HearFromYourMP

Previous message | Messages for this constituency | Next message

My weekly e-bulletin - 12 November

Posted by Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton, Pavilion, at 12:13, Mon 12 November 2012:

News bulletin – 12 November 2012

I write a weekly news bulletin which features highlights of my work in Parliament and in the constituency. You can find it on my website here: http://www.carolinelucas.com/blog. Below is the latest update:

Undercover policing

Last week I hosted a very successful meeting as the next stage of my campaign for greater control on undercover policing. Eight women who had long term intimate relationships with men they later discovered to be undercover officers have launched a legal action against the Metropolitan Police and I am working alongside them to expose and end the practice. The women assert that this is an abuse of human rights which goes way beyond the kind of intrusion that occurred as part of the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

The meeting was chaired by Helena Kennedy QC and speakers included Guardian journalist Rob Evans and Harriet Wistrich from law firm, Birnberg Pierce, who is representing the claimants. The women’s stories were recently featured on BBC Radio 4 File on Four. I was also interviewed by Woman’s Hour on the subject.

In a parliamentary debate earlier in the year, Home Office Minister Nick Herbert claimed that undercover officers might have to enter into such relationships with their targets in order to build credibility, yet leading police spokespeople have categorically condemned such behaviour. The current legislation, RIPA, is unclear and support is building for statutory guidance to be introduced, which would prevent undercover officers from entering into sexual relationships. I am seeking a meeting with the Secretary of State to discuss action and have also called on the Home Affairs Select Committee to carry out an inquiry.

Afghanistan

I spoke in a parliamentary debate about troop withdrawal in Afghanistan to argue that the war is not making us safer – and that any justification on these grounds is and always has been wrong. I am the founder of a cross party parliamentary group on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and also chaired a meeting of the group during the week to hear from speakers about the consequences of withdrawal and the future of British policy there.

You can read the debate here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm121107/halltext/121107h0001.htm#12110758000318

Late Payments

I know from talking to local businesses that cash flow can be a real challenge, especially in the current economic climate. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, nearly three quarters of small businesses report that they have been paid late during the past year, placing a strain on cash-flow and meaning they struggle to realise their ambitions to grow. Reduction in profitability and delayed payment of suppliers are major business impacts of late payment.

So I was pleased to learn that, under European law, the Government has to take action combating late payment in commercial transactions by March of next year – this includes giving businesses the right to interest on late payments without having to issue a reminder, a policy I have championed as your Green MP. This week MPs debated a scheme called the Prompt Payment Code, which does move us in the right direction but is entirely voluntary. In order to best protect small and medium sized local enterprises, I want the Government to make the changes required under EU law as soon as possible and have called on the Minister to bring forward legislative proposals immediately rather than relying on the voluntary and much weaker code.

Other news

My Private Members Bill on Land Value Taxation was due to be debated last week, but was not reached because of other business. It is now rescheduled for early next year. My Bill calls on the Treasury to look into the practicalities of replacing Business Rates and Council Tax with a Land Value Tax – with a view to phasing it in over a period of 10 years or more. The idea is to help stabilise the volatile property market and reform the way property is valued by looking into a new tax on unearned profits.

For more information please see: http://www.carolinelucas.com/media.html/2012/11/09/‘fair-and-progressive’-land-value-tax-would-help-stabilise-property-market/

I spoke at a Question Time event at Sussex University on the future of Higher Education, raising the Green Party’s long standing opposition to tuition fees and outsourcing on campuses, as well as explaining my proposal for a business tax to meet the costs of higher education.

Lots of constituents have contacted me to express opposition to regional pay in the NHS so I was pleased to co-sponsor a motion against it and vote against the proposal in Parliament, ensuring that your concerns were properly represented. I have written to the Minister to object as well, arguing that the Government’s plans could prove detrimental for communities across the UK by increasing regional inequality, creating a two tier NHS system, and undermining the Government’s responsibility to provide good health care for all.

Contacting me

If you are a local resident and want help with case work, or if you want to book an appointment at a forthcoming surgery - or just want to find out more about my activities locally - please contact me at the office of Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Media Centre, 15-17 Middle Street, Brighton BN1 1AL. Tel: 01273 201130. Email: brightonoffice@parliament.uk

If you want to know more about my parliamentary work, please get in touch at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Tel: 020 7219 7025. Email: caroline.lucas.mp@parliament.uk