I cannot overstate how proud I was to see the amazing celebrations across Southwark for the Platinum Jubilee.
Her Majesty’s remarkable contribution to our country across seven decades is unprecedented and I want to thank everyone who held the parties, organised the events and raised the toasts to the Queen to honour and respect her extraordinary achievement.
It has been fantastic to see the festive pictures. Over 60 local streets had permission to close for parties and there were brilliant celebrations taking place like the Bankside Open Spaces Festival, Jubilee Celebrations at The Blue, and the Big Jubilee Lunch in Elephant Park. Thank you to everyone involved!
The story of the Queen’s unsung Bermondsey hero after a failed assassination attempt
I spent Parliament’s recess walking Hadrian’s Wall from Bowness-on-Solway on the West coast right across the country to Newcastle in the East. I did this in memory of dad who died a year ago. It was a tough walk, with blisters and aches along the way, but it was nice to reflect on dad’s life, raise money for the British Heart Foundation, and see the country from coast to coast and all the Platinum Jubilee bunting along the way, ending at Wallsend for the beacon lighting next to Hadrian’s Wall itself.
It was a shame that ahead of all the long weekend’s celebrations I saw the horrific threats of violent, criminal and antisocial behaviour in Burgess Park. Sadly, a mindless minority try to take over valuable spaces which are there for our whole community, to try and run loud, drug-fuelled events which deter park users and disturb neighbours. It is disgusting and irresponsible that TikTok and other platforms allow content that encourages and even celebrates lawbreaking. I want the law tightening to ensure the police can require and not just ‘request’ content is removed from social media and will continue to seek this in Westminster.
The celebrations ended abruptly for Boris Johnson, who woke up Monday morning to find his own MPs trying to get rid of him. 148 Tory MPs voted to try and remove him: 40% of them want him gone! This is a higher percentage than voted to get rid of Theresa May or even John Major in the 1990s. No other Prime Minister has survived such deep misgivings from his own MPs – with one former Minister calling Johnson “grotesque”. He limps on wounded, harming our country with his pretence of any authority to lead.
His Government has not just been failing to address the growth in antisocial behaviour and crime; they have also ignored the cost-of-living crisis. The Chancellor was forced to return to Parliament to admit his previous mistakes and provide an emergency budget (in all but name) and windfall tax on excess energy company profits which Labour demanded months ago. But the Tories cut Universal Credit for 8,000 working constituents and the newest Tory tax hit pay packets in April with people in Southwark paying an extra £37 million more to the Treasury this year. The eye-watering truth is that we now have the highest taxes since World War II, but a Government determined to do less.
The public wants more and deserves better. After the last, shared national crisis (World War II) the UK shared in the positive legacy of the NHS and welfare state. The 2020s post-covid equivalent is a National Care Service to tackle the inadequacies of the current system so cruelly highlighted in the pandemic, recognise the workforce better and reduce pressure on informal carers so overstretched with both childcare and care for older and disabled relatives. It would be the right and fitting response to the tragedies of covid.