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On Tuesday, I was lucky enough to have a seat in the Royal Gallery to hear an Address by Mr Kofi Annan, former General Secretary of the United Nations, to mark the Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Kofi Annan was really inspiring and moving, reminding us all of the real savagery of the slave trade and the lasting impact on many nations to this day. I am really proud that Burntwood Secondary School, from Tooting, will soon take part in the first ever display in the House of Commons to commemorate the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The exhibition in Westminster Hall will open next week. Burntwood is one of only two schools selected to work with the Parliamentary Writer in Residence, Rommie Smith, to produce work for the exhibition which is free and open to all.
On Wednesday, I made a brief contribution to a Debate on the effect of legal aid reform on black and minority ethnic solicitors. Unfortunately, the Debate was only listed for half an hour so I was only allowed to make the one contribution. You can see my contribution by clicking HERE. Some of the consequences of the latest reforms are causing real concern to local solicitors and I am continuing to see if changes can be made to minimise any disadvantages to legal aid solicitors and, more importantly, constituent clients.
In the evening I attended an Executive Committee meeting of Tooting Labour Party.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair announced that he would be stepping down as Leader of the Labour Party and will see the Queen on the 27th of June to resign as Prime Minister. It is a good time to remind ourselves of some of the achievements of the last decade. I have summarised our work on some of the key policy areas and you can read about them by clicking HERE
I spent most of Thursday morning helping the Leader of the House prepare for Business Questions.
In the afternoon, I chaired a meeting of The Access to Railways Stakeholder Group. The group consists of representatives from the rail industry and user groups and has provided a forum for them to come together and constructively discuss ways in which we can remove some of the barriers to rail travel that currently exist for older and disabled people, as well as those with luggage and small children. The group has met several times and dealt with all modes of transportation. This meeting was about access to the Tube and we were joined by a representative from London Underground’s Accessibility Assessment Team who gave a very interesting presentation about what his team were doing to make the Tube more accessible. For more information on disability access to London transport visit the website on www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/transportaccessibility
One of the things I have been keen to do over the last few weeks and months is to speak to local Health Providers (as well as patients) about the impact some of the record investment and reforms are having on those who work in the local NHS. I have been meeting GP's as part of this process and spent some time on Friday morning doing this. The feedback has been mixed and I intend to carry on doing this and making sure that changes are made to deal with the points that stakeholders are legitimately making. At the same time, I have been meeting patients to see how the changes are impacting on them. As far as patients are concerned the comments are very positive.
In the evening I attended a fundraising dinner on behalf of Muslim Youth Helpline. MYH is a free and confidential counselling service available nationally via the telephone, email, internet and a face to face befriending service in the Greater London area. The service uses male and female volunteers trained in basic counselling skills to respond to client enquiries. For more information visit their website www.myh.org.uk or for counselling call 0808 808 2008
On Saturday, I attended a May Day celebration with the Mauritius Hindu Organisation in Graveney. I was really pleased to see local Tooting-ites of Mauritian heritage, of all ages, celebrating May Day. I was particularly pleased that the Secretary of MHO did a short talk explaining the background to May Day.
On Sunday, I spent the afternoon (in between the thunderstorms) with colleagues walking around Earlsfield talking to local residents and reminding people about my local coffee morning. (More on this soon).
In the evening I was a guest of the Vanik Association of UK at the Lola Jones Suite at Tooting Leisure Centre. There was a very impressive turnout and some strong line up of speakers with Industrialists and Religious leaders from India, Muscat and the UK. It was also good to see my good friends Lord Dholakia and CB Patel from Gujarat Samachar present. The get together was a good chance to pay tribute to local activist Mr Chimanlal Shah who does so much.
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