MP newsletter - assisted dying, power cuts, and animal welfare - 02 December 2024
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Good evening. Following a longer week than usual in Parliament, this newsletter covers the difficult subject of assisted dying, as well as a number of local matters.
Thank you for subscribing; even if I can’t always reply to every message, I appreciate the number of people who take the time to comment and I do read each one.
Birmingham news
Bins and industrial relations
Unite, the trade union which represents the majority of Birmingham’s refuse workers, is currently balloting its members for industrial action over the proposed restructure of waste services. More details can be found here.
We should know the results within the week. I am due to visit the Lifford Lane Depot soon, and it is important to understand what the timescale is (after the ballot closes), and any contingency planning. I should be able to give a substantial update next week or the week after.
As there has been some confusion over the Council’s proposals, it is worth resharing the implications for households: under the new system, food waste should be collected each week. Recycling and all other waste (residual) will be collected on alternating weeks.
I say ‘should’ because collections are still not reliable enough in some parts of the constituency. As a reminder, while councillors should be the first point of contact on refuse collections, I and my office do chase missed collections and can sometimes secure remedial collections.
Please do let me know when collections have been missed on your streets or for your blocks. My office details contact are:
laurence.turner.mp@parliament.uk
0121 516 5770
In the same spirit, I understand that negotiations over a resolution to the city’s equal pay liability are ongoing. It is in no-one’s interest to provide a running commentary. But I very much hope that a line can be drawn under the problem for good.
Birmingham hardship grants
Local grants are now open for applications for households facing financial hardship.
The grants are worth up to £200 per household. The scheme is administered by BVSC on behalf of Birmingham City Council and it is paid for through the Government’s Household Support Fund.
How to apply:
https://hsfbirmingham.online/enquiry/ (direct form to register your interest)
If you are experiencing any difficulties with the application process then please get in contact with your local councillors or my office.
Power cuts
I am aware that there have been power cuts across parts of the constituency during this week, which affected homes, businesses, and public services.
Readers may be interested in the below response which I have received from National Grid:
’On receipt of your email I asked our local team in Birmingham for an update. They confirmed that, unfortunately, we are currently dealing with four high-voltage faults in the Northfield area – all of which happened within a 4-5 hour window. It is likely that these faults caused the outages experienced by your constituents.
’We recognise the disruption that such outages cause to residents and businesses, and our local team responded swiftly to identify and repair the faults. …
‘To minimise disruption for residents and businesses, and to restore supplies as swiftly as possible, the local team have restored supplies via an alternative, low-voltage back feed and have also made use of generators. There should, therefore, hopefully not be any further interruptions to customers’ supply in this area as our team carry out the necessary repairs.’
National Grid’s emergency 24/7 number can be contacted on 105. Please do also let me know if you experience similar power cuts in the future.
Christmas shopping – free evening bus travel
Bus travel will be free in the evening next week, Monday to Friday (from 19:00 until 03:00 in the morning). The free travel is part of an initiative to encourage more people on to the bus and support Christmas shopping. No ticket is needed to board and the scheme covers almost all buses across the West Midlands Combined Authority. More details can be found here.
Out and about
Last weekend’s commitments were curtailed by Storm Bert – I hope everyone who is reading this kept safe.
But on the Friday, I was fortunate enough to spend some time at the University of Birmingham to learn more about the university’s impressive work on local government finances and SEND education.
The University also sponsors the secondary school which shares its name in Weoley Hill / Selly Oak. Some exciting and progressive work is being done on SEND by the University, which I hope will be followed by Government. I also met the King Edward VI Foundation which sponsors two schools in the constituency.
This was followed by a busy surgery. I never share details of people’s cases, beyond what has been agreed. But as a general comment: it is so frustrating that people find themselves in distressing circumstances because public resources are stretched and simple things are not being done.
One exception to that rule, because it is a public issue, is the Primodos campaign. Primodos was a brand name for a hormone-based pregnancy test which was in widespread use from the 1950s until 1978, when it was withdrawn from sale.
As the Birmingham Post reported in October 1977, the old Committee on the Safety of Medicines had ‘warned that the drug can cause babies to be born malformed.’ A link between the test and birth defects has often been suggested but it has not been accepted by successive governments. A new study is currently being looked at by the Government’s advisory body.
I met two local campaigners who are affected by the issue. After public outcry over proven injustices – Post Office Horizon and the infected blood scandal, to name but two – the demands for answers after these long years are all too easy to understand. I submitted a question on the matter in Parliament and I will look for other opportunities to raise the issue.
I also spent time knocking on doors in Northfield this Saturday and picked up on a number of casework issues.
New website
Some weeks ago, I mentioned that I was working on an updated version of the website. This is now up and running and the refreshed version can be found here: https://laurence4northfield.com/
I hope that its usefulness has been improved. There is more information now on advice and support services, as well as ‘ready reckoner’ means for people to check if they are a constituent.
I’m keen to hear feedback, if there is any. I am not much of a programmer but I am always on the lookout for suggestions on how my digital services could be improved.
In Parliament
Assisted dying
Unusually, the majority of MPs were in Parliament on Friday for the debate Assisted Dying Bill (formally known as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill).
This is the most sensitive of issues. As MPs, we can listen to and weigh the arguments on both sides – and I am grateful to the hundreds of people who have taken the time to write. But, ultimately, we have to each weigh the issues as best as we can, and vote according to our conscience.
Personally, I could not support the Bill, and I voted against it. I have serious concerns over attitudes towards vulnerable patients in parts of the NHS and the courts system, which make coercion more likely to occur.
These are not comfortable things to talk about, but – like a lot of people – I draw on personal experience, and I have seen it. On the detail, the proposed safeguards are flawed (in my view) even if followed to the letter: the two doctors are not necessarily truly independent from each other, and it is not clear what meaningful role the courts would play in scrutinising an application.
It is difficult in the space of a newsletter to do justice to the sincerely held arguments on both sides. I have written in more detail about my reasoning here. It is important that we continue to respect other points of view on this matter of conscience, and almost all the contributions so far have been in that tone.
There is a possibility of amendment to the Bill and I hope that at least some of those concerns can be addressed. A final House of Commons vote is expected towards the middle of 2025.
Employment Rights Bill
A less public – but still crucial – part of the Parliamentary process is the ‘Bill Committee.’ These committees submit legislation to detailed, line-by-line scrutiny.
As of last week, I am serving on the Employment Rights Bill Committee. This legislation will bring in a range of new protections and rights at work, including the right to a regular-hours contract, day-one rights to sick pay and family leave, and repeal of much of the anti-trade union legislation of recent years.
This is important and diligent work, but it will limit time for speaking in other debates until the end of January. As always, my work in Parliament is public record, and the TheyWorkForYou website does a good job of making those contributions easy to follow.
Animal welfare
I was glad to support the Fur Bill this week. The Private Member’s Bill is sponsored by my Labour colleague, Ruth Jones. The Bill seeks to outlaw the import of fur products.
Fur farming is already illegal in the UK - it was banned on animal welfare grounds in 2000, following a similar Private Member’s Bill. There is no such thing as cruelty-free fur. The trade is environmentally destructive and unsanitary fur farms abroad risk disease outbreaks.
Some years ago, I worked for the Humane Society International (UK), and I am member of the Labour Animal Welfare Society.
Causes promoted through Private Members’ Bill rarely become law, but there are exceptions. I really hope that the Bill will get government support.
Buses inquiry
To report from the work of the Transport Select Committee: a new inquiry has just been launched into bus services.
The focus of the inquiry is on rural buses, but the final scope includes ‘services that straddle rural and non-rural areas.’ If anyone has comments about services into Worcestershire – such as the 202 or the 145/A – then I’d interested to hear about experience of those services.
What do you think?
Assisted dying is a difficult subject for many people to talk about. I include myself in that. We all bring our own experiences to this question, which can be hard to revisit.
There is no obligation to share your views, but the Bill has passed its first stage, and I would be interested in your views on draft law and what should happen next.
What is your view of the proposed safeguards? If the Bill was to be amended, what changes (if any) would you like to see? Although Private Members’ Bills have traditionally received less scrutiny than Government legislation, there may be opportunities to raise those points later.
Again, thank you to all the people who have written in on this most important matter already.
Best wishes
Laurence Turner
MP for Birmingham Northfield
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These newsletters are mostly written at the weekend alongside domestic duties so please excuse any typos.