Yesterday I appeared on BBC East Midlands Today to talk about the Census this weekend, and how it is a fantastic opportunity to understand the scale of unpaid care being provided in Leicester. The Census is important as the results will help organisations, including local authorities and charities, to […]
Liz in the news
Find out what I’ve been saying and doing in the media.
Scores of housebound patients ‘have not yet had a Covid-19 vaccine’ despite many being high priority
Ministers have been warned for months now about low vaccination rates amongst housebound elderly people who are too frail, ill or anxious to travel to get their vaccine. The Government must get to grips with this problem as a matter of urgency. Ministers need a clear plan to increase uptake […]
Liz speaks out against violence against women
Yesterday evening I appeared on ITV Central to talk about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and how it is a missed opportunity to take action on violence against women. Following the recent tragic death of Sarah Everard there has been a national demand for action to tackle violence […]
As Covid turns the crisis of social care into a calamity, the government does nothing
The Prime Minister promised on the steps of Downing Street in July 2019 that he would bring forward a plant to fix social care. Since then, the issue has been delayed again and again. Last week, the Chancellor said they were looking to work ‘cross-party’ on social care – but […]
Liz calls for a better approach to economic recovery
I appeared on Politics Live this week to discuss the latest announcements on NHS pay. Since the Tories came to power, nurses starting salaries have fallen in real terms by £840 a year. By giving NHS staff a 1% pay rise, the Government is in fact giving them a real-terms […]
Liz speaks about lack of support for social care in the Budget
Rishi Sunak’s budget on Wednesday had absolutely no mention of social care. This pandemic has exposed the impact of 10 years of social care funding cuts, and our carer workers and families deserve better. The Chancellor then told the BBC that the reason that social care plans hadn’t been brought […]
Chris Whitty: Medics and care staff have ‘professional responsibility’ to get Covid vaccine
Official data shows that only 52% of staff in care homes for the elderly in London have have their coronavirus jab. This is incredibly worrying – the vaccine could save their own lives, as well as the lives of people in care. The government must put in place a strategy […]
Covid-19: Care home residents in England to be allowed one regular visitor
The Government have announced that from March 8, care home residents in England will be allowed one regular visitor. This is something Labour has been campaigning on since last June. However, we need confidence that things will really change. We need legislation, to make visits to care homes a legal […]
Tragic toll year of loneliness has taken on elderly laid bare
Labour has been calling for care home visits to resume for months. I wrote to Matt Hancock last June asking for families to be treated as ‘key workers’, with the same testing and PPE as staff. Now, we are almost a year into this pandemic, and blanket bans on care home […]
Liz challenges Government on cladding scandal
I appeared on Peston to discuss the latest announcements from the Government. In particular, the Government have recently announced an additional £3.5bn to remove cladding from high rise buildings over 18m tall, following the disaster at Grenfell in 2017. This has been sold as an ‘exceptional intervention’ by the […]
Liz meets with families of care home residents
Yesterday, I met with families with relatives in care homes who had been locked out by the pandemic. Some of them have not seen their loved ones in almost a year. We all know that our loved ones need protecting against this awful virus. But it is hard to see […]
Care homes still breaking Covid rules despite fatal outbreaks, inspectors say
Reports from the Care Quality Commission show that in the last month, 40% of care homes inspected in England are ‘inadequate’, with some failing to put even basic infection control measures in place. Ministers must look at these reports as a matter of urgency – they will be very worrying […]