Report for October-November
November 30, 2009
You can now download my report for October-November 2009.
It covers the Queen’s Speech; housing; the UK public’s support for the war in Afghanistan; transport issues; speeches on Palestine, nuclear weapons, Latin America; meetings attended; and local events.
Parliamentary interventions in October and November
November 30, 2009
The report of parliamentary interventions for October and November includes details of EDM on the Whittington Hospital, written parliamentary questions (WPQs) and interventions in the debates on Nuclear Non Proliferation, Arms Export Control and Sri Lanka. The WPQs are on Iraqi asylum seekers, Ehud Barak’s visit to the UK, the Freedom Pass, the Channel project and the Prevent agenda, aid to Syria, Sri Lankan Tamils, tenants’ rights, housing in Islington, the Office of the Public Guardian, rail transport, postal workers and Iran’s Nuclear Programme.
EDM 2256: Trade union rights in Saudi Arabia
November 9, 2009
That this House believes it a fundamental human right to be able to form independent trade unions; is concerned that Yahya Al Faifi was an active trade unionist in Saudi Arabia and due to threats made against him left and came to the United Kingdom; and calls on the UK to express its concerns at human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia and not to allow any deportations to take place of those who have been active as trade unionists and thus face persecution.
Report for September-October
November 1, 2009
You can now download my latest activity report. It covers: Transition Highbury, a sustainability project; transport; housing; the war in Afghanistan; Western Sahara and what I’ve been doing in Parliament.
WPQ: Iranian election
July 31, 2009
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the government of Iran on the conduct of the Presidential election; and if he will make a statement.
Ivan Lewis: Since the election my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have both made clear that the election was a matter for the people of Iran, but that there were concerns raised by some of the candidates needed to be addressed by the Iranian authorities. The Foreign Secretary has also made this point in the course of a telephone discussion with Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki.
EDM 1764: Democracy in Honduras
July 31, 2009
That this House deplores the military action that has been taken in Honduras to remove the democratically-elected government; believes that only the Honduran people have the right to determine their government through a democratic process and that this action against democracy should be condemned throughout the world; and therefore calls for the immediate reinstatement of the democratically-elected government in Honduras.
WPQ: Social housing in Islington
July 31, 2009
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many properties he expects to be (a) completed and (b) purchased for social rent in the London Borough of Islington in (i) 2009-10 and (ii) each of the next four years. Austin, Ian
Answer: The forecast completions for social rented homes approved to date for the National Affordable Housing Programme in Islington are:
Forecast completions
2009-10 164
2010-11 310
2011-12 188
2012-13 27
2013-14 67
Information is not available on projections of social rented properties to be purchased in Islington.
OPQ: Afghanistan
July 31, 2009
Is the Prime Minister aware that many people in this country think that the policy is Afghanistan is fundamentally misplaced, that it has done nothing to control the drugs trade, that it has probably increased support for the Taliban and will inevitably involve NATO and other forces crossing the border into Pakistan with further problems that will result from that? Is it not time for a complete rethink of the
entire strategy?
The Prime Minister: I hope that my hon. Friend will look at the strategy that we announced in April and the way in which we have developed it over the past few months, and will note that President Obama in America is pursuing a course very similar to ours. The fact of the matter is—and we cannot ignore it—that three quarters of terrorist plots start in the mountainous and border areas around Pakistan. Before 2001, al-Qaeda was based in Afghanistan; now it is based in Pakistan. If we are to make our streets safe in Britain, we must consider what is happening in those regions. That is why our strategy is not simply military, but is intended—alongside military action—to build up the Afghan forces, to develop the Afghan economy and,
of course, to deal with the heroin trade in Afghanistan. I hope that, on reflection, my hon. Friend will recognise that people are safer in London because of the actions that we are taking in Afghanistan and pakistan.
Report June-July
July 31, 2009
The activity report for June-July covers the Parliamentary Standards Bill, the recession, housing, transport (Barking to Gospel Oak line), Afghanistan, Iran, Trident replacement, health and hospitals, local schools, and my diary of events attended.
EDM 1970: Sanctions against Sri Lanka
July 21, 2009
That this House welcomes the work of Act Now and the British Tamil Forces in hosting a meeting in the House of Commons on 21 July 2009; notes the continual suffering of the Tamil people in camps and reports of depopulation of the east of the country; further welcomes the proposals of the meeting calling for the suspension of Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth in view of the human rights violations; calls on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to refuse development aid and loans; further calls on British-based and owned banks not to engage in activity with the government of Sri Lanka; and further calls upon the Government to take all possible diplomatic action to isolate the government of Sri Lanka in view of its abuse of human rights.
