Thousands of Bangladeshi high school students have been protesting in Dhaka, Bangladesh following the death of two teenagers who were killed by a speeding bus on 29 July. The demonstrators have been demanding justice for the teenagers, as well as calling for stricter enforcement of traffic laws.

On Monday the 6^th August, in a column in the Daily Telegraph, Boris Johnson compared fully veiled Muslim women to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers”. Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, Rushanara Ali, strongly condemns Johnson’s divisive comments.

Remembrance services have taken place to mark the first anniversary of the Grenfell Tower disaster. During the night on 14^th June 2017, a fire broke out in the 24-story tower block and 72 people were killed.

The Hackitt Review which was published today examined the current system of building regulations and fire safety. It was commissioned by the Government following the Grenfell Tower fire.

“I am shocked and appalled by the violence that we have seen on the Israel-Gaza border and utterly condemn the Israeli government’s horrific actions that led to deaths of 59 innocent Palestinian people and thousands left with injuries. 6 of those murdered were children.

Today the End Child Poverty coalition released new statistics showing the extent of child poverty across the UK broken down by constituency, Local Authority and ward.

On Sunday 17^th December, Rushanara Ali, Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow was joined by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to officially open the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster memorial. 

Dr Mubashar Hasan, a Bangladeshi professor and policy analyst has been missing since 7pm on Tuesday 7^th November. Dr Hasan is an expert in the field of political science and has previously held a position at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and has worked as a public relations and communications specialist for Oxfam.

The iconic sculpture by Henry Moore named ‘Draped Seated Woman’ or as it is commonly known ‘Old Flo’ was unveiled on 25^th October in Cabot Square, Canary Wharf after spending 20 years out of the borough. ‘Old Flo’ had originally been displayed outside the Wickham and Ewhurst tower blocks in Stepney before being loaned to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 1997. The sculpture was nearly auctioned off in 2015 by the former Mayor of Tower Hamlets Council Lutfur Rahman. This decision was halted after a local campaign was formed called the “Save Old Flo,” chaired by Rushanara Ali MP.

On Tuesday 17^th October, Rushanara Ali, Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma called on the Government to apply greater pressure on the Burmese military and government to protect Rohingya Muslims.