Opinion: Secure the safety and wellbeing of all children

Coronavirus has affected people locally in different ways and I have been raising their plight in parliament – from supporting constituents stranded abroad to campaigning for PPE, from championing migrant rights to advocating that incomes and businesses are protected.

Despite securing government promises around testing and tracking, there is still much more to be done.

I will continue to call for mass testing and ensure that older people are not airbrushed out of the death toll.

As a member of the Education Committee, I have been probing the Department for Education’s pandemic response - raising concerns about disadvantaged groups, SEND, funding, and the ongoing free school meals voucher administration problems.

Local schools and parents have been working hard to deliver learning remotely, along with raising funds to tackle food insecurity - this is commendable.

I will continue to lobby government to secure the safety and wellbeing of all children.