While MPs were off for Summer Recess, over 4,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. We can all call for more aid as much as we like. The only way this is going to happen is through concrete pressure on the country behind this blockade.

I was also concerned to read this week that the government invited Israel’s President to visit the UK. This is not about dialogue; it merely provides Israel with more diplomatic cover. At a time, when we need to see concerted pressure from the international community, it is the wrong approach.  The government must end military cooperation with Israel, ban all arms sales and impose comprehensive sanctions without further delay.

Clink Restaurant HMP Brixton received a Travellers’ Choice Award in 2022, placing it in the top 10% of restaurants worldwide.  We know prisoners who secure jobs are less likely to reoffend when they leave prison and more likely to get their lives back on track. Any consideration of this contract must give due weight to the money saved by reducing reoffending rates and the value it creates by upskilling and getting people into work.

I welcome the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. This legislation is a golden opportunity to give local government powers that will genuinely improve the lives of working people in cities like ours. One vital power in this regard is rent controls. The average renter in Clapham & Brixton Hill now spends 47.1% of their pre-tax income on rent. In areas of acute rent inflation, like London, Metro Mayors are asking for the power to get housing costs back under control and bring some stability and security to the system. I asked whether the government will consider doing this.

On Thursday evening, I hosted a meeting with the Sickle Cell Society in Parliament, bringing together sickle cell patients and carers, healthcare professionals and MPs to discuss how we can improve outcomes for those with the disease. Sickle cell disease remains the UK’s fastest growing genetic condition, with around 250 new diagnoses each year. There is an urgent need to improve the standard of care that patients receive across the board. With just 50% of sickle cell patients currently receiving the Ro matched blood required for the most effective treatment, I will continue to push to remove barriers to blood donation and increase uptake.

This week, I was pleased to speak in a Westminster Hall Debate secured by my friend Ian Byrne MP about the need for a Hillsborough Law. In the debate, I pointed out that the harms caused by state scandals like Hillsborough have only been compounded by attempts to cover them up. I am very glad that Ian is pushing for a Hillsborough Law that would introduce a legal duty of candour on public servants to prevent future state cover-ups, speed up justice for victims of scandals and ensure lessons are learned from them.

I was glad to join Centrepoint UK in Westminster this week in support of their Make Work Pay campaign. They are highlighting a longstanding flaw in the system which means young people living in supported accommodation become worse-off as soon as they start working more hours. The Autumn Budget is an opportunity to end the penalisation of young people living in supported accommodation for trying to do more work.

I was on a rainy picket line this week with striking parliamentary security staff in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union. They are walking out over proposals to cut their annual leave entitlement, pay stagnation and a persistent ethnicity pay gap. They have my full support and solidarity.