The last week in Parliament before the summer recess will live long in the memory for many reasons.
Boris Johnson’s unseemly installation as our new Prime Minister, full of bluster and rhetoric but painfully short on vision and compassion, is bad news for communities here in Swansea East and across all of Wales. Welsh Labour’s First Minister Mark Drakeford was quite right to sound the alarm bells, highlighting the dangers of a lurch to right by the UK Government. I know that colleagues in Westminster and the Assembly stand ready to fight Boris Johnson’s Tories – and to beat them at the ballot box whenever a General Election comes.
But while the new Prime Minister may have dominated headlines, I will forever remember this week for a very different reason. On Tuesday, after three long and often difficult years, legislation for a Children’s Funeral Fund was formally passed, making this hugely important provision a reality.
I have spoken before of how I started this campaign following the death of my son, Martin, 30 years ago this summer. Now, thanks to this fund, bereaved parents across the whole of the UK will no longer have to worry about finding the money to cover the cost of their child’s funeral. At the worst possible time in any parent’s life, this will give people the time they need to grieve, rather than additional cause to worry needlessly.
Though the journey to this point has not always been easy, I am eternally grateful to each and every person who has helped make Martin’s Fund a reality.
The rest of the week was pretty jam packed, starting with a visit to Amy’s Place, a recovery house for young women set up by the Amy Winehouse Foundation. I met many women with lived experience of addiction, and learned first hand the transformative impact that their time at Amy’s Place has had on their lives.
I was pleased to host the report launch for Victims Not Suspects, and to also speak in a Westminster Hall debate on the Female Offender Strategy. Both issues are very important to me, and it was good to push progress on both at the end of this Parliamentary session.
Back home in Swansea, earlier today I spoke at constituency funding workshop hosted by People’s Postcode Lottery, talking to local charities and groups encouraging them to apply for Postcode lottery funding.
My weekly roundups will be taking a break over August, but you can keep up to date with my summer campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. As always, if you’d like to get in touch with me to raise any issues or concerns, please drop me an email at carolyn.harris.mp@parliament.uk or call my constituency office on 01792 462054.
