We were joined by Labour councillors and Labour Party members. On Saturday I was out campaigning with Southwark Labour Party members in Rotherhithe.

This morning I visited Canada Water Library & Culture Space with Council Leader Peter John, Council Lead for Culture & Arts Veronica Ward and Aine Gallagher. It's one of Southwark Council's flagship libraries which recently celebrated its one millionth visitor. Since opening in November 2011 the library has had a monthly average of 37,000 visitors and provides not only as a popular learning space for the local community, but also a cultural space which hosts live music, theatre and author events. Thanks to Pam Usher and Linda Foster for showing us around.

Southwark Council is right to be setting up a Childcare Commission, chaired by local MP Tessa Jowell, to look at how all families can have access to good quality, affordable, flexible childcare. For all the progress on childcare made in recent decades, that is slipping back under the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. Something needs to be done.

Since 2010, there are more children under 5 in Southwark but fewer childcare places. 15 hours a week free childcare is just not enough for many mothers to get a job or work the hours they need.  And childcare is too expensive for many families. The average cost of a part time nursery place in Camberwell & Peckham for a child under 5 is £110 a week. For a mother on average local earnings this is almost 40% of her pay on childcare. And some parents have to give up work and rely on benefits.  As mothers, whose pay has stagnated, save money by cutting back on the hours of childcare they use, they rely more on a patchwork of family and friends.  And this undermines the continuity of care for the child.

Many parents have let me know the problems they have trying to balance work and childcare. For example, a self-employed single mother of 2 children from Peckham told me that the 15 free hours don’t offer enough flexibility to allow her to expand her mobile hairdressing business. So she has had to reduce her working hours to look after her children – just like her mother had to.

A mother of 3 children from Camberwell said that she had left her senior role in a national charity to become a professional child minder and look after her own children at the same time because she couldn’t make work pay and afford the childcare she needed.

When I first became an MP in the 1980's, one of the biggest complaints from local mothers bringing up young children on their own was the lack of childcare. There were no community nurseries and no help with the cost of the very few private nurseries, or with the cost of childminders.

When we got in to government in 1997, our National Childcare Strategy – through childcare tax credits, Sure Start Centres and nurseries in the NHS and colleges – led to a massive increase in childcare provision.

Today the Government is cutting back on childcare tax credit - which helps parents pay nursery or childminders fees - and the Government Grant to Southwark for children services like Sure Start. The price is being paid by children and parents and a growing benefit bill.

That's why Southwark Council is working hard to protect children's services and why we, if we get back into government, will guarantee parents 25 hours free childcare.

Over 150 people attended the launch of Labour’s Milton Keynes Local Election campaign at the MK Academy in Leadenhall last night.  These are very important elections for Milton Keynes with all 57 councillors up for election on the newly expanded Milton Keynes Council.

Today Kieron Bryan, a freelance journalist who was detained in Russia after his arrest with Greenpeace activists in September 2013, visited Parliament with his brother Russell and his parents Ann and Andy. Chris Bryant MP, who also campaigned to free Kieron, joined us.

In Parliament I led a campaign to free Kieron, who lives in Peckham, as he was employed on a short-term contract to document a protest and was not a threat to the Russian state. Kieron spent two months in detention and one month on bail until the charges were dropped in December last year and he was allowed to return home to his family. We talked about Kieron's experience in Russia and his future journalism plans.

Every week people ask me for help with housing problems, and for a lot of people the biggest concern is the cost. Whether they’re young people who’ve grown up in Southwark and want to find a place of their own, young couples hoping to start a family or people who’ve found jobs in Southwark and need to find somewhere to live, there is a pressing need for homes that people can afford.
 
With over 20,000 people on the council housing waiting list, and house prices sky high, many turn to the private rented sector. Because Southwark is so close to the centre of London the average cost of a privately rented two bed flat is £2,000 a month. Such high rents mean that many local people are forced to move away.
 
Here are some examples of people who’ve recently contacted me about their housing problems with renting in the private sector
 
-A lone mother and her teenage daughter were evicted from their Peckham flat.  She’d had many problems with the flat, including damp and mould as well as faulty electrics, and asked her landlord to deal with these problems. He didn't and instead he evicted them. They've been looking for a new home ever since but can’t find anywhere they can afford. She works as a care assistant and her hours are changeable so many landlords are reluctant to let to her. They are now living in a hostel as she continues to look for a new home.
 
-A couple who have lived in their Walworth home for over 20 years face eviction as their private landlord has decided to sell the property. The couple, a student and a part time cleaner, don’t know how they are going to find an affordable home with rents as high as £1,500 a month for a one bedroom flat in their area. Their landlord has agreed to let them stay while they look for somewhere else but they will have to move away from Walworth to an area where rents are cheaper.

-A lone mother from East Dulwich with an 11 year old son faced eviction last year because her landlord raised their rent from £850 to £1,100 a month. She couldn't afford this increase as she works part time as a sales assistant at Argos, and she couldn’t find anywhere else in the local area that she could afford. She didn't want to move away from her friends, her job and her son’s school but in the end she had no choice. She found an affordable home in Croydon but had to uproot her family and find a new school for her son.
 
London is facing a housing crisis, with a chronic lack of affordable housing across the capital. Under this Government, the situation is getting worse with cuts to housing benefit and not enough new houses being built. As the need grows, it gets even harder for the Council to help people with their housing.  So it is all credit to Southwark Council that they are tackling this by clamping down on bad landlords and building 11,000 new homes - when the Lib Dems ran the Council, they only built one new home! This is the most ambitious social house building programme anywhere in the country.
 
The next Labour government will deal with the chronic insecurity of Britain’s private rental market. We will stop sky high rent increases and make long term tenancies the standard. This is Labour’s fair deal for rented housing - so that people can settle down, know where their children will go to school, and know they won’t be priced out of their home.
 

This evening I joined Jo Baxter, Cllrs Mark Glover & Nick Dolezal and council candidates Jamille Mohammed and Jasmine Ali to campaign on the doorstop of Gordon Road in Lane ward.

This evening I joined Jo Baxter, Cllrs Mark Glover & Nick Dolezal and council candidates Jamille Mohammed and Jasmine Ali to campaign on the doorstop of Gordon Road in Lane ward.

In Carlisle, in the run up to the Council elections in 2012, one of the Labour group’s central pledges was to create a vibrant arts and culture hub to help the economic recovery of the city. I joined Lee Sherriff, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Carlisle and Colin Glover, Leader of the Council to see the Old Fire Station as work gets underway to create a new £1million art venue for the city. Whilst I was there I met with some of the creative groups who are already using the venue.

On 10th April there will be a County Council by-election in Belle Vue ward in Carlisle. I joined Labour’s candidate Christine Bowditch, Lee Sherriff, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate and Labour members for campaigning in the area. People on the doorstep raised the lack of jobs for young people, and rising costs to their food and energy bills.

Today I met with the Leader of Southwark Council, Cllr Peter John. We discussed the regeneration plans for Peckham, local policing, school choice, childcare and the Council's future plans re: housing, education and public health.

Over 100 women attended the Welsh Women's summit ahead of Welsh Conference today.

This morning I met Chief Superintendent Zander Gibson, the new Police Borough Commander for Southwark. We discussed police numbers, victim confidence to report rape and serious sexual assault, race relations and recruitment, and police engagement with young people and community stakeholders.

This morning I met Chief Superintendent Zander Gibson, the new Police Borough Commander for Southwark. We discussed police numbers, victim confidence to report rape and serious sexual assault, race relations and recruitment, and police engagement with young people and community stakeholders.

Harriet Harman MP, Labour’s Shadow Culture Secretary, responding to questions about Labour’s position on proposed amendments in the Deregulation Bill covering decriminalisation of non-payment of the BBC’s licence fee, said:

“The BBC is an institution of enormous importance to our culture.  It is loved in this country and admired around the world.  We need to maintain funding for the BBC.  But no one wants to see people in prison for non-payment of the television licence fee. 

“That’s why Labour will support these amendments on decriminalisation, but on condition that any decision is taken after a comprehensive review so that the funding of the BBC is not undermined. 

“Labour believes the licence fee is key to the independence of the BBC and remains the best funding model.”

Ends

Today I challenged Nick Clegg on tuition fees following research that shows that the trebling of tuition fees is on course to cost the taxpayer more than the system it replaced. The full exchange is below. 

Over 1000 Labour members, MSPs, MPs, Trade Union  and Councillors met in Perth for Labour’s annual Scottish conference. Following Johann Lamont, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party’s key note speech to conference, I joined Margaret Curran, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland for an ‘in conversation’ discussion with journalist Kate Devlin. Following this I attended evening receptions including Scottish Trade Union Labour event, a Local Government Reception and MP and MSP event.

When I first became an MP in the 1980's, one of the biggest complaints from local mothers bringing up young children on their own was the lack of childcare.

The difficulty of trying to keep a toddler happy and entertained - especially in a small flat; the dread of rainy days because even going to the park would not be an option. Too many felt isolated – with their own parents living far away from them. There were no community nurseries and no help with the cost of the very few private nurseries, or with the cost of childminders.

Their aspirations for themselves and their children were the inspiration for what we did when we got into government in 1997.
Parents should have access to childcare which is affordable, accessible and high quality.  Our National Childcare Strategy – through childcare tax credits, Sure Start Centres and nurseries in the NHS and colleges – led to a massive increase in childcare provision. There were 2,500 more childcare places in Southwark alone.

Now, 3 years in to a Tory/Lib-Dem Coalition Government – that progress on childcare is slipping back.

Childcare tax credit, which helps parents pay nursery or childminders fees, has been cut. The Government Grant to Southwark for children services like Sure Start has been cut.

There are more children under five in Southwark but fewer childcare places. Fifteen hours a week free childcare is just not enough for many mothers to get a job or work the hours they need. 

As mothers, whose pay has stagnated, save money by cutting back on the hours of childcare they use, they rely more on a patchwork of family and friends.  And this undermines the continuity of care for the child.

And some have to give up work altogether and fall back on benefits.  As the Government is cutting back, the price is being paid by children and parents and a growing benefit bill.

That's why Southwark Council is working hard to protect children's services and why we, if we get back into government, will guarantee parents 25 hours free childcare.

This morning I visited ARK All Saints Academy in Camberwell to meet the new principal, Lucy Frame, see the new building, and talk to the scholars about the challenges facing young people today, being an MP, and their plans for the future. I was also shown around the new school building which was opened earlier this year.