We regard ourselves as a civilised society with a respect for human rights. And it is right that we should take extra care to support young people and those with disabilities. But the brutal truth is that we are failing to protect some of our most vulnerable children and young people - those with autism and learning disabilities. And indeed, worse than that, we are currently detaining and inflicting terrible suffering on them and causing anguish to their distraught families.

The horrific reality is that children and young adults with autism and learning disabilities are being sectioned under the mental health act and taken to specialist hospitals with poor conditions, far away from their families. They are being detained for months, or even years on end when they should be in their community. The recent Panorama programme showing the taunting and abuse of vulnerable young patients in Whorlton Hall exposed this horrific reality and it has put the inhumane treatment of people in institutions back under the spotlight, eight years on from a similar scandal at Winterbourne View hospital. 

The pathway from diagnosis to detention is tragic. What happens is this: A family grow worried about their child and raise concerns with the GP and with the child’s nursery or school. It takes ages before they get an assessment and yet more time passes before they get a diagnosis of autism. All the while, families are struggling on their own, without the appropriate help for their child.

Parents who ask for government support soon find they have to battle for it - on top of holding down a job, whilst also trying to provide a peaceful home not only for their child with autism but also for their other children. Their living situation becomes impossible.

As the child gets older, families find it harder to cope. The problems mount and the mother gives up work so she can be there for her child at all times. The family income suffers, which leads to them relying on a complex, inadequate benefit system. Families ask for extra care support, but due to austerity,  find their care package is going to be cut back. There are not enough specialist beds or local services to support the child.

As the situation worsens, parents are told that their child will have to go into hospital temporarily. Families are not being told about the proposal before it goes to the panel which makes the decision. They are not allowed to attend the panel.  Then, the child is taken miles away from their home and placed with strangers - losing the familiarity and routine which is so essential to their wellbeing.

The parents are desperately concerned. They have difficulty visiting their children. But their concerns are treated as hostile and they are seen as a problem. The child gets worse and suffers physical restraint and solitary confinement - which the institution calls ‘seclusion‘. The child gets even worse, so plans to return home are shelved. The days turn into weeks and then months. 

This is such a grim picture, yet they are the stories of families up and down country. And their experiences have come across powerfully in their evidence to the inquiry being undertaken by the parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights, which I chair. The media has exposed some of this, and we’ve had a compelling report too from the Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield.

Action is urgently needed – and the solutions are not complicated. First, there must be extra resources so that diagnosis is prompt. There must be extra funding too to support the child continuing to live with the family at home. (Institutional care is, in fact, more expensive to the public purse but it comes from the NHS rather than cash-strapped councils). Parents must be supported to continue to work. Councils’ housing policies must ensure that families with a child with autism can be appropriately housed.

The family should be recognised as the people who know the child best and care for him/her the most and must be put at the heart of the decision-making process. Residential hospital care - where it’s absolutely necessary and not just because of lack of community support - must be near the child’s home to allow the parents to visit regularly.

The parents should be asked regularly if they are happy with the care their child is getting and any concerns immediately acted on. There should be proper complaints procedures which can be anonymous. And there remains a major question mark over the Care Quality Commission, the regulator of this provision. It had certified Whorlton Hall as ‘good’. In doing so it provided parents with false reassurance and helped shield their children’s abusers. A regulator which gets it wrong is worse than no regulator at all.

Our country is prosperous and values human rights. We cannot turn away from the suffering of these children and their families. It’s time to act.

This article originally appeared in the Fabian Society Review, July 2019. 

2 women a week are killed by their current or former partner in the UK. And domestic abuse affects 2 million people - mostly women - every year.

Over the years I’ve been MP I’ve supported women and children in Camberwell and Peckham who’ve suffered this terrible violence. I’ve heard their devastating stories and made their voices heard in Parliament.

Women suffering domestic abuse need to know how they can get help and a safe space.  Refuges provided by councils and charities are vital places of safety for women fleeing violent homes. Refuges save lives.

Yet victims of domestic abuse face a dangerous postcode lottery of access to refuges because of deep government cuts to local council funding.

I asked every local authority how much they had spent on domestic violence refuges since 2010. What I found was shocking. At least 34 refuges have been forced to close their doors since 2010 because of cuts. Every council in London has been forced to cut spending on refuges since 2010.

Locally Southwark Council has worked hard with Solace Womens Aid to prioritise and protect vital DV support services. And last year Southwark was the first council housing service in the country to receive accreditation by the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance. 

But despite their best efforts because the council has faced cuts of almost half of their total budget since 2010, they have had to cut services.  

After years of struggle to improve domestic violence services, with refuges living hand to mouth, the publication of the Domestic Abuse Bill this week represents a historic opportunity to put refuges on a sustainable footing and ensure victims can get the support they need wherever they live.

There are many welcome measures in the Bill - it creates a wider definition of domestic abuse, it establishes a domestic abuse commissioner to champion victims and survivors, it will end the cross-examination of victims by their abusers in the family courts, it gives new powers to courts and places new duties on councils, and extends protection to women in Northern Ireland.

Refuges save lives and they need to be on a secure footing. I am urging the Government to set aside a percentage of gross national income to safeguard refuge funding and end the hand-to-mouth existence of these vital places of safety. Southwark Council and over 40 councils are backing this.

The important thing is to establish the principle - the money would be a tiny percentage of government spending overall but be hugely important for women and children fleeing violence.

The Prime Minister will be gone next week and there is no time to turn the Bill into law before the new Prime Minister takes over. Boris Johnson has not been what you might call a champion of the cause of tackling domestic violence. I am urging the new Prime Minister to commit to taking this Bill forward, properly funded.

Most of us are starting to change what we can day to day to minimise the harm we inflict on the planet and tackle climate change, whether it’s stopping using plastic carrier bags and disposable coffee cups, doing more recycling, using less water, driving less, or cutting down on our food waste.

Hundreds of Southwark people have contacted me about this and I’ve been so encouraged by the thousands of young people who’ve taken to the streets over the past few months to protest and demand government action on the climate crisis.

Southwark Council were one of the first councils to declare a climate emergency and this month they hosted their first Climate Change Summit, bringing together local residents, NGOs like Greenpeace and central government officials to develop a plan to ensure by 2030 Southwark achieves ‘carbon neutrality’ which means we are removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as we’re putting in.

But the good work of individuals, charities and Southwark Council will never be enough. It needs government action.

The science shows that unless governments back up local work and take strong action on climate change within the next 12 years, it will be too late.

The consequences of unchecked climate change would be catastrophic.  It's already a reality for millions of people around the world – with more wildfires, longer droughts and intense tropical storms. And it is the poorest and most vulnerable people who are always hit hardest. Climate change is forcing increasing numbers of people to abandon their homes and farms and become climate refugees. Last year, climate change displaced 16.1 million people. It is estimated that, by 2050, between 150 to 200 million people are at risk of being forced to leave their homes because of droughts, rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions.

Our government urgently needs to play its part in leading action against climate change. Everything the Government and Parliament does must be judged by whether we are making progress on reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions.

Labour has been leading the fight against climate change in Parliament. In May this year we voted to make the UK Parliament the first in the world to declare an “environment and climate emergency”.

But in the 2 months since then the Government has not taken any decisive action.

The UK is still not on track to meet our targets to cut our use of harmful coal and gas by 2030. 

The Government must use all their powers to achieve this – by increasing the use of clean energy sources such as wind and solar power, stopping big supermarkets using low grade and single use plastics, investing in buses, walking and cycling to cut car use and by making bus travel free for under 25s.

The children leading the climate change school strikes have made a powerful case. They are right to be worried about the kind of planet they will inherit.

We stand in solidarity with them. Their action is a wake up call to the Government and to all of us as MPs. We can see the science. It is our responsibility now to act.

Thank you to the thousands of people in Camberwell and Peckham who have taken the time to write to me on this important issue.

I’m totally pro-Remain. I wish we’d never had a Referendum and I wish we’d never lost it. I campaigned all around the country for Remain - even going on the Remain bus with David Cameron to make the case that Labour were for Remain.

I consistently voted against the Prime Minister’s deal because I was concerned it would not protect jobs, workplace rights or environmental standards, nor ensure frictionless trade for British businesses.

MPs voted on “indicative options” for the next steps in the Brexit process after the third defeat of the Prime Minister’s deal. I voted for a Customs Union, to Revoke Article 50 and for a people’s vote:

Unfortunately none of the proposals earned a majority in the second round of "indicative votes".

I don’t think there’s any deal which is better than the one we have now as an EU member. I have great fears for a No Deal Brexit which would cause a national emergency and devastation to those on low incomes, the vulnerable and those who lose their jobs.

A people’s vote would break the logjam but I would be concerned that it must not have No Deal on the ballot paper.  

I think 3 years on from the narrowest of referendum results revoking Article 50 would certainly be better for the country than No Deal.

Please be assured I will continue to work with MPs across the House to oppose No Deal being forced on the country.

As your elected representative in Parliament, I welcome your views and comments throughout this process.

Important moment this week as the Government introduced the Domestic Abuse Bill. After years of struggle on DV. I welcome the new definition of domestic abuse, legal duty to provide DV refuges for women fleeing their homes, the new DV     Commissioner & extension of the Bill to victims in Northern Ireland. But what happens next is crucial. The Prime Minister will be gone next week. The new PM must commit to taking the Bill forward. I will be seeking amendments to increase government funding for refuges & to stop men who kill their wives or girlfriends evading murder charges by claiming ‘rough sex gone wrong’.

Everybody needs to use the internet and apps now for everything they need to do including to apply for jobs or get the benefits they are entitled to. As Chair of the Human Rights Committee I’m leading an inquiry into how we can protect people from human rights abuses as companies carry out extensive gathering of people’s personal data through their use of the internet. It is unrealistic to expect individuals to know about the risks they are taking, the risks to privacy and discrimination, and what steps companies and government should take to protect them. It cannot be down to the individual to know about this. There has to be a very strong regulatory regime. We will report later this year.

Poets Corner, Camberwell, SE5.

Thanks to Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle, Cllr Victoria Olisa & Izzie Niven, our CLP Chair!

Great to visit committed staff team led by Headteacher James Robinson, parents & children at Camelot Primary School. Congratulations on your Good Ofsted report!

Important and powerful case made by Sacred Heart students in Parliament for UK overseas aid to support communities hit by climate change, conflict & famine. I’m backing them all the way on this!

Parliamentary Select Committees are in the ascendancy, carving out a powerful new role in our Brexit-riven Parliament. Led by so-called ‘big beasts’ including Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn & Sarah Wollaston they have grown in authority. This has been an invaluable rebalancing between the Government & Parliament—in Parliament’s favour.

Moving service at St Giles Church for the 3 women & 3 young children who lost their lives in the Lakanal House fire in 2009 & for all those affected by the tragedy. Thanks to Dave Lewis, Sceaux Gardens Tenants' Association & local councillors Ian Wingfield, Radha Burgess & Jason Ochere for their support to the community.

Impossible to overstate the importance of tackling climate change. Thanks to everyone who came to Parliament to demand action!

Read my South London Press article here.

Plastic pollution is one of today’s great environmental challenges and the urgency and seriousness of the situation has never been clearer.

A recent report has shown that 14 million items of plastic such as bags, bottles, disposable cups and food wrappers are dropped or blown into UK waterways every year. I believe we need to make it more convenient for people to go plastic-free, and where we use plastic, we must ensure it is not just claimed to be recyclable but is actually recycled.

The Government has committed to working towards a target of eliminating avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042 and has consulted on several issues relating to plastics, including a tax on plastic packaging and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers.

The Government has also announced a ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. I am disappointed this announcement falls short of EU proposals to ban the ten single-use plastic products most often found on European beaches.

I am frustrated that we continue in a cycle of consultations on issues that have support right across the country, such as introducing a DRS. We must take a root-and-branch, comprehensive approach to dealing with our waste which reduces the amount created, recycles the maximum amount of waste produced and protects our environment from pollution.

The Government published its draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill in December 2018, which proposes creating a new environmental watchdog – the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

At the 2017 general election, I was elected on a manifesto that proposed establishing an Environmental Tribunal which could hold government fully to account, rather than the proposed OEP which would be accountable to the Government and not to Parliament.

While this is a step in the right direction, I am concerned the Bill’s proposals will require a clear commitment to a level of funding which the Government has previously refused to provide for our public services.

I assure you the broader Environment Bill will be carefully scrutinised when it is introduced to Parliament.

Read my recent Southwark News article demanding government action on climate change: https://www.harrietharman.org/demanding_the_government_declare_a_climate_emergency

Access to affordable, quality childcare is essential for parents to able to work and it helps children get a good start in their life.

Yet after all the progress on childcare when Labour were last in government, working parents are now finding it harder to get the childcare they need.

Under this Tory government since 2010, the cost of childcare is rising faster than people’s wages. 1,000 Sure Start children’s centres across the country have closed and many more have reduced the services they provide.  

And this is hitting hard-working parents in Southwark.  

The Government’s scheme of 30 hours free childcare a week for 3 and 4 year olds is not working. Because The Government has failed to ensure that funding keeps up with the rising costs of providing childcare for nurseries to actually deliver the extra hours of free care the Government has promised parents.

Providers are being asked to deliver more, whilst facing a real term funding cut between now and 2020. The current funding level was set almost 4 years and doesn’t take into account significant operating cost increases in that time, such as business rate rises, rent, increases to the National Minimum Wage and pensions.

This has left parents and child carers subsidising the Government’s new offer. Which is simply not sustainable.

If this funding crisis continues, more childcare centres will close. More parents will be unable to afford a childcare place meaning they will be unable to work and earn for their family. This hits single parents and those on low incomes disproportionately hard.

I am backing the parent-led Early Years Alliance’s Fair Future Funding campaign and will continue to do all I can in Parliament to demand the Government properly funds universal childcare. All parents with children in primary school must have the certainty that childcare is available from 8am to 6pm.

Universal childcare is the missing part of our welfare state - a product of an old reality decades ago, where women did not get to go out to work, but stayed home to look after children. We need a universal free childcare system to reflect the reality of parents’ lives today and to liberate parents from the expense and worry of juggling home and work.

Older people suffer disproportionately from loneliness and social isolation. Many over-75s have a disability or mobility issues and may not be easily able to leave their homes, and Age UK has found that 400,000 elderly people regularly go a week without meeting up with people or speaking on the phone to family and friends.

The free TV licence Labour introduced in 1999 is one of the few universal benefits available to older people and is particularly important given that for millions who live on their own this is their connection to the outside world, and over a third of older people say their television is their main source of company.  

Currently everyone aged 75 or over is entitled to a free licence and the Conservatives promised voters in the 2017 election that they would protect this right until at least 2022.  

But now they are trying to go back on their promise. From next year, millions of people aged over-75 could lose their right to a free TV licence and if they don’t pay, end up in court despite the Conservative manifesto promising this wouldn’t happen. 

There are 4,140 people aged 75 or over in Camberwell and Peckham who would lose out.  And for many loneliness is worse when they don’t have their family nearby as the next generation move out of Southwark because homes are too expensive here and they can’t get a council home. 

It is so dismaying that pensioner poverty, which was halved when Labour were last in government between 1997 and 2010, is now on the rise again. Under the Tories 300,000 more older people are living in poverty than in 2010. This is unacceptable in a wealthy country such as the UK.  

Age UK has warned that if the Government goes ahead with these cuts, thousands of older people could be forced to go without TV or cut back on essentials such as heating or eating and a further 50,000 pensioners will be living in poverty.   

It would be wrong for the Government to take free TV away from vulnerable and lonely older people.  

I am working with MPs from across the House including the Labour front bench, Liberal Democrats, SNP and the DUP, to demand the Government urgently reconsider and maintain funding for free TV licences for over-75s.

We’re all hearing about the catastrophic effects of global warming and doing what we can to recycle, use reusable bags and coffee cups and worrying about supermarkets using so much plastic packaging.

Last month, Southwark became one of the first councils to declare a Climate Change Emergency and commit to combating greenhouse gas emissions and rising global temperatures. The council has already worked to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 37% since 2010. And aims to achieve carbon neutrality in the borough by 2030, which means to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as we put in to it.

But while we step up our own efforts locally, what is really urgent now is that the Government must take decisive action.

Greta Thunberg, the 16 year old Swedish activist who is leading the charge on climate change around the world, visited Parliament and challenged all of us as MPs last week: “I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”

And she’s right. Climate change is not a theoretical future. It is already here - wildfires, droughts and floods are hitting people around the world – and disproportionately hurting poorer communities in Africa, Asia and Far East.

The science is clear, we must act now to have any hope of reversing global warming. This cannot wait. It is for today’s governments.

This message has hit home to the thousands of school students and Extinction Rebellion protesters who, inspired by Greta, have demonstrated in recent weeks. Their message is that the Government must do much more to reduce the carbon dioxide we are releasing into the atmosphere.

In response to people reducing food waste in their homes, to the leadership Greta Thunberg has shown and to the thousands of people protesting and writing to their MPs, the Government should set clear, measurable targets to move away from harmful energy sources like burning coal and gas. And use tax breaks to make clean energy more affordable for people to use, like onshore wind farms, solar panels and electric cars.

Labour are taking this forward in Parliament this week by bringing forward a motion to make our Parliament the first in the world to formally recognise the climate emergency. I am backing this.

We are demanding the Government urgently implements new targets on renewable and low carbon energy and transport, properly funds environmental protection, reverses species decline and puts forward proposals to move towards a zero waste economy, including phasing out single-use plastics and investing in making homes more energy efficient through double glazing and draught proofing.

We need to work together across the House of Commons to try and trigger a wave of action here and from other governments around the world to halt global warming, reduce pollution, make our cities healthier and better places to live, protect our green spaces and deliver climate justice in the UK and around the world.

And switching to a carbon neutral green economy and using more solar and wind energy will create thousands of new jobs.

Unless we step up the action now, people in the future will look back on our generation and say “you knew what was happening, but you did nothing to prevent it”. As well as each of us, and the council changing the way we do things. It is time for the Government to wake up and act with the urgency that the science demands.