Weekly Update
My Weekly Parliamentary Update
⚡Huge Boost for Families in Enfield North as Labour Expands Support with Energy Bills ⚡
More families across Enfield North are set to benefit from vital extra help with their energy bills, thanks to decisive action from this Labour Government.
🌡 £150 Off Energy Bills for Millions More Families
Labour is doubling the reach of the Warm Homes Discount, meaning over 6 million households will now get £150 off their energy bills next winter including 570,000 families across London.
900,000 families with children and 1.8 million households in fuel poverty across the UK will receive extra support. For the first time, every billpayer on means-tested benefits will qualify for this discount, removing barriers that previously excluded many who needed help.
Labour is also fast-tracking plans for a new debt relief scheme to address the unsustainable debt many households built up during the energy crisis. By reducing the cost of servicing bad debt, Labour’s plans will help lower energy bills for everyone.
💼 Protecting Incomes and Boosting Pay
Labour is delivering wider support to help working families and pensioners through the cost-of-living crisis. That includes:
Protecting pay packets by freezing fuel duty and holding down taxes on working people.
Raising the minimum wage - putting up to £1,400 extra a year into the pockets of millions of low-paid workers.
Extending Winter Fuel Payments to cover 9 million pensioners on incomes up to £35,000.
Alongside immediate support, Labour’s long-term mission is to break Britain’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels. Labour’s Clean Power Plan will deliver homegrown, affordable, clean energy - cutting bills, securing our energy supply, and protecting family finances from future price spikes.
This is Labour in action - backing families in Enfield North, easing the pressure on household budgets, and delivering long-term solutions to make energy affordable and secure for everyone.
🍳 Cooking Up Skills for Life at Chace Community School 🍽️
I had a fantastic visit to Chace Community School today, where I joined students in the kitchen as they prepared delicious chicken fajitas as part of their Jamie Oliver Food Education lessons.
Food education is about so much more than just cooking. It’s an essential life skill that every child should have the chance to learn before leaving school. As well as teaching young people how to prepare healthy, affordable meals, it opens doors to exciting career opportunities in the food, hospitality and health industries.
Learning to cook empowers young people to make healthy choices, reduces reliance on convenience foods, and helps build healthier communities in the long run. It’s also a brilliant way for students to understand where their food comes from, how it’s produced, and the importance of sustainability.
Through the Ministry of Food programme, secondary schools like Chace are being equipped with a comprehensive resource pack designed for Key Stage 3. The 10 practical lessons build up key cooking skills, supported by lesson plans, recipes, nutrition guidance, and engaging videos from Jamie Oliver, his son Buddy, and the Ministry of Food team.
It was inspiring to see the students so engaged, building confidence in the kitchen and having fun while learning skills they’ll carry with them for life. This is exactly the kind of hands-on, practical education that helps young people thrive - and I’ll continue championing food education for all our schools here in Enfield North.
The Labour Government Takes Tough Action to Tackle Grooming Gangs and Protect Children
The Labour Government is taking decisive action to confront the horrific crimes committed by grooming gangs and group-based child sexual exploitation. These are some of the most appalling offences imaginable - young girls, some as young as 10, groomed, abused, raped, and repeatedly failed by authorities who should have protected them.
This scandal has left lifelong trauma for victims and survivors. Labour is determined to deliver truth, justice, and protection for victims, and to ensure these horrific crimes can never be allowed to happen again.
In January, the Home Secretary commissioned Baroness Louise Casey to lead a national audit into the true scale and nature of group-based child sexual exploitation. The findings make for deeply disturbing reading - but represent an important step forward in understanding and tackling these crimes. The Government has accepted all 12 of Baroness Casey’s recommendations, including:
✅ A new national criminal operation to get more perpetrators behind bars.
✅ A new national inquiry, coordinating targeted local investigations to hold institutions accountable for historic failings.
Labour’s action doesn’t stop there. Significant work is already being done to bring perpetrators to justice:
Over 800 cases previously dropped by police are now being reopened, following new investment in police investigations.
The Grooming Gangs Taskforce has now supported at least 834 arrests - up more than 50% on the previous year.
The Crime and Policing Bill, currently progressing through Parliament, will deliver tougher sentences for grooming offenders, introduce mandatory reporting duties for professionals working with children, and close dangerous loopholes in the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) system.
Labour is also removing the arbitrary three-year time limit that has prevented many victims of child sexual abuse from bringing personal injury claims through the civil courts and is establishing a new Child Protection Authority to ensure stronger oversight and national leadership.
Labour will be unrelenting in its mission: to root out these vile crimes, hold perpetrators accountable, support survivors, and build a system that truly protects every child.
🔬 Labour Sets Out Roadmap to Phase Out Animal Testing
The Labour Government has announced a clear plan to move towards ending animal testing, while ensuring public safety and scientific progress remain at the heart of its approach.
Speaking in Parliament, I confirmed Labour’s commitment to phasing out animal testing as soon as safe, validated alternatives are available. While current international regulations still require some animal testing, major investment is being made to develop cutting-edge alternatives, including artificial intelligence, organoids, and advanced cell-based science.
Key steps include:
✅ A new national strategy to be published this year, setting out how government, scientists, and industry will work together to replace animal testing.
✅ Over £100 million already invested via the NC3Rs to develop new non-animal research methods.
✅ Ongoing international collaboration with European and US regulators to share advances and best practice.
Labour’s strategy will place the UK at the forefront of global efforts to replace animal testing, building on our world-leading science while safeguarding health and the environment.
I reiterated in the House that the day we can end animal testing cannot come soon enough, and Labour is taking real action to make it happen.
A Personal Decision on the Assisted Dying Bill
The Assisted Dying Bill was passed today in the House of Commons by 314 votes to 291.
It has been one of the most sensitive and deeply personal debates we have faced as MPs. I want to thank everyone in Enfield North who has taken the time to share their experiences, views and concerns with me on this issue.
Assisted dying raises profound questions about compassion, choice, and protection for the most vulnerable. After listening to constituents, medical professionals, people with disabilities, faith leaders, and families affected by terminal illness, I reflected carefully before reaching my decision.
While I have enormous respect for those who supported the Bill, I remained concerned that the current proposals do not provide sufficient safeguards to prevent vulnerable people - particularly those who are elderly, disabled or experiencing mental health challenges - from feeling pressured to end their lives. That is why I voted against the Bill.
Even though the Bill will now almost certainly become law, my priority will continue to be to ensure that everyone facing the end of life has access to the highest standards of palliative care, so that no one must suffer unnecessarily, and everyone can face their final days with dignity, comfort and support.
I remain grateful to everyone who has shared their views on this profoundly important issue.
Labour Empowers Enfield North to Tackle Gambling Harms
I recently wrote to Baroness Twycross, the Minister for Gambling, to press for urgent action on strengthening local councils’ powers to limit the spread and clustering of gambling venues in communities like Enfield North.
I’m calling for reforms to both licensing and planning rules to give councils greater discretion to protect residents from gambling harm and to prevent high streets becoming over-saturated with betting shops.
Her reply was reassuring that the Government remains committed to delivering these long-overdue reforms, with plans underway to strengthen local authority powers and bring forward legislative changes that will help communities take back control of their high streets:
Under new reforms set out in the Gambling White Paper, Enfield Council will have stronger powers to refuse or place conditions on new gambling premises - including betting shops and bingo halls - ensuring decisions reflect the needs and concerns of local residents.
Any new gambling outlet must go through the planning system, allowing the council to fully consider proposals in line with Enfield’s local development plan. As the local licensing authority under the Gambling Act 2005, Enfield Council can also refuse licences that don’t meet strict national standards or local policies and can apply conditions such as limiting opening hours or requiring CCTV.
Labour is working closely with councils and the Gambling Commission to ensure decisions are based on the best evidence and focused on reducing harm. These reforms put power back in the hands of communities - protecting vulnerable people while ensuring gambling is safe, fair and properly regulated.