As part of Labour’s Annual Conference, I sat on the Future Social Care Coalition’s panel ‘Why is workforce reform critical to getting social care done?’. I believe that workforce reform is crucial to fixing social care. This is why Labour are backing a new deal for care workers, which gives […]
It was a pleasure to speak at Progressive Britain’s conference fringe, ‘Rebuilding Labour and the Nation’. Progressive Britain commissioned a report on how voters view Labour, and how Labour can rebuild trust with the country, and I was invited to reflect and contribute my thoughts on this. If there’s one […]
At Labour Party Annual Conference, I spoke at the Health Foundation’s fringe meeting ‘Where next for social care?’. It was great to see such a large turnout to hear about where the Government need to go next on social care reform, and how a Labour government would approach social care. […]
Transforming social care is the challenge of our generation. This was true even before Covid struck, but the pandemic has exposed, more than ever, the urgent need for reform. A future Labour government will modernise the welfare state from cradle to grave, investing in social care as part of our […]
Yesterday I spoke in a Westminster Hall Debate on vaccination of children against Covid-19. I welcome the fact that children are now being offered a Covid vaccine following advice from the UK’s Chief Medical Officer. This will be vital to keeping them in the classroom which is so beneficial […]
I was so proud to stand alongside the amazing Rights for Residents today at 10 Downing Street, as they handed in their petition to allow care home residents the legal right to see their loved ones. Over 250,000 people have signed the petition to date – we […]
Since Parliament came back after the summer, the biggest issue has been the Government’s ‘NHS and social care levy’ (a 1.25% increase in National Insurance Contributions) which they claim will fix the crisis in social care. The two key tests for the Tories about this proposal are: will it work, […]
Today I spoke at an event organised by the National Care Association. Care providers told me that they are desperately struggling to find staff and are deeply worried about what this will mean for people who need care. Urgent action is needed to tackle the workforce crisis in social care. […]
Even before the pandemic there were over 100,000 vacancies in social care, and Covid-19 has made the situation even worse. Unless ministers grip this problem, thousands of elderly and disabled people will be forced to go without the basic help they need to do things like get up, washed, dressed […]
Ministers have failed to meet their promise that those vaccinated abroad but registered with a GP in England and Wales would be able to get a Covid pass. This is yet another case of ministers over-promising and then failing to deliver, leaving many people still unable to obtain a Covid […]
The Head of the Joint Biosecurity Centre has now left their role during a key time for the Government’s COVID-19 response. This critical post is vacant at a time when the JBC advice is more important than ever. The government has left this crucial body without a captain as we […]
The Government has allowed infections to spiral out of control, leaving hundreds of thousands of people forced to self-isolate every day, their response is not to drive down infections but instead quietly change the app that helps to keep us safe. This is yet another Covid U-turn from ministers at a […]