Rushanara Ali MP

On Wednesday 16 January, Theresa May's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement was voted down by MPs in a landmark defeat for the Government. 

The Government lost the vote by a margin of 202 to 432, with the majority of 230 being a record defeat in the Commons in the modern political era. 

Last week, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Amber Rudd MP, announced plans to cancel the ‘two-child limit’ benefits cap for families with three or more children born before April 2017.  This U-turn comes after a cross party campaign by MPs, the Church of England and the Child Poverty Action Group. Over 100 MP’s signed a letter facilitated by Rushanara Ali MP in October, urging PM Theresa May, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond MP and the then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey MP, to reconsider the two-child limit policy.

On Thursday 20 December, Rushanara Ali MP, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma and the Rights of Rohingya, called on the Government to apply greater pressure on the Burmese military and government to protect Rohingya Muslims.  

Earlier today the police were called to an incident after three people were stabbed and injured at a health centre on St Stephen’s Road in Tower Hamlets.

On Friday 2 November, the East End lost of one its brightest radical flames. My friend Max Levitas died at the age of 103, after a long life of community service and activism. Max’s roots were in the old Jewish East End of Whitechapel and Stepney, amongst the refugees from Russia and Poland, and in the Communist Party before the war.

Rushanara Ali MP and Anne Main MP have today called on the government to end forced repatriation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The two MP’s jointly chair the cross-party parliamentary group on the rights of the Rohingya.

Yesterday, the draft Withdrawal Agreement between the UK-EU was published. On the future economic partnership, the agreement does not include a commitment to deliver frictionless trade, a permanent customs union, nor a firm mechanism to protect financial services.

Last week, Parliament held the first ever Women MPs of the World Conference in the Chamber of the House of Commons.

The conference was attended by MPs from over 80 different countries, as part of the events to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK.

Yesterday, the Chancellor, Philip Hammond published the Autumn Budget which pledged to end austerity but failed to provide sufficient funding for the NHS, policing social care and education. The statement was made against the backdrop of Brexit weakening the overall economic outlook for the UK and the growing possibility the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Over 100 Parliamentarians have signed a letter urging PM Theresa May, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Phillip Hammond MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Esther McVey MP, to reconsider the two-child limit policy.