Next week, kids across the country will be heading back to school as the new academic year begins.

Whilst they are excited to see their friends in the school playground, parents and carers are faced with the rising cost of school uniforms and other necessities.

Almost a third of children in the North East region live in poverty, with around 118,000 in the North East Combined Authority area alone, the cost of school uniform and supplies stretch family budgets even further, and threaten the education of children living in the North East.

Schools have a duty to provide a level playing ground for all students, from all backgrounds, and it is distressing to be receiving messages from concerned parents in the constituency who are finding it increasingly hard to meet the rising costs of school uniforms.

The stricter uniform policies I have been contacted about recently enforce ‘essential’ branding, inevitably raising the costs and limiting the number, and availability, of stores that uniforms can be bought from. This is outrageous and I have contacted schools about this every year since becoming an MP and will continue to do so.

Uniforms are supposed to act as a social leveller – an equaliser – and should be affordable and accessible for all of their students. Instead, excessive cost and tightening rules around what is required are holding families back and pushing some even deeper into poverty.

Named brands with school logos and preferred providers of clothing are unnecessary and strict rules around this just punish the poorest of pupils, who already face greater financial barriers and add to back-to-school anxiety.

One parent who got in touch recently told me that unless their child is wearing a shirt with the school’s branding on, they are unable to take their jumper off – completely harsh and unacceptable

This poses an obvious concern to the safety and wellbeing of children unable to afford the branded shirts, if they become too warm and are unable to take a layer off.

It is disgusting that it has gotten to this point.

Schools must ensure that they are spaces where children can go to learn without paying extortionate costs to simply attend their lessons.

Many of our local food banks already offer so much support to the most vulnerable across our community – and in recent years they have stepped up to try to bridge the gap in rising uniform costs, with many now offering uniform swaps to help families prepare for new school years without breaking the bank unnecessarily.

This is brilliant of them – but they should not have to do it.

No student, no child, and no family should be left behind when it comes to education, particularly those in the North East.

This summer, over 31% of pupils in London and the South East achieved an A or A* in their subjects compared to just 24.6% in the North.

In the North East, the result of A and A* grades were even lower, at 23.9%.

The North/South divide now lies at 6.5%, a considerable increase from pre-pandemic levels and yet more evidence of the North being starved of investment and our communities being left behind.

Our region suffered fourteen years of neglect, and our children faced the brunt of it. But our new Labour Government will deliver the change the North East deserves to see, and our Mayor of the North East is already demonstrating this.

Kim Mcguinness, our North East Mayor, announced this week that she will establish a Child Poverty Reduction Unit, which will develop and drive a region-wide strategy.

The first priority of the unit will be to develop the Childcare Grant, which would help parents find or return to work and keep more of their earnings and work with the wider childcare system to develop the most effective way of tackling child poverty.

Every child deserves access to every opportunity and together we will eradicate child poverty in the North East.

Our Labour Government has a mountain to climb, but will work harder than ever to ensure that our children’s education is protected and accessible for all students.

I will continue to work hard with our new Government to deliver for the children of this region, the children who were cheated out of months of education during the Covid-19 pandemic, and tossed aside by previous Tory Governments.

If anyone is having issues with the costs of uniforms or anything else please do get in contact with my office to see what I can do to help [email protected]

Our North East communities have sent a message to the racists and fascists that they are not welcome in the UK.

There is no excuse for the violence and hatred we saw in Sunderland and elsewhere over the last few weeks, those purporting to riot in the name of Bede, Alice and Elsie should be ashamed of themselves.

Of course for some, it was just an excuse for violence and looting, I’m pleased to see Northumbria Police take a clear lead with prosecutions already taking place and increased numbers of uniformed officers out and about in our communities.

It is disturbing to see young kids on the streets chanting racist slogans, calling people names, and worrying that some parents think it’s OK to indoctrinate their kids this way. We have seen reports of a 13-year-old girl being charged this week for threatening unlawful violence.

These are not legitimate protests, it’s far right thuggery, with people making Nazi salutes and attacking the police. Children should be protected from this, not exposed to it, taken to riot, to commit violence and neglected by exposing them to the risk of being injured and harmed themselves by other rioters.

We must be clear that when some politicians have used hateful language against migrants, Muslims and LGBTQ+ communities, it has a huge impact in othering people and dividing communities – this has been happening for decades now and too many people are taken in by this hatred and fall for the divide and rule tactics.

Decades of cuts to services, falling living standards and a cost of living crisis has left people desperate and angry – and the far right and some mainstream politicians exploit that anger driving people to hate.

We see a rise in far-right populism across Europe using this playbook.

Yet what is inspiring is the fight back against this hope and despair – it has been heartening to see so many come together in unity against this far right aggression, with thousands gathering peacefully in Newcastle, with chants and signs all showing the real communities across the North East.

Workers of all races, religions and sexual orientation have more in common than those who seek to exploit us.

I’m proud of our North East communities and of everyone across the country who has stood up to racism, islamophobia and division – as one of the signs in Newcastle said Divvent be racist, fascists gan hyem.

It’s only been three weeks since a new Labour Government was elected and what is overwhelmingly clear is the extent of disaster created by the Tories is worse than we thought.

Our new Government has inherited a £20 billion black hole in its accounts created by the Tories’ fiscal mismanagement. We will not be able to fix everything overnight but we have made a start and there has already been many positive changes to deliver the change that the people of this country have been crying out for.

This week I voted for our first piece of legislation, The Passenger Railway Service (Public Ownership) Bill, our first step towards nationalisation.

After decades of failures from privatisation and incompetence our railways are broken, the reform of our railways is an issue that I am extremely passionate about, transport in the North is regularly raised by businesses and constituents from bus networks to rail. It is a priority for me and our region.

As co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the North East, we heard transport is the number one priority for the North East, our next meeting as soon as recess is over in September will continue to speak up for our region’s economy and the challenges our constituents face on a daily basis such as transport.

This week I also voted for the King’s Speech. This will be our pathway to fix the country, as well as this we have already announced a breakthrough in negotiations with Junior Doctors, offered teachers a well-deserved pay award, stopped non-essential spending on external consultants and the closure of tax loopholes and clamp down on tax avoidance.

Additionally, Labour has already begun the search for a Covid corruption Commissioner to recover the money owed to the British public, lost through fraud, we want the money the Tories gave away back and we won’t leave any stone unturned to trace it.

Whilst the new government will work tirelessly to ensure they can deliver from day one, it is important that we also understand the scale of the challenge and allow us the opportunity to put things in place.Locally I am carrying on with our surgeries over summer and street surgeries from September, bringing me and my office to your doorstep – and look out for my leaflet coming through your door this summer.

You can always email me at [email protected]