Rushanara Ali

On Tuesday 10 September the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Rights of Rohingya launched its new report - report “A New Shape of Catastrophe”: Two years on from the 2017 Rohingya Crisis.

Rushanara Ali MP has supported a campaign calling for funding to continue the National School Breakfast programme. Rushanara, along with 35 MPs from across the House of Commons wrote to the Minister for Children and Families, Nadhim Zahawi, highlighting the positive impact of the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) and urged the minister for continued funding, to ensure this vital programme can continue the fantastic work it does. The National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP), delivered by the charities Family Action and Magic Breakfast,  reaches over 1,775 schools in disadvantaged areas across England and provides free and nutritious breakfasts to an estimated 280,000 children every school day, 115 000 of whom are eligible for Pupil Premium funding. In Bethnal Green and Bow, the NSBP provides free school breakfasts across six different schools.  

On 26 June Rushanara Ali MP met constituents in Westminster at The Time Is Now environment and climate lobby. The protest was one of the largest environmental campaigns with an estimated 12,000 people demanding urgent action from MPs on the natural environment and climate change.     

Two years ago, 72 people needlessly lost their lives in the Grenfell disaster. On 10 June 2019, Parliamentarians joined survivors and campaigners to remember those who lost their lives in the horrific tragedy. On 6 June MP’s debated the response to the Grenfell tower fire. Speaking in the debate, Rushanara Ali MP pressed the Government to fund the removal of all dangerous cladding on all buildings, irrespective of their height or purpose. On 29 April, Rushanara held an adjournment debate in support of the campaign organised by Inside Housing, UK Cladding Action Group and Grenfell United, on funding for privately-owned high-rise blocks with dangerous cladding on behalf of her constituents and residents across the country who are leaseholders. Rushanara urged the Government to legislate and make a funding commitment for repairs so that freeholders pay and cannot pass on the bills of thousands of pounds to leaseholders. Rushanara’s debate was featured in Politics Home, The Evening Standard, Inside Housing, 24 Housing and Housing Today.  Following pressure from campaigners and parliamentarians, the Government finally allocated £200 million to remove dangerous ACM cladding from social housing and private tower blocks. Commenting on the announcement, Rushanara Ali MP said: “This is a step in the right direction, however, this funding does not go far enough. It only funds the removal of ACM cladding, meaning that the 1,700 high-rise or high-risk buildings with other forms of dangerous cladding are not protected. It is sickening that two years on, the Government has failed to replace all dangerous cladding from high-rise blocks.”

On 6 June, there was a debate on mortgage prisoners and vulture funds. In 2016, the Government sold off £13 billion worth of Northern Rock mortgages to Landmark mortgages, owned by the US equity company Cerberus. According to a BBC Panorama programme, the US firm misled Ministers and officials on mortgages. Our Government believed an undertaking that these people would have access to mortgages and competitive rates of interest Inactive lenders, such as Cerberus and even the Government firm UKAR, are not authorised to offer new mortgage products to their customers who are stuck with high interest rates. There are 150,000 people in the UK currently trapped in this predicament, on standard variable rates at 5%, whilst their friends and neighbours can access a market where interest rates are much lower. Rushanara Ali MP called on the Government to ensure that the Financial Conduct Authority takes meaningful action to protect the 150,000 mortgage prisoners currently trapped in high rates.  

On 15 May 2019, there was a debate on serious violence following reports that both violent crime and knife crime offences have reached record levels. In 2017/18, 285 people were killed by knives and other sharp instruments. This is at the same time as significant cuts to the police service, with a reduction of over 21,000 police officers nationally since 2010, and funding for crime prevention programmes being slashed in half. Efforts to address the root causes of crime have been thwarted by the punishing cuts in youth services and early intervention. The £3 billion reduction in local authority children’s services funding has led to the loss of 3,600 youth workers since 2010.    

On 14 May 2019, MPs debated the recent cuts to the Public Health Grant in the House of Commons. Rushanara Ali MP urged the Government to provide funding and resources to tackle the UK’s public health emergency, instead of issuing catastrophic cuts. The Public Health Grant is expected to see a £700 million reduction between 2014/15 and 2019/20—a fall of almost a quarter per person. This will see cuts to vital services such as – children’s services, sexual health, alcohol and substance misuse, stop smoking services and others.