So many parents and carers to talk to today at Michael Faraday primary school on the Aylesbury Estate in Peckham. Lots of support for Labour and wanting to see an end to this Tory Government. Thanks to local Councillors Lorraine Lauder and Paul Fleming for joining me.

I joined local residents for the annual St Georges Day Fayre at Ilderton Primary School in Bermondsey today. This year is their 10th anniversary! Thank you to Pat Hickson, Chair of the local tenants association on the Bonamy Estate, for her work in organising the event over the last 10 years. 

It was great to meet up with parents, pupils, staff and Head Teacher Richard Dax at Comber Grove Primary school today.

Working grandparents could share parents’ unpaid parental leave under a consultation to be launched today (Wednesday) by Harriet Harman, Labour’s Deputy Leader.

The move would allow a grandparent to take time off work to help look after a grandchild without fear of losing their job, and is further evidence of Labour’s commitment to support working families.

Labour’s Women’s Manifesto, launched today in London, recognises the vital role that grandparents play in looking after their grandchildren when parents are at work.

More than half of all mothers rely on grandparents for childcare when they first go back to work after maternity leave, while two-thirds of grandparents with grandchildren aged under 16 provide some childcare (i).

Recent polling by YouGov showed that 84 per cent of British women aged 50-70 thought looking after grandchildren on a regular basis has a positive impact (ii).

However public policy hasn’t kept up with the reality of families’ lives:

With 1.9 million grandparents giving up a job, reducing their hours, or taking time off work to look after their grandchildren[iii].

To help grandparents help their families and stay in their jobs, Labour will consult on what flexibilities would make the system work better for families and businesses given changing patterns of care, including the option of allowing grandparents who want to be more involved in caring for their grandchildren to share in parents’ unpaid parental leave.

Harriet Harman, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party said:

“There have been many ways in which family life has changed, but public policy remains rooted in the past. This was evident in conversations I had across the country as part of the work of the Older Women’s Commission.

“Labour has a better plan for working families. The sharing of parental leave with grandparents could give families more flexibility by recognising the important role that grandparents play.”

Chuka Umunna, Shadow Secretary of State for business said

“Many companies recognise the benefits of flexible working to retain valued employees with caring responsibilities, and some are already recognising the pressures on grandparents. But the system is outdated. We need to look at how to make parental leave more flexible so that it works better for families and businesses.”

Ends

Notes to Editors

Parental Leave

Currently parents can claim 18 weeks unpaid parental leave, or four weeks in any given year, for each child and adopted child, up to their 18th birthday [iv]. The stated aim of this unpaid leave is to support family life, while protecting parents’ employment rights. But at the moment you have to be a parent or to have legal parental responsibility to access this.

A Better Plan for Women’s Equality:

Today’s manifesto outlines Labour’s substantial offer to women and hardworking families:

·         Increasing the minimum wage to more than £8 by October 2019.

·         Tackling the gender pay gap with new pay transparency rules for all large employers.

·         Extending free childcare from 15 to 25 hours a week for working parents of three and four-year-olds.

·         Guaranteed access for parents of primary-age children to 8am-6pm wraparound childcare through primary schools.

·         Protecting the Sure Start budget and opening up an additional 50,000 childcare places.

·         Doubling paid paternity leave, and increasing pay to the equivalent of a full weeks work at the National Minimum Wage so that more families can take up their entitlements.

·         Supporting healthy relationships by introducing age-appropriate compulsory sex and relationship education.

·         Tackle violence against women and girls by appointing a new commissioner to enforce national standards on tackling domestic and sexual abuse, strengthening the law and providing more stable central funding for women’s refuges and Rape Crisis Centres.

[i] Wellard (2011) Doing it all? Grandparents, childcare and employment: An analysis of British Social Attitudes Survey Data from 1998 and 2009, London: Grandparents Plus

[ii] YouGov polling Older Women’s Commission. figure from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1,089 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 5th - 11th February 2015.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB women aged 50-70.

[iii] Family and Childcare Trust, Grandparents Plus and Save the Children, Time to Care: Generation generosity under pressure

[IV] https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/overview

Lots of important issues raised at the Brandon Baptist Church Hustings on the Wyndham and Comber Estate in Camberwell tonight - from international development to housing and support for carers. Thanks to Reverend Steve Calder and Tim Watkins-Idle for organizing it.

Lots of support for Labour's cap on rail fares this morning at busy Denmark Hill station in Camberwell.

It was great to see such incredible passion and enthusiasm for politics shown by the young people from Kids Company who attended a packed hustings at their Kenbury Street centre in Camberwell.

Talking to parents and carers at the school gate at Crawford Primary school in Camberwell about Labour's pledge to provide 25 hours free childcare.

It was a packed audience for the Ivanhoe Residents Association hustings at the Albrighton Community Centre on East Dulwich Estate. Thanks to Michael Rook (Chair) and Alex Zdan (Secretary) for organising it.

It was great to see so much support for Labour's small business policy in Rye Lane and Bellenden Road on Sunday. 

The Northern regional TUC holds a biannual conference which takes place over two days. This year the conference took place in Newcastle and was attended by over 250 people including trade union members, councillors, MEPs, elected mayors, MPs and candidates from across the North East. I spoke about how the region has borne the brunt of the Coalitions unfairness. As a result of their policies there are 28,000 people on zero-hours contracts and 35,973 people affected by the bedroom tax in the North East whilst the regions childcare costs have risen 53% since 2010. The Labour Party in contrast has put forward a positive vision for the country, not just for the few but the many and all across the country. 

Today I traveled north to support Labour's campaign to win Stockton South constituency on Saturday.

I joined Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Louise Baldock on Stockon High Street on the latest stop-off for the “Woman to Woman” campaign, the party’s biggest ever women’s campaign, reaching out to women across the country ahead of May’s General Election.

Statistics published in January showed that 390,000 women in the North East did not vote in 2010 and they could have a crucial role in this election.

Women in the North East are earning £18 a week less than in 2010 when you factor in the cost of living. In addition nearly 30% of women in the North East earn less than the living wage, making it one of the worst areas in the country for women's pay.​

Photo: Ian Watts

In my role as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport I took part in the Culture Debate, which was organised by the Creative Industries Federation and held at the Royal Opera House.  At this event, representatives from Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Green Party to set out their cultural offer ahead of the General Election, which is being held on May 7^th.

Audience members were able to ask the panel questions about different aspects of arts and culture policy.  Questions ranged from access to the arts, funding, visas, education and finance for small businesses.

Labour will guarantee a universal entitlement to a creative education for every child.  And we will create a Prime Minister’s Committee on the Arts, Culture and Creative Industries with a membership drawn from all sectors and regions.  The Committee will draw issues of concern direct to the Prime Minister.

You can watch the debate on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb4ZvpHSpxE&feature=youtu.be  

Local elections will take place in 279 local authorities in England on May 7^th with approximately 30 million people having the opportunity to vote for councillors in their areas. Today Labour launched its local election campaign at the Old Tetley Brewery in Leeds.   Together with Shadow Cabinet colleagues Hilary Benn, Chuka Umuna, Chris Leslie and Michael Dugher along with Labour local government leaders, we signed a covenant to deliver a new devolution deal for England in the first year of a Labour government. By giving back an unprecedented £30 billion of funding from Whitehall over five years, Labour will enable the creation of economic powerhouses in every region, backed by new freedoms. 

Today Andrew Pakes, Labour Candidate for Milton Keynes South launched his General Election Campaign at the Venue Theatre at Walton High. The event was attended by members and supporters from across the constituency including Milton Keyes North Candidate Emily Darlington as and Councillor Pete Marland, Leader of Milton Keynes Council. Andrew Pakes would be a great asset in Parliament to the Labour Party but also to Milton Keynes – standing up for the people of his home town. He would be the first MP for Milton Keynes who grew up in in the borough.

I spoke about the importance of this General Election. Since the Tory-Lib Dem Government came into power 5 years ago people are £1600 worse off. We need Labour in Government so we can address the concerns of people in the Milton Keynes and make real difference to their lives – including on childcare, on jobs, on energy prices and protecting the NHS. 

On our second stop in the West Midlands, the Woman to Woman Campaign Tour was in Rugby with Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Claire Edwards. We visited Rugby Thornfield Indoor Bowling Centre, where I tried my hand at bowls and spoke to older women about what they would want from a Labour government to deliver. I then joined a great group of local members for a canvassing session in nearby Oxford Street out in support of Claire Edwards.

Today the Woman to Woman campaign pink bus tour made its way to Tamworth to support Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Carol Dean. Braving wind and hail, we took to Tamworth Town Centre to meet local women and discuss what matters to them for the coming General Election. 

Responding to the independent review commissioned by Labour on the creative industries and published today by John Woodward, Harriet Harman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said:

"Our creative industries are a huge success story at home and abroad.  They punch well above their weight in terms of international success and help put Britain on the map.

They have also grown faster than the rest of the economy in difficult times and we want to create the best conditions to allow them to continue to flourish which will help us earn our way to a better future. 

The publication of this report is timely given the growing importance of the creative industries to our economy.  I look forward to working with businesses and other stakeholders to ensure that issues such as intellectual property, skills and the regulatory environment create the right environment for the creative industries".

Chuka Umunna MP, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said:

“To build an economy where everyone can succeed and reach their aspirations, the next Labour government will back sectors like Britain’s world-leading creative industries, creating the high-skilled, better paid jobs we need to see.

“This report makes an important contribution, shining a spotlight on the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital economy and on how Britain can best compete in a time of ever-greater global competition. It rightly emphasises the need to support and harness the innovation of Britain’s creative industries and ensure they can flourish and grow.”

John Woodward, investment director and MD at Arts Alliance Ltd and former CEO of the UK Film Council said:

"The UK's creative industries lead the world in terms of innovation creativity, skills and talent. This Review aims to address the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

It sought opinions and views from a wide range of stakeholders to help set out a clear agenda for an incoming Labour government to promote business growth and encourage investment in this important sector of our economy.

Crucially the review also emphasises the importance of strong public funding and policies for the arts. This is important for any civilised society.

It's a fact, long term public sector investment in culture has nurtured and inspired the talent that leads our creative industries, and only makes adequate public funding even more of a priority.

The Review also addresses the increasing globalisation of our creative industries, the challenges of raising business growth finance, the emerging gap between the terrific London success story in the creative industries and the rest of the UK, and the importance of skills and education in securing success in the future."​ 

A copy of the report can be found here.

The recent problems at London Bridge station have caused mayhem for thousands of passengers travelling between South and Central London. The massive works to upgrade the station as part of the Thameslink project have caused severe overcrowding and extreme delays during rush hour with some passengers having to crawl or jump over ticket barriers to avoid the crush. And people have been left jostling on narrow platforms as they despair about ever getting to or from work and home on time.

Twitter has been seething with protests:

“drivers unaware of destinations – often change mid journey, cancelled trains via Peckham Rye every day, late to work/home EVERY day”

“moving away from Peckham next week as can’t bear the stress of constantly late to work/late home anymore”

“a 7 min trip from queens rd Peckham to london Br takes 20-30 mins every day. Trains constantly delayed and cancelled”

“doing 2 hours unpaid overtime rather than face the train chaos #LondonBridge”

“another day of lon bridge chaos. Pregnant and dealing with delays & canxs. When will this end?”

Together with other South London MP’s, Tessa Jowell, Sadiq Khan, Jim Dowd, I and London Assembly Member Val Shawcross met Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport, to urge him to take direct control of the situation. As Secretary of State he should call this in and take day to day responsibility. Network Rail and the train operators have passed the buck between themselves and they need to be brought in to have their heads banged together. It’s a daily nightmare for passengers - it should be a daily responsibility for the Secretary of State.

And we urged him to sort out the compensation. People have not got the service they've paid for. Many people have had higher costs as they've had to pay for alternative travel or more hours of childcare from being late home. The compensation scheme is complex and inadequate and designed to deter passengers from claiming. If the service is 50% down on what it should have been, then a season ticket holder should automatically get a 50% refund for the lack of service, as well as additional compensation for the stress and extra expense.

The massive upgrading of London Bridge station is a good thing. We will have a great new station in 2018. But passengers shouldn't have to put up with this. Let alone for a further 18 months of chaos while the works continue. People pay for and rightly expect a decent train service. Only when it’s dealt with at the highest level of government will there be any chance of the problems being resolved sooner rather than later.

As part of Labour’s ‘Woman to Woman’ tour the pink bus made its way to Carlisle today to meet with Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Lee Sherriff.

We talked to local residents in Carlisle’s Green Market about the issues that will be a priority for them at the General Election in May and asked women to come and share their ideas. We then headed down to Harraby ward to join local council candidate, Jo Williams for a campaigning session. The final stop was at Harraby Community Centre, where Lee Sherriff and I held a discussion with local mothers and representatives of local women’s groups about what matters to them ahead of the General Election in May, including childcare, accessing health services and jobs in Carlisle.