The community in Walsall were outraged to learn that the Council planned to relocate the Leather Museum. This information was in the Council's Budget for 2025-2029. This decision was approved at a Cabinet meeting on 16 October 2024, apparently in contrast to a Cabinet meeting on 17 July 2024 which approved a plan to 'continue to support museums, galleries and libraries as important community assets.'. The Budget claimed to potentially save £190,000 over four years.

As a result of this information, a petition was started on 12 November 2024, to 'Halt the Proposed Sale and Closure of Walsall Leather Museum'. The latest number of signatories stood at 6,490. 

I wrote to Walsall Council on 11 December 2024 to suggest that there is no clear business case for relocating the Leather Museum, no details indicating the reasons behind this proposal and a complete misunderstanding of the heritage of Walsall. I also wrote to the Minister of State for Tourism, urging him to look into this issue.

Anyone planning to visit Walsall would see on Tripadvisor that the Leather Museum is listed as Walsall's top attraction, receiving a 'Travellers' Choice' award in 2024 - given to attractions that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor. 

Members of the local community, designers, artists and others who work in and appreciate cultural industries gathered at the Sister Dora statue in the town centre on Saturday 8 February 2025 at protest organised by Lauren Broxton. 

The demonstration has been reported on by the Express & Star, Birmingham Live and BBC. 

In response to this widespread opposition, the Leader of the Council announced in a Cabinet meeting on 12 February 2025 that the decision to relocate the Leather Museum will be suspended for 12 months, creating space for new and wider consultation.

I am delighted this decision has been made. We will continue to resist any cuts to culture and heritage sites. 

On 12 February 2025  as Co Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Publishing, I opened the proceedings and you can read my full speech below:

So lets go straight to the winners announced by Matt Chorley:
The three categories are:


Best Fiction or Non-Fiction by a Parliamentarian: The winner is  Alan Johnson for "Wilson" and the award was collected by Professor Robin Wilson, the son of Harold Wilson.
Best Biography, Autobiography, or Memoir by a Parliamentarian:  Jess Phillips MP.
Best Political Book by a non-Parliamentarian: the winner is the late Alexei Navalny "Patriot: A memoir." and collected by his daughter, Dasha Navalnaya.

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With me are guests Chris Taylor, the owner and a valued bookseller from St Davids Bookshop, Pembrokeshire, Wales and Professor Robin Wilson, son of the former and late Prime Minister Harold Wilson with the winning book "Wilson" by Alan Johnson.

The awards were announced and handed out by Matt Chorley of Radio 5 Live a previous winner for his book Planes Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places that Changed British Politics.



I am pictured here speaking with Professor Robin Wilson the son of the late former Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Robin collected the award on behalf of Alan Johnson who wrote "Wilson" in a short series of Prime Ministers for Swift Books. Alan paid tribute to Nick Thomas Symonds MP for his longer biography of Harold Wilson.

The awards, founded in 2016, were established by the Booksellers Association and the  Publishers Association to champion the best political writing in the UK and to recognise the important link between the worlds of politics and publishing.

Previous winners have included Harriet Harman MP, Nick Clegg MP, Penny Mordaunt MP, Andrew Mitchell MP, Baroness Jowell, Baroness Floella Benjamin, Sebastian Payne, Michael Ashcroft, Mark Carney, Iain Dale and James O’Brien.

Publishers Association: https://www.publishers.org.uk

Booksellers Association:https://www.booksellers.org.uk


"I am delighted to welcome you all to the 9th Westminster Book Awards, You may remember it as the Parliamentary Book Awards.
Baroness Harriet Harman, who unfortunately couldn’t make it this evening but sends her very best wishes for what I know will be a wonderful evening.
Tonight’s event showcases the very best of political writing, both from within this House and from those who write about politics.
Not far away I must mention the person who started it all William Caxton printed and published books and is buried at St Margaret’s church. MPs would go across Old Palace Yard to meetings in Chapter House and pass his bookshop.
Everyone in this room has some connection with the process of making a book and getting them into the right hands.
Thank you to all of you; thank you to all of the booksellers in the room; the important role you play in your communities through engagement with schools, charities and literary festivals.
I am sure you all agree that we love a good bookshop; without the dogs;
quiet places to think while browsing and somewhere where you can be guaranteed to get a good recommendation for your next read, often championing new authors and creating the next generation of bestsellers.
It has never been tougher to run a business on UK high streets and booksellers across England are waiting the introduction of the Government’s business rates reforms.
A big thank you also to all of the publishers in the room too.
Bringing us new things; I am sure there is someone who is commissioning and writing as we speak
"Everything you always wanted to know about Tariffs but were afraid to ask"
Bringing us different voices; like Virago Books in the 70s;
New voices from around the world; translations
My daughter Liberty gave me "Days at the Morasaki Bookshop"; you know how you are bereft when you finish them, Liberty said there is more; I said what do you mean and she said More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop which I am reading now.
There is much to celebrate in the books industry, and we are here to do just that this evening, we must also take care to nurture the sector and protect it.
Books, and the places we buy them, sit at the heart of the UK’s creative industries. We cannot take this success for granted. The UK is the world’s leading exporter of books, many of our favourite films, TV shows and pieces of theatre start off as books.
In our house we are watching "All Creatures Great and Small" the Sam West version and we went to see "Ballet Shoes" at the National a great production.
We must also protect the UK’s gold-standard copyright regime and ensure that the right balance is struck between growing both the AI and creative sectors.
Authors start off the process their work driving the creative industries,  have generated  £126B in value, they have struggled and their earnings declined.
A recent survey  found that:
91% said they should be asked for their permission to use their work;
77% don’t know if their work is being used to train AI;
96% say they should be compensated if their work is already being used;
Consider Samantha Harvey with all the research and creativity that went into that glorious poem to our Earth and its peoples-Orbital ;
why should Samantha Harvey have to opt out;
It cannot be right to have free use of an authors work by AI unless they opted out;
Because we all want to be here for many more years celebrating the book industry;
I want to end with some words which sum up the creative process:
From Roddy Frame his song - River of Brightness: I wont sing it;
"Starts with a glint of a sparkle in the eyes;
and a breath becomes a word becomes a deed;
And if the deed is done right the whole world is set a light;"
That is the power of books;
Thank you to every single one of you who have played a part in that process;
you help us make sense of our world; You all set the world alight;
I hope you have a lovely evening and it is with great pleasure to hand you over to Perminder Mann, President of the Publishers' Association."

An excellent recital was held at No 11 Downing Street on Thursday 13 February 2025 by kind permission of the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP the Chancellor. 

The setting was one of the rooms at No 11 where we heard from Soprano Natalya Romaniw, violinists, David Adams Kitty Cheung, Viola players Dunia Ershova and Barry Friend, cellists , Rosie Biss and Matteo Salissoni and the Harp was played by Declan Rowlands. 

There were pieces by R. Stauss, Watkins, Tchaikovsky , Puccini , Massenet, Dvorak, and Elwyn-Edwards. 

The programme was introduced by Zeb Soanes and will be heard on Classic FM on Sunday 23 February 2025.

 

On 10 February 2025 the House of Commons debated the 2nd Reading of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.

The Border Security and Asylum Minister, Dame Angela Eagle DBE highlighted in November that, during the first half of 2024, small boat crossings reached their highest point on record, with over 200,000 cases stuck in the asylum system and £700 million spent on the Rwanda scheme. Furthermore, she noted that this issue is an international problem which requires co-operation and partnership with other countries, in Europe and beyond. The Minister confirmed that a new anti-smuggling action plan has been agreed with G7 partners, but also highlighted the importance of this Government’s aim to continue to press for a stronger and more integrated global response to organised immigration crime.

The Government is already taking steps to strengthen our borders, such as establishing the Border Security Command, recruiting additional Home Office staff, and assigning additional funding to bolster border security. This has already resulted in 9,400 recorded returns from the UK since July.

As set out in the King’s Speech, the Government has brought forward the Bill to give stronger powers to the border security system, so that organised crime can be properly investigated and prosecuted.

After a reasoned amendment against the Bill failed to pass with 115 ayes and 354 noes, the question was put that the Bill be read a second time with the following result: Ayes 331, Noes 108.

The Bill will now go through line by line scrutiny in a Public Bill Committee.

On 5 February 2025 I and 66 other MPs and Lords, co-signed a letter by Dr Rosena Allin-Khan MP to David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary.

The letter condemned President Trump's comments on 4 February 2025, announcing plans to take over Gaza, forcibly resettling the Gazan population in the process. In the wake of the establishment of the ceasefire, international efforts must be focussed on ensuring that the agreed phases are carried out in the full interest of bringing about lasting peace.

I will continue to call for a sustained effort for a two-state solution and for the Palestinian people who live in Gaza, their homeland to rebuild their lives and live in peace.