I encourage everyone reading this to put pressure and lobby your own MPs, especially if they’re a Conservative, to get them to support Barry’s bill. Together we can all play our part in ending this shameful practice.
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So many people are struggling financially after a hugely difficult 18 months and they now head into these difficult winter months wondering how they are going to cope with rising inflation, food price hikes, benefit cuts and soaring energy bills which are hitting everyone hard.
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On Thursday (7th October), Jarrow MP Kate Osborne visited Barbour, one of the largest employers in the Jarrow Constituency. Founded in 1894, Barbour is now a fifth-generation family-owned business and a global brand that has stayed true to its roots and is now based in the Bede Industrial Estate.
The company produces high-quality clothing with a focus on sustainability as they offer repairs for their products to ensure a lifetime of wear is possible. Kate was invited to the warehouse and was given a tour around the facilities by directors and met with employees who demonstrated the extreme skill it takes to produce these world-renowned garments.
The Barbour Foundation was set up in 1988 and supports charities in the North East of England having donated over £24million to local communities. The Women’s fund is another organisation Barbour set up which supports the social well being of women in the local community too.
Kate Osborne MP said: “I am pleased to have been able to visit the Barbour site for the first time after previously being unable to visit due to the pandemic.”
“Having a world-famous brand based in the Jarrow constituency is absolutely brilliant. Barbour employ hundreds of people from our local communities, and it was great to be able to see the staff and the high standards they work to. The atmosphere on the workshop floor was excellent.”
“Barbour is a historic brand that represents the best of the local area. The Barbour Foundation created by Dame Margaret Barbour to support charities and good causes in the North East of England continues to support the local community.”
“It is important that big businesses share their wealth and profits to enrich the communities that support and surround them, and Barbour is committed to doing so by providing highly skilled job opportunities to local people whilst also raising funds and donating to local charities and good causes.”
From yesterday (6th of October 2021) almost six million benefit claimants across the UK had their Universal Credit payment cut by £20-a-week.
Alongside many Labour colleagues from across the UK, I am proud to have campaigned against this cruel cut and have called on Boris Johnson and his party to do the right thing by u-turning this despicable decision, consolidating the problematic effects of this cut.
Stated below is the standard monthly allowance following the 6th of October:
Until the 6th October 2021 | 6th October onwards | |
Single under 25 | £344 | £257.33 |
Single over 25 | £411.51 | £324.84 |
Couple under 25 | £490.60 | £403.93 |
Couple, one or both over 25 | £596.58 | £509.91 |
Each group listed above will lose £86.67 a month, a substantial amount of money which will no longer aid paying for household bills such as heating, electricity, and groceries. Ultimately £1040.04 has been taken away per year. The furlough scheme came to an end on the 30th September 2021 introducing uncertainty in businesses minimising their optimism to hire new staff and a potential rise in unemployment as businesses may not bounce back after the brunt of the pandemic leaving them unable to pay wages. Moreover, those unemployed will evidently struggle as they no longer have the support and certainty furlough provided and because of the callous universal credit cut.
What lengths will the Conservatives go to, to continue to alienate those who need help the most?
This is not Building Back Better. It is a hammer blow to working families who are struggling financially up and down this country.
(with special thanks to Emily Martin)
Read Kate Osborne MPs latest column for the Shields Gazette:
NEXT WEEK marks the 85th anniversary of the famous Jarrow Crusade – one of the most significant historical events in the labour movement.
On 5th October 1936, 200 local people set off from Jarrow on a near 300-mile trek to London carrying a 12,000-named petition to the Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. They were demanding the re-establishment of industry in the town following the devastating closure of Palmers Shipyard, the main employer in the area.
It was organised to obtain widespread publicity and the sympathy of the general public and – it was hoped – the re-establishment of heavy industry to provide work for unemployed men in the town.
Most of the men marching were employed in Palmer’s, which closed down in 1931, and their petition captured the imagination of the nation, drawing attention to the serious unemployment situation that existed in Jarrow.
There was severe hardship, with about 70 per cent of workers in the town left unemployed. Britain in the 1930s was suffering from the Great Depression, and its areas of heavy industry, such as Jarrow, were the hardest hit.
And when the Government-led National Shipbuilding Securities closed Palmer’s Shipyard it left the majority of families in Jarrow struggling to put food on the table.
These proud, dignified men wanted Parliament, and the people across the country, to understand that they were living in an area where there were many difficulties.
They were demanding that steelworks be built to bring back jobs to their town, following the closure of the shipyard. Palmer’s yard had been Jarrow’s major source of employment, and the closure compounded the problems of poverty, overcrowding, poor housing and high mortality rates in the area.
The Crusade, led by David Riley, who was the Chair of Jarrow Council, and the MP for Jarrow, “Red” Ellen Wilkinson, aimed to arrive in Westminster at the opening of Parliament, where they would present a petition signed by the many thousands of residents of Jarrow to the government.
But disgracefully, when Wilkinson and the Jarrow marchers reached London the Conservative Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, did not even have the courtesy to meet with them and when they returned home many found their benefit had been cut because they had not been available to work.
Despite the overwhelming feeling of disappointment, the Jarrow March became recognised as a defining event of the 1930s and it is believed to have helped to foster the change in attitudes that prepared the way for social reform measures after the Second World War.
The 1936 Jarrow Crusade instilled a great amount of strength and togetherness which still shines through this area today.
Just by taking a walk around Jarrow town centre, you quickly see permanent reminders of the Jarrow Crusade. The statue outside of Morrisons, the artefacts inside Jarrow Town Hall, and even buses named after the famous Crusade!
However, comparisons must be drawn between those bleak times in the 1930s and today.
The North East has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and the outlook is expected to get worse as energy bills continue to rocket, national insurance goes up, the furlough scheme ends, and the government forces through its dangerous cuts to Universal Credit.
And let’s not forget the rise in food banks under this government – led by fabulous local people helping vulnerable people across our communities who are in desperate need.
Even 85 years on, the Jarrow Crusade remains an inspiration to people fighting for justice. We still live in a world of widening inequality and great injustices so the issues raised by the marchers all those years ago are, sadly, still relevant now.
The UK government must immediately provide assurance that no LGBTQI+ Afghan refugees are currently being assessed to be removed from the UK back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
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Read Kate’s latest column for the Shields Gazette:
Almost two years ago, the Prime Minister told voters during the 2019 General Election campaign that he would not be raising taxes on income, on VAT or National Insurance.
Many pensioners are already struggling with soaring energy bills, with others having to choose between heating their home or eating.
He also said that he would not water down the triple lock.
Two years on, his Government is now tarnished by Tory broken promises and their election pledges clearly aren’t worth the paper they are written on – promises they made to the people of this country.
Last week, Boris Johnson brazenly admitted breaking his contract with the British people, raising taxes and dumping the “triple lock” on the state pension.
The Government says that the state pension will rise by the highest out of 2.5% and inflation next year instead of earnings growth which is estimated to be at around 8%.
Callously pressing ahead with the scrapping of the triple lock this year is a massive Conservative betrayal of our pensioners and risks many of our elderly falling into poverty this winter.
There are around two million pensioners currently living in poverty in the UK.
The UK state pension is also one of the least generous in Europe. For example, single pensioners in the Netherlands receive £254 a week and in Denmark £366 a week.
The triple lock was brought in to ensure that the state pension would increase by inflation, average earnings increases or 2.5 per cent, whichever was highest.
It reversed the breaking of the link between earnings and the state pension – which meant the pension increased annually by the same level as average wages – by Margaret Thatcher, which saw the UK state pension decline in value.
However, this cut to pensions comes hot on the heels of millions of pensioners losing access to free television licences last year, meaning many now have to pay £159 a year to continue watching television.
And it would be another devastating blow to the 2.4 million pensioners who will lose access to free prescriptions if the government goes ahead with its controversial plans to raise the benefit in line with the state pension age, which is currently 66.
Many pensioners are already struggling with soaring energy bills, with others having to choose between heating their home or eating.
These life-changing decisions are devastating our pensioners, and it is absolutely disgraceful.
This is a government that is threatening the triple lock, threatening free prescriptions for over 60s and let us not forget they are still intent on taking £20 a week off some of the poorest households this autumn.
They must not be allowed to get away with this as they fail in their duty to protect our most vulnerable across our communities once again.
The same Government that has failed to crack down on the big multi-national companies making obscene profits at the expense of the taxpayer – letting them pay a paltry amount of tax – which tells you everything you need to know where its priorities lie.
We will fight them every step of the way.
Jarrow MP Kate Osborne has been selected as one of 45 MPs across all parties to participate in this years Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (AFPS). The AFPS has been running for over thirty years and aims to provide an insight into military life that would not otherwise be available to Members of Parliament.
The AFPS is run by the Armed Forces Parliamentary Trust based in the Palace of Westminster and has support from all the main political parties. It is fully endorsed and resourced by the Ministry of Defence.
MPs can apply to a single Service course they wish to enrol on – Royal Navy, Army or Royal Airforce.
Kate Osborne MP has been successful in the selection process and will be one of 15 MPs assigned to the Royal Air Force. Throughout the next year, Kate will participate in visits to numerous RAF bases, the first of which is starting tomorrow with a 3-day stay at the Defence Academy at Shrivenham where along with other MPs, she will be given an ‘introduction to defence’.
The RAF course gives MPs an opportunity to learn about life in the Royal Air Force from the “cradle to the grave.”
Kate Osborne MP says “I am looking forward to getting more of an in depth understanding about the work the RAF do. It is a great opportunity to take a hands-on approach to research and I am hopeful that my time on the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme with the RAF will give more perspective to my work as an MP.
“It is so important as Parliamentarians that we take part in Schemes like this, which allow us to gain a real-world perspective of both the work being done by our armed forces, but also the challenges faced by our military service people.”
“I hope to get as much out of this experience as possible and I am looking forward to getting stuck in.”
We must be inspired by our past and look to the examples of the Jarrow Crusaders and the Seven Men of Jarrow to drive us on as we fight against inequality and unfairness in today’s society.
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Read Kate’s latest column for the Shields Gazette:
Climate Change is without a doubt the greatest threat to humanity across the globe. The United Nations Chief has said that we are at a crucial point, and they have given a ‘code red for humanity’. With the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow less than three months away, this Government must act now. We all must act now.
There can be no delay if we are to prevent a climate catastrophe. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the targets made in the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 will not be achieved this century unless huge cuts in carbon emissions take place.
Here in the North East, South Tyneside Council have already been taking proactive steps to reduce the impact our communities have on the environment. Investment into green energy solutions like the multi-million-pound Hebburn Minewater Project are proving the Council’s commitment to combating climate change.
Further to the Hebburn Minewater Project, South Tyneside Council has also set a target to be carbon neutral by 2030. The Council are dedicated to meeting this target and last month ran a Week of Action to highlight the challenges around climate change. Throughout the week of action, young people were encouraged to discuss the positive and negative effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the environment. Schools were also encouraged to promote sustainability by hosting uniform swaps and organising zero-waste meals.
I feel it is important to work with the next generation to see how we can collectively work together towards a greener and more sustainable future across our local communities. Therefore I want to build upon South Tyneside Council’s Week of Action and encourage young people to speak out on what needs to be done to improve our environment.
I will be contacting all schools in the Jarrow Constituency to gather ideas from pupils and find out what changes they plan to make in their own lives to combat climate change. I also want to know what the school-age children from the Jarrow Constituency expect the Government to be doing to combat climate change.
It is my hope that this Crusade Against Climate Change will help drive forward our communities in a greener, more sustainable way. While big businesses are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, we can all take steps as individuals to affect change. If we take these individual steps collectively, we can, as a community reduce our impact on the environment.
It is so important that the next generation feel their voices are being heard, especially with the big issues like climate change. I hope this campaign will encourage children to become more actively involved in tackling these issues.
I will take the key issues raised by the children of the Jarrow Constituency and collate them into a letter to the Prime Minister.
I will be releasing further information on how Under-18s can get involved with this campaign and do their part in my Crusade Against Climate Change. If you have any questions about how you can get involved, please do not hesitate to contact me via [email protected].
