Barry Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent West
Pranav knows what it is to run a business and he knows that what business needs from government is not VIP channels to their mates, but….
— Clear consistent targets
— A level playing field
— An MP who listens
All she asks for is a landlord that treats people with dignity and a politician who listens and acts.
Ishma, the owner of a local nursery, wants a voice that will stand up against the big energy companies and corporate greed. A voice that will fight for the rights of ordinary people everywhere.
brentwest.co.uk
18/03/2023
As talks take place today between the RMT and the Secretary of State, here's me yesterday on Politics Live calling on ministers to stop blocking the deal and make sure it gets put back on the table.
Workers’ wage demands are not fuelling inflation, they are following it, and responding to it in desperation as they see their living standards eroded - first by genuinely inflationary pressures and then by company profiteering.
I intervened yesterday in the House of Commons in the debate on the Autumn Statement by highlighting how profit margins for the UK’s biggest listed companies are now 73 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
A survey of retailers earlier this year revealed that firms are actively using inflation to boost their profits by increasing prices more than the increase in their costs - which then creates further waves of inflation.
I also called on the Labour front bench to do more to make the case that workers are not causing inflation because, when companies themselves tell us they’re ripping us off, it’s time for politicians to listen and to act.
Here's my speech 🔽
Yesterday I argued, on GB News, that I would always rather criticise a government minister for their policies rather than their personality. But bullying is abhorant, wherever it takes place. People who have power often think they can enforce what they want – from the office bully to writ large in global politics.
Yesterday Lord Tony Woodley asked the BEIS minister Lord Callanan if the government would be supporting the Bill to , which Tony is taking forward after the Tories blocked in the House of Commons last year.
His answer: "The noble Lord will not be surprised to learn that the government will not be supporting his private member's bill... we don't want to encourage the practice but don't think banning it would be right because in some limited circumstances it is the only way to save businesses."
Remember the outrage so many government ministers expressed after the wicked sacking of workers by P&O and numerous fire and rehire actions by ruthless employers? Well at least we're under no illusion of their position now.
01/11/2022
The government promised rewards for dedicated frontline public sector workers during the pandemic, but instead is delivering a kick in the teeth - not only in terms of a pay cut but in its attack on their right to strike for decent pay and conditions.
This is an important Westminster Hall debate today highlighting the importance for all public sector workers to
I'm looking forward to speaking at the The Institute of Employment Rights/CTUF conference on 3 December.
There's never been a more important time than now to be standing up for trade union and working people's rights.
Sign up here 👇
http://bit.ly/unionfreedomconference
26/10/2022
Last week I joined Fuel Poverty Action's ‘Energy For All’ rally at Parliament to support their campaign to end fuel poverty. After the rally they delivered a petition to Downing Street signed by over 650,000 people.
My office sees and hears every day the very real daily struggle so many of my constituents in Brent North are having to heat and light their homes and to put cooked food on the table.
Energy for All would end fuel poverty by giving everyone a free amount of energy to cover the basics like heating, cooking, and lighting. This would be paid for by higher prices on profligate energy use, windfall taxes and ending the millions of pounds spent daily on fossil fuel subsidies.
You can find out more about how it would work here: https://www.fuelpovertyaction.org.uk/energyforall/
25/10/2022
The Prime Minister’s sacking of COP President Alok Sharma from the cabinet just a week before COP27 tells us all we need to know about his attitude to climate change – not to mention his international diplomacy skills...
To then appoint Thérèse Coffey, who has a long record of voting against measures to prevent climate change, as environment secretary is an insult and a double whammy for our planet and our children's future.
Here's just one example 🔽
Subsidy Control Bill — Schedule 1 — The Subsidy Control Principles — Net Zero Greenhouse Gasses Emissions Target: Recent Votes Making it easy to keep an eye on the UK’s parliaments. Discover who represents you, how they’ve voted and what they’ve said in debates.
Since the mini-Budget, thousands of my constituents have been in mental anguish and despair. Much like the Prime Minister has. So I asked her, given that experience, what she will now do to improve the mental health care of the nation.
Her reply? The Health Secretary has set out a "very clear plan". Really?
17/10/2022
Proud to have added my name to this letter to the Royal Mail CEO, demanding he meets with the CWU after he threatened to sack thousands of postal workers.
16/10/2022
I so enjoyed discussing with GB News Alastair Stewart how Labour could pay for a fair and prosperous economy without £62billion of unfunded borrowing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fil7S_fpgc&list=PPSV
13/10/2022
During Labour Party conference last month I spoke at a Labour Convention of Indian Organisations (LCIO) fringe meeting.
LCIO has been reinvigorated to inclusively connect British Indians to Labour and to engage with India on the big issues of our time – namely the climate crisis, sustainable development and enhancing internationalism.
I spoke about how how I had spent the previous day working with the police, the council, faith leaders and Indian media to make sure that the Indian community in Brent did not rise to the bait of a planned demonstration outside a Hindu temple in my constituency.
You can watch my speech in full here 🔽
Connecting British Indians to Labour — Barry Gardiner MP Seventy five years on from India’s independence, Barry spoke at a Labour Convention of Indian Organisations (LCIO) fringe meeting at Labour Party conference on 25 September 2022. LCIO has been reinvigorated to inclusively connect British Indians to Labour and to engage with India on the big issues
I asked the chief secretary to the treasury Chris Philp if, given the £60 billion borrowing for the government's energy guarantee is to be paid back by bill payers - not the oil and gas producers making record profits off the backs of the public's misery - he would consider raising the basic tax rate for producers. It's the lowest in the entire world and even raising it to the global average would raise £13.4 billion a year!
Predictably, he refused. Meanwhile the climate minister Graham Stewart announced a windfall tax on renewables to the Environmental Audit Committee, on which I sit, this morning.
This is outrageous!
I intervened today in the House of Commons during an Urgent Question about the death of the young Iranian woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of the “morality police”. I warned that any reduction in sanctions and the unfreezing of Iranian assets would only serve to strengthen the regime and turbocharge its repression of young people.
I asked: “What assessment has the government made of the attempt by President Biden to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which would lead to such a reduction?”
09/10/2022
It's been a busy weekend!
Drove up to the North East on Friday for a screening of my Stop Fire and Rehire documentary by the fabulous Sharon Hodgson's great CLP Washington and Sunderland West.
Then on to South Shields to do the same for the wonderful Emma Lewell-Buck MP before popping by Newcastle station to stand with National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) members on their picket.
05/10/2022
It was great to show my short film and speak at a joint meeting of Islington North and South CLPs last night about my campaign.
Every day, in the midst of the worst ever cost of living crisis, workers across Britain are being threatened with being fired and rehired under worse terms and conditions for doing the same job. And all the while this chaotic Tory government plots to further undermine the right of ordinary working people to defend their pay and conditions.
04/10/2022
It was an honour to speak at the Medway Trades Council rally in Chatham last weekend. This isn't a hugely "political" area, but the people of Medway are now really feeling the impact of this cost of living crisis and are starting to demand change. I have a sense that this march was just the start.
Protesters in Medway demand more government help Protesters in Medway are demanding the government go further to fight the cost of living crisis.One of their demands is introducing a wealth tax, It comes as the government HAS reversed its decision to cut taxes for the highest earners in the UK.
I was on LBC's Cross Question last Wednesday.
The first caller was Dean. His question shows the human impact of the crisis created by Truss and Kwateng that is now resulting in the PM planning cuts to vital public services.
Here's the show in full 🔽
30/09/2022
Liz Truss knows damn well that there are only two years left of the Conservatives in power and she’s going to maximise the cash cow of the people in this country to the benefit of her rich friends in the time she has.
My intervew in the Morning Star.
‘Redistribution, not tax cuts, are the way to get the economy moving’ BARRY GARDINER speaks to Ben Chacko about the Tories’ tax plans, anti-union repression and the alternative policies Labour should champion
When journalists, barristers, nurses, teachers, civil servants, postal workers, rail workers, bus drivers, dockers and so many more are all saying they're not being treated fairly, that's not union barons. That's the British public.
Me on GB News this evening.
25/09/2022
Anyone thinking of demonstrating should stay away and recognise that hate crimes carry jail sentences.
Hindus should not go to “defend” the mandir. That is the job of the police.
24/09/2022
I’ve contacted the police about the incitement to demonstrate at a Hindu temple in my constituency. Anyone thinking of demonstrating should stay away and recognise that hate crimes carry jail sentences.
Hindus should not go to “defend” the mandir. That is the job of the police.
The government's double-think is remarkable. They believe that the way to incentivise poor people is to cut their money and yet, at the other end of the scale, to encourage growth, it is to give the wealthy more money by taxing them less.
Meanwhile, NHS waiting times are not a problem for this government. They are a strategy.
Me on this week 👇
If the Chancellor is so confident about growth, will he set a timescale for it? Will it be six months? Will he retire in a year if the growth he has predicted hasn’t been achieved?
Or was today's budget an admission that he’s going to stuff as much money into as many of his friends’ pockets before the general election in 2024?
What do you think?
20/09/2022
Our Labour Party needs to understand the level of the threat the government now poses to working people’s security, safety and rights.
Labour, without cavil or reservation, should stand shoulder to shoulder with Unions demanding protection of employment rights.
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