Protecting Renters
I’ve once again been raising my concerns in the chamber about the conditions many renters are having to live through as remediation works are carried out on their buildings.
Currently, buildings above 18m are undergoing remediations to ensure they are fire-safe – it is clearly important that these works are carried out quickly. However, there are instances when the conditions for residents are not acceptable in the meantime.
I asked the Secretary of State for Housing if he had considered the mental wellbeing of residents. Specifically I was thinking of St Francis Tower, where residents have been living under a shrink wrap with no natural light, which I know is just one example nationally of poor living conditions as a result of these ongoing remediation works.
As a society we need to get better at disagreeing with each other
Sadly Ipswich Borough Council really wasn’t seen in the best light last week due to the behaviour of a small number of Labour councillors. An incredibly acrimonious meeting where instead of engaging in constructive debate many senior Labour councillors decided to engage in straight up slander of their political opponents.
I wasn’t even at the meeting and I’d never even commented on the topic being discussed but I still ended up being at the receiving end of all sorts of wild allegations with a senior Labour councillor referring to my “racist views”.
Of course we’re left guessing as to what precisely these views are as it wasn’t made clear at the meeting. However, bearing in mind the attacks that have been levelled at me by the very same councillor over the past couple of days I’m quite confident that this lurid accusation is connected to my views on illegal immigration and the channel crossings we’ve been seeing.
It’s worth remembering that the current Labour leader Keir Starmer is actually on record for starting many years ago that immigration control is “racist”. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprised such a view is held by Labour councillors in Ipswich.
Bearing in mind the frequent contact I get from constituents on the topic of illegal immigration I’m pretty confident the majority actually share my views on the matter so I’m not sure what this says about the views of a number of Ipswich Labour councillors towards the bulk of Ipswich residents. Increasingly as a local Party they seem out of touch.
In short, my advice to the local Labour Party is to rethink the strategy of labelling political opponents as racist, when the reality is mere difference of opinion. Not only is this a divisive strategy, and insults the thousands of Ipswich voters sharing my views, but demonstrates a clear breech in councillor code of conduct.
In politics, it’s important that we are able to engage in disagreements while remaining civil: it shouldn’t be the case that disagreement turns to slander or abuse of opponents. We need to get better at disagreeing with each other, without resorting to insults.
Kwasi Kwarteng in Ipswich
Very pleased to have Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, in Ipswich today.
Kwasi is here to meet Ipswich business leaders, who employ thousands of residents. I’m really pleased to have a cabinet minister visit Ipswich today, to ensure that supporting the local economy, growth and employment in our town stays at the heart of the agenda.
Harper’s Law
After 2 years of campaigning, Harper’s Law has been announced by the government. Lissie Harper has campaigned tirelessly for 2 years, to introduce mandatory life sentence for those who kill police officers or other 999 workers while in active service.
I’m pleased to have been able to support the campaign, led by PC Andrew Harper’s widow, Lissie Harper. I’ve been pushing for this law to be introduced along with a number of colleagues, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Lissie several times to discuss it, so I am very happy to see it come into action.
Clearly Lissie must have been through hell following her husband’s death, however this does feel like a fitting tribute and she should be very proud of what she has achieved in her late husband’s name.
The Government are moving an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to introduce Harper’s law so I imagine matters will be straight forward.
SUFFOLK POLICE FUNDING
I’m pleased to see the Home Office recognise that the current funding levels aren’t reflective of need, especially in Suffolk. I’m particularly glad that the Minister for Crime and Policing has committed to ensuring fairer funding within this parliament, before the next election.
Fair funding for our police services is essential when we are trying to improve safety on our streets. I’ve been pushing for fairer funding for Suffolk police forces in the chamber, and through letters to the minister.
Kit Malthouse, Minister for Crime and Policing, responded saying “it has been clear for some time that the current police funding formula is out of date and no longer accurately reflects demand on policing”. I’m pleased to see this acknowledged, and will be pressing for a fairer deal for Suffolk police funding going forwards.
