In his Budget speech on March 23, the Chancellor said he was cutting 5p from a litre of fuel which he called a tax cut for hard-working families. I asked him on May 17 why those same families weren’t then paying less to fill up the car. He dismissed my question by implying there hadContinue reading Motorists left to pay price
The Queen’s Speech sets out government plans for the next 12 months. My constituents tell me the issues of greatest concern are: cost of living; energy prices; childcare costs; elderly care; lack of neighbourhood police; education. There’s no action on childcare costs despite its impact on employment and family budgets and no plan for energyContinue reading Vital issues are ignored
Steve McCabe, the Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Selly Oak today asked the Prime Minister at PMQs if he would make a guarantee that the shocking figure of 9000 people who died in their homes last year as they were too cold, would be lower in the coming year. The figures come from the recentlyContinue reading Prime Minister Boris Johnson dodges Birmingham MP’s call for a guarantee that the number of people dying in freezing homes falls by next year
Last Sunday I was privileged to join the congregation and guests to celebrate the 40th anniversary of St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Cartland Road. It’s been there longer and in an earlier version was known as the corrugated chapel, essentially an old tin hut. As I listened to long-standing members, I heard about ordinary people contributingContinue reading We must all stick together
This year only one of 16 suppliers, reviewed for the Which Energy Survey, received a Recommended Provider award. That means only one achieved the standards and consideration for consumers that might be expected. I’m not that surprised, given recent experiences I’ve had while attempting to contact the company that came bottom of the league. RecommendedContinue reading Energy firms falling short
This government was elected on big promises that it would do right by people, so what’s gone wrong? You’ll remember, they were going to get Brexit done and level up our communities so that everyone could get on in life. We’ve now left the EU which means we should have £350 million per week extraContinue reading It doesn’t add up, Boris
My partner and I had the chance to go to two of our favourite places recently. We went to watch Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast at the Electric Cinema, the oldest working cinema in the country, and also managed to catch the new production of Animal Farm at the Rep. Both are well worth seeing. The venuesContinue reading Hospitality needs help
The upcoming Budget on 3 March is an opportunity for the Chancellor to ease the issues families, the self-employed and business owners face. I know what I want to see, what about you? Two things have cheered me up recently – the vaccine rollout is going well and Cadbury Dairy Milk is coming home followingContinue reading What can the Chancellor’s budget do to help here?
