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News
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Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021
- 27/10/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
No CommentsThe 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 The Chancellor based the budget on out of date forecasts according to the IFS who said the outlook for living standards was “actually awful”.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.
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Valerie appears on BBC Sunday Politics West Midlands
- 24/10/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
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.
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Valerie supports Bill to End Fire and Rehire
- 23/10/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
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.
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Valerie votes on the Environment Bill
- 21/10/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
The Environment Bill returned to the Commons on Wednesday 20 October 2021. It is concerning the Bill is not bold enough to match the scale of the climate and ecological crisis we are facing. The Bill allowed water companies to dump raw sewage into our rivers and seas. I voted for an amendment to stop sewage in our rivers. The amendment was rejected: Ayes: 268 and Noes: 204.
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Valerie attends Debate on Yemen Humanitarian Situation
- 20/10/2021
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
A debate was sponsored by and moved by Gill Furniss MP (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) on Yemen, in Westminster Hall on Wednesday 20 October 2021. Gill is the Chair of Labour Friends of Yemen. I intervened to ask Gill : “I do not think that my hon. Friend knows how important this debate is to me. Having been born in Aden, and now seeing it war-torn in such a way, I am extremely concerned about what is going on there. I would like to return, at some stage, and I feel that, with the help of Martin Griffiths, we can possibly find a road to peace. Does my hon. Friend agree?”