2022

The Online Safety Bill seeks to implement measures to reduce the harm which can be caused using the internet. The Bill had its Report Stage in the House on Tuesday 12 July 2022.

Horizon is the EU’s largest research funding programme, making grants which total £80 billion. The UK had been expected to retain associate Horizon membership after leaving the EU, but disputes over the Government’s implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol have meant that membership has not been granted. In addition to financial security, funding through Horizon enables British scientists to collaborate on projects with scientists across Europe. 

The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses (Amendment) Regulations 2022 allow agency workers to be sent to fill in for workers on strike. Going on strike is used as a last resort by workers to defend good working conditions and fair pay. The Government is attacking this right while doing little to address the conditions contributing to the strikes, breaking decades of consensus. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation who represent employment agencies have called the proposals “unworkable”, and the Government’s own impact assessment has said only 2% of lost working hours could be replaced by agency workers.

On 11 January 2022 I voted for a motion tabled by HM Opposition to introduce a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies, to fund support for people around the country confronted with exceptionally high energy prices. In my speech responding to the Queen’s Speech on 17 May 2022 I called on the Government to introduce the tax as a matter of urgency, which is available here in full: https://www.valerievazmp.co.uk/valerie-speaks-in-queens-speech-debate-2/. Four months after the policy was proposed, the Government agreed to implement a windfall tax, and on 11 July 2022 the Energy (Oil and Gas) Profits Levy Bill went through all legislative stages in the House of Commons.

I signed the Book of Remembrance to mark Srebrenica Memorial Day on Monday 11 July 2022.