As your MP, my job is to serve and represent you in Parliament, advance our shared priorities, and help make High Peak the best possible place to live, work and bring up a family.
We’ve had some great wins so far. The Government has committed millions of pounds of investment in High Peak, such as £7.6m for road safety improvements on the A57 Snake Pass, £28.6m in the Peak Cluster Carbon Capture project, and cash to ensure children at three of our schools are among the first in the country to benefit from free breakfast clubs.
During the general election campaign, I was struck by how many people raised with me their concerns about the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
It was with those people in mind that I was honoured to accept the role of chair of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) in Parliament.
LFI was founded in 1957 and leads the campaign for a two-state solution, where a viable and sovereign Palestinian state sits alongside a safe and secure Israel.
LFI works to fight the scourge of antisemitism, which has risen enormously since 7 October terrorist attack.
And it seeks to raise awareness and tackle the terrorist threat posed by Iran and its proxies. That threat is real, as we have seen with recent plots foiled by our incredible security services and arrests on our doorstep in neighbouring Stockport and Rochdale.
As chair of LFI, I have repeatedly called for a ceasefire to end the terrible conflict in Gaza, unrestricted humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people, and the release of the Israeli hostages seized by Hamas on 7 October.
I’ve visited Israel – where I expressed these concerns directly to the Israeli government – and the Palestinian territories.
I’ve met the Red Cross to discuss their vital humanitarian work and the agency which cares for Palestinian refugees. And I’ve discussed with Palestinian leaders how we best advance the cause of peace and their right to statehood.
I strongly believe that the Netanyahu government has been a disaster for Israel and the Palestinians. As chair of LFI, I work closely with Labour’s sister party, the Democrats, who offer the best hope of removing Netanyahu and his extremist coalition from power at the elections next year and who played a leading role in recent demonstrations for peace which were joined by hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
I’m ever the realist and with such an horrific conflict raging and suffering on all sides it can seem overwhelming. But have had some major breakthroughs in our campaigning not least seeing the Prime Minister commit to establish an International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. It is modelled on the highly successful International Fund for Ireland, which laid the groundwork for the Good Friday Agreement, and would work at the grassroots level to bring together Israelis and Palestinians and promote the values of peace, reconciliation and coexistence. I’ve seen with my own eyes this work in action: visiting inspiring projects which work with young Israelis and Palestinians and which are producing remarkable results.
Like you, I believe Israelis and Palestinians deserve peace, security and dignity. The tragic conflict between them has gone on for far too long – with your support, I am trying to play a role, however small, in helping to end it.
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Watching my father disappear into Alzheimer’s is something my family will never forget. It is a story that, sadly, will feel painfully familiar to so many families across High Peak.
People often say that with Alzheimer’s and dementia you lose the person twice. First, as the illness slowly robs them of the person they once were, and then again when their body finally gives up after a long and cruel battle.
As heartbreaking as that is, it is often accompanied by another burden: the constant worry about how to provide the care they need, and how that care will be paid for.
For decades, social care has been the problem every politician acknowledges but no government has truly solved. Almost everyone agrees the system is broken. Yet whenever serious reform is proposed, the debate quickly descends into scare stories, political point-scoring and accusations of “death taxes”, leaving families exactly where they started.
That has to change.
Last week, Andy Burnham said he was prepared to spend political capital on fixing social care and to work with other political parties to build the consensus needed to make lasting reform possible.
I know this is deeply personal for Andy. His own father is living with Alzheimer’s. But long before that, as Health Secretary, he argued that social care should be valued alongside healthcare as an essential part of the system, not treated as an afterthought.
For too long, social care has been the forgotten partner of the NHS.
When we think about our health service, we rightly picture doctors, nurses and hospitals. But social care is every bit as vital. It helps older people remain independent, supports disabled adults to live fulfilling lives, gives families reassurance, and frees up hospital beds by helping people return home safely when they are ready.
When social care fails, the NHS feels the consequences. Hospital beds stay occupied, ambulance queues grow longer, families are left exhausted, and vulnerable people do not receive the support they deserve.
Years of underinvestment have left providers struggling to survive, care workers undervalued despite the extraordinary job they do, and families facing impossible choices at the most difficult moments of their lives.
Getting social care right is not simply about one public service. It is about making our entire health and care system work better.
Andy has instructed that the review of social care should report much sooner, with conclusions expected by this time next year. That gives us a real opportunity to have the honest, grown-up conversation the country has avoided for far too long.
As your MP, I will work with anyone - whatever their political party - who is serious about delivering the lasting reforms families deserve.
My father’s journey with Alzheimer’s will stay with me forever. It reinforced something I have always believed: every one of us deserves to grow old with dignity. Every family deserves the confidence that, when the time comes, good care will be there without fear, uncertainty or impossible financial decisions.
We’ve talked about fixing social care for long enough. It’s time we finally did it.
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I can help constituents on various issues, such as education, the environment, health and social services, highways, transport, and housing.
I would love to hear from you about what you think my priorities should be as your MP for High Peak and what matters most to you.
Please use the contact form to get in touch with me. Please remember to provide as many details as possible, including your name, address and full details of your issue.
