2021

I was delighted  to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Emirates FA Cup on Monday 1st November 2021. This event commemorated our long and rich football history. The FA Cup was first played during the 1871-72 season and is the oldest national football competition in the world. 

I met Perry the official mascot for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 in Parliament on Wednesday 27 October 2021. 

The Chancellor unveiled the Autumn Budget and Spending Review on Wednesday 27 October. This Budget was a missed opportunity. Whilst I welcome the cut to the Universal Credit taper, this not a tax cut but a benefit change. The Chancellor based the budget on out of date forecasts according to the IFS who said the outlook for living standards was “actually awful”. Less than a third (1.9million households) will benefit from the announcement. 

On Sunday 24 October, I appeared on BBC West Midlands Sunday Politics. The other guest was Jonathan Gullis MP for Stoke-on-Trent North. 

The discussion started by looking at the rising number in Covid-19 cases and current protective measures. I said that a ‘Plan B’ should be considered with a more localised approach, particularly on measures such as test and trace, in order to tackle the daily increases in cases, hospitalisations and deaths. We need to ensure our frontline workers in the NHS are not further burdened as we head into winter as there is a respiratory disease RSV which is affecting both children and the elderly along with flu and covid. This puts a huge strain on the NHS. 

Other topics included the East Leg of HS2 and newly announced household grants for heat pumps. Whilst the grants are a good initiative, they will only fund 30,000 households a year even though the Government’s target is to fund 600,000 homes a year by 2028.

The Employment and Trade Unions Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement Bill) was debated on sitting Friday on Friday 22 October 2021 and I attended to support Barry Gardiner MP’s Bill. The Bill would discourage companies firing staff and re-hiring them on worse pay. Fire and Rehire has been used as a negotiation tactic which in reality erodes workers’ rights whilst slashing pay and keeping wages low to increase value for shareholders.

I voted in favour of the Bill, which was introduced to its second reading.