It's been a busy month, with a lot of long days, hard work and some moving visits throughout the country.

At the beginning of February I travelled to Coventry to attend the National Holocaust Memorial Day event.

I opened and closed the topical debate on Holocaust Memorial Day in the House of Commons

I also signed the Holocaust Educational Trust Book of Commitment – You can see a photograph of me doing this HERE

I opened and closed, on the floor of the House of Commons, a topical debate on Holocaust Memorial Day. You can read the text of the debate HERE

We also saw, last month the first ever Transition Town Tooting Earth Walk – TTT is an excellent initiative involving all the various faith communities in Tooting, and is a fantastic and inclusive idea. 

I have held my regular drop-in surgeries at Earlsfield Library and Balham Community Centre, as well as surgeries in my office on Trinity Road. You can find out details of when my surgeries are by clicking HERE

The Humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka continues to get worse. As well as meeting Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell MP to express my concerns and ask for further action, I have also been meeting with members of the local community and community leaders involved in humanitarian work in Sri Lanka.

I have attended two separate meetings. The first meeting organised by a neighbouring MP, Siobhan McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, in the House of Commons. I also organised a public meeting in the Sivayagum Temple in Tooting where Robert Evans MEP, Siobhan McDonagh MP, Councillor Andy Gibbons and I spoke and took questions from members of the 400+ audience who attended.

You can see a photograph of us on the platform by clicking HERE.

You can see some of what our government is doing by clicking HERE

I have held my regular meetings with St George’s Hospital to discuss issues raised by local constituents and staff. There are still concerns around the maternity unit – which I continue to raise with the hospital, who are seeking to address the problems.

I also met with Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to discuss with him his announcement of free theatre tickets for those under the age of 26 as part of 'A Night Less Ordinary' programme. I am extremely pleased that local theatres such as the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, Tara Arts in Earlsfield and Battersea Arts Centre are all involved in the programme.

With Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, who has announced free theatre tickets for under-26s

I was extremely pleased to co-host the first ever inter-parliamentary conference combating anti-semitism, which took place in London over 3 days last month. More than 140 parliamentarians from 45 countries attended the conference, which led to the historic ‘London Declaration’. You can get further details of the London Declaration by clicking HERE

You can see a photograph of me meeting the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sachs, by clicking HERE

I also had one of my regular meetings with the Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Stuart Lowe, to discuss policing issues, and attended the Tooting Ward Report Back meeting with Councillor Nick Bowes, and other ward councillors.

We met with local residents to discuss their issues and concerns. The biggest issue by far was the state of Tooting Town Centre – you can see a copy of my letter that was recently printed in the Local Guardian by clicking HERE

On the subject of town centres, I have also been in touch with Marks and Spencers to express my dismay at their decision to make compulsorily redundant, all their staff at their Balham store, which is closing down, rather than looking for volunteers for redundancies in neighbouring stores, which should have meant no need for compulsory redundancies.