Newsletter - June 2026

THE NATIONAL PICTURE

Following the English council, Scottish Assembly and Welsh Senedd elections, I joined over 100 Labour MPs in a letter to Keir Starmer saying he should remain as Prime Minister. The election results were clearly poor for the Labour Party, and I felt that our party needs to listen and take serious efforts to fix the problems behind these poor results. 

But I felt it was not the right time to change Prime Minister because the events in Iran, the war in Ukraine and the global economic crisis require a strong and tested PM. It is frustrating that even as the government is delivering on our values and manifesto commitments, the messages people hear through mainstream news, and increasingly on social media, are not “landing” judging by conversations I had on the doorsteps over weeks of the Council election campaign.  Whether that is the need for our national press to deliver only sensational news, or that it’s more difficult for a party in power to compete against simple distorted messaged arriving via mainly unregulated social media, remains to be seen.  

Anyway, at the time of writing it looks as though there will be a change of party leader sooner rather than later; partly determined by what happens in the Makerfield by-election on 18th June.  Meanwhile, I believe that the focus should be to continue with the important work that the Labour Government has been undertaking; getting our frontline public services back on their feet, investing in clean and green homegrown energy and tackling the scourge of child poverty; and also to improve how people hear about them.

Under Keir’s leadership we have seen the Government lift the two-child limit, introduce free breakfast clubs across England, put police officers back on the street, take our railways back into public ownership, cut waiting times for NHS appointments, and so much more.

I have known Keir since we both entered Parliament in 2015 and I know that he is a man of integrity and decency. We live in difficult and turbulent times, and I am thankful that Keir has been the one in the chair making decisions, meeting with world leaders and working to tackle the big challenges that our country faces.

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MY WESTMINSTER NEWS

Insight Day:  I welcomed 30 local sixth formers to Parliament during their half term to enable them to learn about the varied role of an MP, a London Assembly member and a party organiser as well as given them a taste of how each of us came into politics.  We also ran a workshop to let them tell me and my team the top issues that mattered to them, and how could I better communicate with young people locally.

Essay Day: I wrote for LabourList about why I disagreed with Tony Blair’s latest essay about the climate crisis. I supported a lot of the work that Tony’s Government did for West London, but I believe his essay failed to address the challenge of the climate crisis and ignored the failure by successive Governments to build enough council housing. You can read my article here

IN THE CHAMBER

In May, the first parliamentary term came to an end and a new one was brought in with the State Opening of Parliament, when King Charles announced the government’s plans for the forthcoming Parliament. 

In the subsequent debate, I used my speech to both address transport issues (see my Transport Committee section in this newsletter) and to welcome changes that will benefit my constituents:

·         The Commonhold & Leasehold Reform bill means that all new flats for sale will be commonhold, as well as real change for existing leaseholders including a £250 cap on ground rents, an easier process to convert to commonhold, making it cheaper & easier for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold jointly, the repeal of the archaic forfeiture laws and make Service charges more transparent and easier to challenge.

·         Votes for 16- and 17-year-olds introduced in the Representation of the People Bill

·         The Social Housing Renewal Bill will benefit those who will never be able to buy

·         The commitment to closer ties to the EU.

LETTERS 

I've long supported electoral reform and I believe that we need to change our electoral system to make it fairer and more proportionate. That's why I've signed an amendment to the new Representation of the People Bill calling for a national commission to review the need for electoral reform. I wrote about why I support a national commission for the Hounslow Herald - you can read it here.

I have also written to the Paymaster General Nick Thomas Symonds about the Infected Blood Scandal. I know of at least two constituents who were impacted by this injustice, where individuals were given ‘contaminated’ blood products in the 1980s which resulted in individuals going on to develop HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis.

After a serious flood in a large residential block of flats in Isleworth, I joined Cllr Tony Louki and wrote to the managing agent to raise my serious concerns about both the immediate response, and the long-term actions needed to fix the root cause of the flooding. My team are continuing to support the residents impacted.

TRANSPORT COMMITTEE

HS2 has dominated transport news and our committee agenda in recent weeks.  We had rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy and CEO Mark Wild at a one-off session, which you can watch/read in full.  We challenged their new budget and timescale targets during the long session.  I do welcome the Lovegrove report setting out the actions the civil service and the wider public sector need to take to improve the delivery of major projects based on the mistakes of the HS2 project.  When the transport secretary announced the HS2 “reset” progress in the Chamber, I asked her what the Government are doing differently now to ensure future transport projects, do not go the same way.

We published responses from the Government on our reports on Rail investment pipelines “Boom & Bust” and on Skills in Transport Manufacturing.  I also wrote, yet again, to the roads minister about the lack of progress on driving test availability.

In the Kings Speech debate, I welcomed the action to be taken to modernise the legislation around taxi and private hire vehicles, the £45bn commitment for Northern Powerhouse Rail, and the additional enforcement powers to be given to the Civil Aviation Authority which will provide greater protection for passengers around refunds and flight cancellations.  However, I also questioned the direction of road traffic forecasting – as the proposal to enable private funding for road schemes seems to suggest either imposing tolls on existing roads to fund repairs or to build more new (toll) roads beyond the Lower Thames Crossing.

I got out of London to attend and speak at major trade conferences for the Taxis & Private Hire sector (a panel on Cross-border working); to UK Rail at a session on the Railways Bill and at Traffex on a panel discussing the Government’s Road Safety Strategy. Going to these events is a useful way to learn about key trends across the transport sectors.

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MY CONSTITUENCY NEWS

Osterley Park, owned and managed by the National Trust, is one of our amazing local parks. The team showed me round parts of the parkland that I’d not visited for many years.  Whilst they are understandably proud of the bluebells, the NT team also impressed on me the importance of restoring and protecting the natural environment nationally and ensuring access to Nature is for all.

SEND: Many constituents whose children have additional needs have written to me about the Government’s consultation on changes to the SEND system. All agree that the current system doesn’t work for children, parents or teachers. However, those who wrote to me are concerned that the promised resources to support SEND children in mainstream schools may not materialise, and that tribunals, which normally find in favour of children, will have their powers weakened. I have passed on their concerns, and those of local SEND leaders, to Bridget Philipson and her team.   Meanwhile several policy changes and resources have already been announced by the government including the £1.6bn Mainstream Fund to support inclusive education in schools.  And locally – Hounslow will be getting £27m over six years to provide 838 SEND places.

Hounslow’s Outgoing Mayor Amy Croft hosted a gathering of Councillors and local charities in the kitchen garden of Chiswick House.  It was wonderful to learn more about how local organisations who support young people, those with disabilities and older people, with the challenges they face.

Leaseholders of housing association A2D in Academy Place and 120 Wood Lane in Osterley met me and Cllr Tony Louki to tell us of the issues they are having over confusing and inflation-busing service charges, including for non-existent services, as well as poor communication from the Housing Association.  Yet another letter is going from me to yet another housing association that appears to be failing to do their job properly and serve their residents…

Brentford FC Community Sports Trust celebrated the success of the new Community Café in Gunnersbury Park, overlooking the pitches.  Trust CEO Lee Doyle (pictured) told us how it’s a place to hold a range of community activities delivering “social good” for people including those with dementia, mental health challenges as well as being a warm place to have a decent coffee while their children are at training on the pitches.  Change Please, a charity tackling homelessness, staffs the café, providing barista and kitchen training for those needing a new start in life.  Organisations supporting this great project include the Premier League, Football Foundation, the PFA, University of west London and NW London NHS, as well as Asahi (it has a license). It’s also a good venue for

events!

Boston Manor Residents Association’s AGM was a chance to catch up with residents in the area that straddles the Hounslow/Ealing border, so I attended along with Deirdre Costigan MP and local councillors. The busy agenda included the work of staff at Boston Manor House and Park, traffic speeds on Boston Manor Road and crime in local shops.

Business visits in May included to metal recycling firm EMR along Transport Avenue in Brentford.  There, a range of ferrous and non-ferrous metals are received, sorted and moved on for smelting where they play an important role in manufacturing.  It’s worth knowing that you can take a car to go to scrap there (as long as you have the correct paperwork).  EMR staff briefed me on the government’s forthcoming Steel Strategy and the consultation on the Circular Economy Growth Plan.

In Isleworth, I met the owners of SFI Logistics, a firm providing furniture distribution and installation for offices, shops and restaurants. Along with representatives of the Road Haulage Association, I learned of the impact on the sector of rising fuel costs, freight crime and the shortage of safe lorry parking (an issue we have addressed in Transport Committee).

Hounslow Council AGM: The first council meeting following the council elections was unusual as we saw the first Councillors elected on Green and Reform tickets in the borough, and the first Lib Dem Councillor for many years.  Labour’s Ranjit Gill was elected as Hounslow’s first openly gay Mayor. Meanwhile, Shantanu Rajawat was re-elected as Leader, with Tom Bruce as his deputy.  Shantanu set out the Council’s immediate priorities: expanding youth opportunities, delivering cleaner streets, introducing a free bulky waste collection and skip days. A new community enforcement team will be rolled out, and there will be local improvement funds for every local area.

Kew Bridge Station: After years of campaigning by me, Andy Slaughter MP, Hounslow Council, Brentford FC and others, the Government confirmed in January this year that enough funding will be available to make Kew Bridge station platform step-free from street level.

Cllr Katherine Dunne and I met representatives from Network Rail and Hounslow Council to discuss the plans, which will involve two lifts and two new staircases entered from Lionel Road South.  It is hoped the current staircase going down to the Brentford-bound platform will stay, but the current footbridge bridge is too old and narrow to remain.  In respect of the terrible platform-to-carriage step height at this station, Hounslow and NR are going to look at designs and funding to address it. And not before time, for the sake of all but the fittest and tallest passengers at Kew Bridge!

Eid al-Adha prayers followed by fun activities took place in Redlees park in Isleworth, and it was an honour to be asked to say a few words to the hundreds of worshippers.

School improvement fund: I am really pleased to learn that three schools in the constituency have been awarded Condition Improvement Funding from the Government.  Lampton Academy, Heston Community School and Brentford School for Girls will be able to use this to repair and revamp school buildings.

With best wishes,