Supporting residents of Barton house

17 Nov 2023

The recent decision by Bristol City Council to decant Barton House has left residents anxious and in an awful situation. I and my office are in close contact with the council and will do everything we can to assist residents. I’m grateful to council officers, local community groups and people…

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Bristol’s families face annual mortgage payment increase under the Conservatives

23 Jun 2023

The Tory mortgage penalty is devastating for family finances in Bristol. Analysis from the Labour Party shows that mortgages are predicted to rise by £4,000 in Bristol West[1]. This will have a huge impact on families already struggling due to high inflation. It also shows that 9,700 families in Bristol…

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Cladding scandal STILL causing spiralling costs for Bristolians in high rise homes

01 Feb 2023

The cladding scandal may not be in the headlines anymore, but people in Bristol are still being hit with eye-watering bills for fire safety problems they did not cause.  Several tower blocks in my constituency of Bristol West are still waiting for government funding to fix the dangerous cladding, years…

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Building Safety Bill: Some progress but many missed opportunities

20 Jan 2022

There is still no end in sight to the ‘cladding scandal’, despite new laws going through Parliament intended to fix fire safety problems. Yesterday, we MPs voted on the Building Safety Bill, legislation that was supposed to resolve fire safety problems that have caused years of misery, high costs and…

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Labour pushes government another step towards fixing the cladding crisis

11 Jan 2022

I was pleased to hear the latest announcement from the government promise to protect more leaseholders from the costs of dangerous cladding and other fire safety problems. This is long overdue. From my work as Shadow Housing Secretary, until May 2021, and in my ongoing campaigning in Bristol, I have…

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My highlights from 2021

22 Dec 2021

I know it’s been a tough year for everyone – and I’m always going to do my best to help, campaign, and be a voice in parliament for all of you, in good times and bad. To update you on what I’m doing as your MP, here is my round-up…

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Mapping the cladding crisis in Bristol West

24 Nov 2021

The cladding crisis may be out of the headlines, but it is far from over. I recently shared a survey with Bristol West residents which has shown just how widespread and chaotic this crisis has become. I wrote about some of the findings for Bristol247. As Shadow Housing Secretary until…

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Are you affected by the cladding scandal? I need your help

29 Oct 2021

If you live in Bristol West, and have been affected by the dangerous cladding scandal, I need your help. More than four years after the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster, thousands of people are still tangled in the increasingly complex scandal involving dangerous cladding and other fire safety defects in medium-…

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Labour sets out a great future. How would it change Bristol?

29 Sep 2021

In his passionate and eloquent speech at Labour Conference today, Labour leader Keir Starmer showed the country who he is and set out what Labour will do when in government. This bold set of commitments will deal with the rolling crises caused by the last 11 years of Tory rule.…

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The Building Safety Bill: Another broken promise for thousands living in dangerous flats

23 Jul 2021

I have been following the debate around dangerous cladding and building safety for some time, both as a constituency MP with many people in Bristol West affected, and from April 2020 until a few months ago when I was leading for Labour on this national scandal as Shadow Housing Secretary.…

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Dangerous cladding: Labour pushes for Tories to keep their promises

29 Jun 2021

It is now more than four years since the Grenfell Tower disaster. Over those four years, the government has procrastinated, dodged responsibility and changed direction. As a result, the cladding crisis has ballooned to affect a huge number of people.  This week Labour is once again bringing this matter to a parliamentary debate. Labour MPs will be pushing…

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Where is the Prime Minister’s plan for social care?

21 May 2021

Where is the Prime Minister’s plan for social care? Dementia sufferers, their carers and families are desperate after an appalling year. I put this to the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees-Mogg. In response to my question, the promised the plan would come this year. I’ll hold him to this.…

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Dangerous cladding: After the Fire Safety Bill, where do we go from here?

30 Apr 2021

I am bitterly disappointed that the Government has passed the Fire Safety Bill with no protection for leaseholders, who are facing ruinous bills to fix dangerous cladding. But please be assured: this fight is not over. For the last four years, Labour has been urging the Government to move further…

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Homes still being built with dangerous cladding, four years after Grenfell

19 Apr 2021

This is incredible. It has emerged that homes are still being built with flammable insulation, at the same time as leaseholders are being forced to pay to have it removed. Almost four years after the Grenfell Tower disaster, the government has learnt nothing. Today in Parliament, my colleagues and I…

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Rough sleepers should be helped, not punished

15 Apr 2021

The next Labour Government will repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824, which criminalises rough sleeping, as I explained in a debate in Parliament yesterday. There are often genuine reasons why rough sleepers cannot use any shelter that is available and we must support them. Over the last ten years, wages have…

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Housing is in crisis – so why does the budget ignore it?

05 Mar 2021

Here’s my test for the budget announced on Wednesday – does it respond to the most urgent problems in housing right now? In my view, it completely fails to address – or even acknowledge – the most urgent housing issues facing this country. It makes the housing affordability crisis worse…

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Why should building safety force some leaseholders into debt?

22 Feb 2021

There are still thousands of buildings wrapped in dangerous cladding in Bristol, and across the UK. The government’s response to this crisis has so far been appalling. If your building has these fire risks and is below 18m tall, you will be forced into debt for a problem you did…

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Dangerous cladding: This crisis has dragged on far too long

05 Feb 2021

As Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, I am extremely concerned about about the remediation of unsafe cladding on residential blocks and the impact this is having on leaseholders. I have heard terrible accounts from people all over the country about how this situation is affecting them (I’ve written about…

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The cladding crisis – a human tragedy

04 Feb 2021

For those unaffected by the cladding scandal, it may be difficult to understand the different ways this is weighing on people’s lives. So I thought I would go through my inbox and look at a few worrying cases. There are heart breaking stories of people’s lives on hold, including emails…

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Housing, homelessness and the new variant of COVID-19

04 Jan 2021

I sent this letter to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick before Christmas. I am yet to receive a response – to this or my previous letters. With evictions restarting next week and many homeless hostels unable to open fully, we urgently need answers to these questions.

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Efficient housing can drive a green economic recovery

07 Dec 2020

Last month Labour launched a report on a green economic recovery for the UK (for housing proposals see p.14-16), showing how we intend to recover from the current economic crisis by investing in green jobs and technologies. Replacing windows, lagging lofts and insulating walls are all labour intensive, semi-skilled tasks.…

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