TONIA ANTONIAZZI MP
  • Home
  • About Tonia
    • In Parliament
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Speeches
    • PubAid
    • Newsletter
  • How I Can Help
    • Get in touch
    • Advice Surgeries
    • Wider Support
    • Office Conduct

Safeguarding a woman's right to choose, protecting peaceful protest, welcoming Kim Leadbeater to Parliament - Weekly update 09/07/2021

9/7/2021

 
Picture
It was fantastic to see new Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced to the House of Commons this week to represent the Batley and Spen constituency. I know she will be a great MP and advocate for the people of Batley and Spen and I look forward to working with her over the coming months and years.

There was a very moving question from Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi this week during Prime Minister’s Questions.  Like so many people in this country, Tanmanjeet was denied the opportunity to say goodbye to his grandmother as she lay dying in hospital during the pandemic and then was not permitted the closure of a funeral, instead having to watch proceedings online, alone. His pain was clear for all to see and it is a pain that has been experienced by too many over the past year. We have all followed the Government guidance and sacrificed so much which makes it all the worse when you see UK Government ministers flouting the rules themselves. Hancock has now resigned. He should not have been given the chance to, and should have been fired immediately. But the UK Government waited to see what they could get away with after Cummings was let off the hook for his jaunt to Barnard Castle to ‘test his eyesight’ and they tried to do the same for Matt Hancock.  It has become abundantly clear over the past year that this UK Government is lacking in anything resembling integrity.

The appalling Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill passed its Third Reading in the House of Commons this week – a Bill that would not be out of place in Bolsonaro’s Brazil or Putin’s Russia. Despite a significant number of Tory MPs expressing disquiet about various aspects of the Bill, they chose to set aside those concerns and the concerns of their constituents, and vote along Party lines to secure Boris Johnson his majority for this malicious and threatening Bill. There was nothing in the Bill to address the epidemic of violence against women or girls – no measures to increase minimum sentences for rapists, for those who break the anonymity of rape survivors, to create a new offence of street harassment, or make misogyny a hate crime, or to toughen sentences for domestic abusers or murderers. There was nothing in there to decriminalise abortions so that women who take pills at home, for example during a pandemic when services are closed to many, are not at risk of prosecution, or to prevent the appalling abuse of women outside clinics which provide abortion services.

There were, however, significant measures to curtail our freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Protest is a fundamental right in our democracy – we’ve been protesting government decisions since the 1300s and the Peasant’s Revolt. Now this Tory Government wants to allow police to be able to shut down protests that “result in serious disruption to the activities of an organisation which are carried out in the vicinity”. I don’t know if any Tory ministers have ever been to a protest, but the point is to make yourselves heard. This involves an element of disruption and noise. Without protest, it’s possible women wouldn’t have the right to vote, it’s likely that gay people wouldn’t be able to get married. Protest may be uncomfortable while it is happening, but it is a vital aspect of having your voice heard and making politicians and decision makers listen. We have to protect this vital freedom.
​
I have some serious concerns about this Bill and the UK Government’s priorities. The Bill makes it an offence to damage a statue and increases the penalty to 10 years’ imprisonment. In contrast, Ben Bradshaw’s amendment which would make failing to report a hit-and-run an offence was rejected. A hit-and-run that may result in the death of a person still only carries a 6-month prison sentence. This Tory Government is placing the importance of a statue of a person, who may or may not have been a slave trader, above the importance of a real person today. It would be laughable were it not so tragic and were it not so utterly disgusting that these are the priorities of our UK Government.

You can keep up to date with Welsh Government announcements and information on their dedicated coronavirus page. If you have any issues or concerns to raise with me as your local MP, please get in touch by emailing [email protected] or calling 01792 899025. My office is not open, my staff and I are working from home, but my email and phone are still being monitored and responded to. You may experience a slight delay in receiving a response from us as the demand has increased, but we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Keep well and remember – and remember - observe social distancing, wash your hands regularly and keep Wales safe!

Comments are closed.

    News Archive

    January 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All
    Abortion
    Animals
    APPG's
    Armed Forces
    Assisted Dying
    Asylum Seekers And Refugees
    Banks
    BBC
    Cancer
    Charity
    Christmas
    Christmas Hamper Campaign
    Climate Change & The Environment
    Committees
    Cost Of Living
    Crime
    Culture
    Development
    Devolved Matters
    Education
    Employment
    Endometriosis
    Energy
    Energy Bills
    Equality
    EU
    Family
    Gorseinon
    Guide Dogs
    Health
    High Street
    International
    IWD
    Macmillan
    Medical Cannabis
    Mental Health
    Money
    Northern Ireland
    Parliament
    Pension Credit
    Retail
    Save Our Cash
    Sharing Table
    Shoplifting
    Speeches
    Sport
    Surfers Against Sewage
    Trade Unions
    Trophy Hunting
    Universal Credit
    Veterans
    Weekly Update
    Westminster Hall
    Women

Privacy policy
Promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, 20 Rushworth Street, London SE1 0SS
  • Home
  • About Tonia
    • In Parliament
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Speeches
    • PubAid
    • Newsletter
  • How I Can Help
    • Get in touch
    • Advice Surgeries
    • Wider Support
    • Office Conduct