the new Children’s Commissioner and was very impressed, not least because she has the same thoughts as I do on the future of education. She is about to publish the results of a consultation which over 500,000 children responded to and it sounds as if the next generation are very ambitious and positive about the future. I am really looking forward to reading it and hope that it will give me more ammunition to push for changes. It has been a busy week but it has been good to get back to normal.
Have a good weekend.
