The Trades Union Congress (TUC) will be holding its 157th Annual Congress on 7-10 September 2025. In partnership with Thompsons Solicitors a reception was held in Parliament. TUC represents 47 unions, campaigning for better jobs and a more equal society. Thompsons support trade unions, partnering with 20 trade unions to deliver legal advice and services to members.There were speeches from the Prime Minister Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP, Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the TUC and Claire Mellor, Chief Executive of Thompsons Solicitors. I am pictured above with Darren Jones,MP recently appointed Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

The House of Commons debated the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill for its Second Reading on 2 September 2025. 


This Bill reforms local government in England and gives communities the right to shape their local areas. It will also restore the supplementary vote system for mayoral elections in England, and police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. Given the large populations represented by mayors and police and crime commissioners far exceed the size of constituencies represented by MPs, this makes Mayors more accountable to their electorate including a Public Accounts Committee to scrutinise their spending. 

At Second Reading, I voted Aye :      Ayes: 365 and Noes: 164
Reasoned Amendment: I voted No  : Aye: 167 and Noes: 367


The Bill will be scrutinised in a Public Bill Committee and I have been appointed to Chair the Bill Committee sessions.  

At FCDO questions I asked a question to the Minister of State on 2 September 2025 relating to overseas development assistance. 

My question was: 


Could the Minister update the House on the reduction in assistance to places including Myanmar, and on democracy there, and the imprisonment of Daw Suu?


Stephen Doughty, the Minister responded:


We have to make very difficult choices as a result of the decision we made. We remain absolutely committed to international development. The detailed allocations will be set out in due course, and they will of course be informed by impact assessments before we publish multi-year allocations.



I am keen to ensure that overseas development aid is used to assist countries in the interests of democracy. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been imprisoned since her arrest following the February 2021 military coup despite wining the general elections. 

If you know someone who is concerned with this issue, UKVI have provided this information so that these cases can be reported.

You should contact the Marriage and Civil Partnerships referral and Investigation team at the Home Office.

Marriage Referral and Assessment Unit, Department 158, PO Box 306, Liverpool, L2 0QN. Further information about the unit can be found on: www.gov.uk/marriageandcivilpartnershipsinvestigationscheme

You can report this issue as an immigration or border crime by accessing the Home Office website: Report an immigration or border crime - GOV.UK

You can also call the following numbers to report a crime anonymously:

Immigration Enforcement hotline- Tel: 0300 123 7000

Crimestoppers- Tel: 0800 555111

 

 

I was a signatory to a letter coordinated by Abtisam Mohamed MP and Barry Gardiner MP.

The letter to the Prime Minister called for him to ensure that a group of young people from Gaza who have received scholarships can be safely evacuated to commence their studies in the UK.

There is no Visa Application Centre in Gaza that can record their biometric data, so they cannot have their student visas processed.

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