Constituency

Rape clause concessions sneaked out as Trump takes centre stage

Alison Thewliss MP joins supporters at the launch of her campaign to scrap the rape clause

SNP MP Alison Thewliss has commented on the UK Government’s decision to use Donald Trump’s inauguration to sneak out details of concessions on its “pernicious” two child policy and rape clause.

The UK Government chose Trump’s inauguration day to issue a response to a controversial public consultation which closed back in November last year.

Alison Thewliss MP said:

“The UK Government clearly tried to sneak out this news just hours before Trump’s inauguration in the hope it would be buried amongst other anti-women headlines in America. That they wanted this callous policy to be buried speaks volumes in itself.

“Women across the world have been marching this weekend in solidarity with America, whilst here in the UK, the Westminster Government ploughs ahead to undermine women’s rights.

“Obviously I am pleased that the UK Government has made a number of concessions, which will go some way to reducing some of the cruellest aspects associated with this pernicious proposal.

“I particularly welcome the u-turn on multiple births and that there will be no time limit on the reporting of rape. What is also encouraging is the decision to remove frontline DWP and HMRC staff from gatekeeping on this incredibly sensitive process. However, there are still fundamental problems with this pernicious two-child policy, not least concerning those of faith and ethnic minority backgrounds.

“The UK Government’s own response clearly identifies that the most controversial aspect of the policy was the rape clause. Ministers even go on to concede that most respondents felt it was unacceptable for the UK Government to ask women to re-live the ordeal of a rape just in order to make a claim for benefit. Despite receiving that loud and overwhelming message, this appalling and crass Tory Government refuse to listen.

“The fact remains that this policy, however diluted, is still anti-women, anti-family and fundamentally wicked.

“There are still a number of very serious unanswered questions about the practicalities of a policy due to be implemented in just a few months’ time. I’ll be using this crucial time to fight these proposals all the way, particularly when they come to the House as a statutory instrument.”

Alison Thewliss MP signs Holocaust Educational Trust Book of Commitment

This week Alison Thewliss MP signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment, in doing so pledging her commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people.

Friday 27th January will mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of the largest mass murder in history.

In the lead up to and on Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events will be arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country, remembering all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. The theme for this year’s commemorations is ‘How can life go on?’

After signing the Book of Commitment, Alison Thewliss MP commented:

“Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for people from Glasgow and across the country to reflect on the tragic events of the Holocaust. As the Holocaust moves from living history, to just history, it becomes ever more important that we take the time to remember the victims and also pay tribute to the survivors. I would encourage my constituents to show their support for such an important day.”

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said:

“Our mission is to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance. We are very grateful to Alison Thewliss MP for signing the Book of Commitment, signalling a continued commitment to remembering the victims of the Holocaust as well as challenging anti-semitism, prejudice and bigotry in all its forms.”

Partial victory as Government issues new guidance on asylum volunteers

Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, has welcomed changes in Home Office guidance, which has been issued to asylum decision makers just days after she raised complaints about “fundamentally flawed” rules surrounding asylum seekers volunteering and working.

Just two days after raising the case of her constituent Olivier Mondeke Monongo – a Christian Pastor from the Democratic Republic of Congo – the Home Office quietly issued new guidance to its decision makers, making explicitly clear that “it is Home Office policy to support asylum seekers volunteering for charities or public sector organisations”.

The Christian Pastor and his family were granted refugee status in the UK several years ago but he was later denied British citizenship because he had volunteered for the British Red Cross as an interpreter during his claim for asylum. At the time, doing such volunteering was considered in breach of his asylum application conditions and a sign of ‘bad character’. Monongo, who is also a mental health nurse for the NHS, cannot now re-apply for British citizenship until 2020.

In light of the guidance which has just been issued, Ms Thewliss is now asking for Ministerial discretion to be used to allow Olivier and his family to apply for British citizenship immediately.

Commenting, the Glasgow Central MP said:

“This new guidance makes much clearer that volunteering should not be regarded as a sign of bad character and indeed encouraged. This will be of great comfort to individuals and to the organisations who value the contribution volunteers make.

“The previous rules were fundamentally flawed and led to an honest and upstanding member of the community being denied British citizenship, simply because he volunteered for the British Red Cross. That is absolutely ridiculous.

“I’m glad that my debate in Westminster Hall last week highlighted the folly of this policy; I’m very glad to see revised policy being issued to Home Office decision makers. However, I went into Westminster Hall last week with two asks – one was to make sure people can’t be penalised for volunteering and the other was to lift the ban on asylum seekers working. Although I’m pleased that there has been progress on the first issue, I am still going to pursue the wider issue of allowing asylum seekers to take up paid employment, which we know would save the Government tens of millions of pounds.

“As for my constituent Olivier, I am today writing to the Home Secretary Amber Rudd and asking her to personally intervene and set in motion the process of allowing Olivier and his family to apply for citizenship – not in 2020 but now.”

MP to take Iranian visas fight to Home Office

SNP MP Alison Thewliss will today (Tuesday) meet with the Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill MP, at the Home Office to challenge the Government’s “bizarre” decision to dramatically restrict the number of UK visitor visas being issued to Iranians.

As the MP with the highest immigration constituency caseload in Scotland, the Glasgow Central MP has dealt with a number of cases for constituents who have found it immensely challenging to secure UK visitor visas.

One such case includes the Grandmother of a baby born in November 2016. The parents of the baby, who are Iranian nationals living in Glasgow, had wanted the child’s Iranian Grandmother to be able to visit at the time of the birth. The Grandmother, who lives in Tehran, started trying to apply for her visa in May 2016 – almost half a year before the baby was due. She has still not been granted an opportunity to apply for a visa, despite her new grandchild now being three months old.

In a letter to MP Alison Thewliss, the Home Office advised that the Grandmother might instead wish to apply in person for a visa from VFS Global’s Abu Dhabi processing centre – a journey which would require her to cross the Persian Gulf. Another case Ms Thewliss is dealing with means that a married couple are currently being kept apart. The husband remains in Glasgow, with his wife stuck in Iran, unable to apply to come to the UK.

Just 30 visa application slots – administered by the UK Government’s private contractor, VFS Global – are issued once a week, every Tuesday at 1pm. They are issued on a first come, first served basis. The application slots do not guarantee a visa but merely the opportunity to apply for one. Thewliss has branded this “an immigration system which appears to be run like a tombola”. The Glasgow Central MP recently secured a meeting with the UK Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill and will press these cases today.

Speaking ahead of the meeting at the Home Office in London, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“Because of a bizarre policy put in place by the Home Office, I have families in my constituency who are being kept apart due to an immigration system which appears to be run like a tombola.

“From my own constituency casework, it is clear that this approach to administering visas is simply not fit for purpose.

“Amongst the draconian restrictions, quotas and red tape put in place by the Home Office’s private contractor, I am seeing honest and well-intentioned people being stonewalled from even being able to apply for visas, let alone visit their family.

“During last summer, Downing Street issued a woolly press statement talking up the Government’s desire to forge greater links and cooperation with Iran. This press statement followed a telephone call between the new Prime Minister, Theresa May and the Iranian President, Dr Hassan Rouhani. One of the ironies in all of this is that the Iranian President is himself a former student of Glasgow Caledonian University, where he completed a postgraduate qualification in the city in the 1990s.

“If the UK Government is serious about improving relations and cooperation with Iran, it could start by urgently reviewing and reforming this bizarre system of issuing visa application appointments based on luck of the draw.“

Ageing safely in Glasgow

With winter now upon us and colder temperatures forecast, many older people are worried about fuel bills and rely on portable electric heaters and electric blankets to keep warm and cut the costs of heating an entire home. But it can be a risky business.

Electricity causes almost half of all domestic fires – most of which arise from electrical products –  with the over 60s at far greater risk from them than any other age group. Almost 40% of deaths from portable heaters were of people aged 80 and over during 2013-2014.  It’s been estimated that damaged electric blankets are responsible for over 5,000 UK house fires each year.

To get some advice and support in highlighting the need for electrical safety for older people, Alison Thewliss MP visited Electrical Safety First’s drop-in ‘surgery’, which was recently held in Portcullis House, Westminster.

“As we live longer and tend to remain in properties for longer, regular home safety checks are often forgotten and electrical wiring and appliances tend to be older”, explains (name of MP).

“Electrical Safety First’s campaign highlights how – by taking just a few moments to ensure electrical sockets, wires and cords are in good condition and sockets aren’t overloaded – can make a real difference to the safety of older relatives and friends”.

The Charity has regularly run a series of campaigns to increase awareness of electrical risk but this is the first time it has offered a ‘surgery’ for MPs.

Robert Jervis-Gibbons, Public Affairs Manager for the Electrical Safety First, added:

“This winter we have been encouraging friends and family to check in on older people and look around for electrical danger. Providing MPs with a drop-in ‘surgery’ means we can offer them the information and material to help ensure their older constituents stay electrically safe, particularly in the winter months.”

The Charity has been calling for a free, five-yearly electrical safety check for all households with one person aged over 75 and statutory, five-yearly checks in all care homes. It has also developed information packs to help keep older people electrically safe this winter, which can be downloaded from http://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/guides-and-advice/for-older-people/

Alison Thewliss MP joins charities and businesses to support #givingtuesday

The global day of giving known as #givingtuesday took place on 29 November and Alison Thewliss MP was at Parliament to celebrate local charities Glasgow City Mission, Glasgow Council on Alcohol, Glasgow Women’s Aid, Lifelink, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs and SiMY Community Development, who are all backing the campaign.

This is the third year #givingtuesday has taken place in the UK, a campaign which encourages people to ‘do good stuff’ for charity. Over 1,500 charities and businesses have signed up as partners in the campaign including Cancer Research UK, Morrisons, Sue Ryder, Sainsbury’s, the RSPCA and the Financial Times.

In 2015 #givingtuesday broke a Guinness World Record for the most online donations in 24 hours as people gave £35 million to good causes globally.  Online donations raised £6,000 a minute for UK charities.  The event was the top trend on Twitter throughout the day with more than 100,000 mentions using the hashtag.  Celebrities and politicians including Stephen Fry, JK Rowling, Gary Lineker and Tom Daley backed the campaign.

#Givingtuesday now runs in over 70 countries including the US, Canada, Germany, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Tanzania, Russia and Ireland.  It is led in the UK by the Charities Aid Foundation, one of Europe’s largest charitable foundations which supports charities in managing their money and helps people and businesses give to good causes.  The theme for 2016 is simply to ‘do good stuff’.  Charities, businesses and individuals can sign up to be part of the event at www.givingtuesday.org.uk or connect via Facebook and Twitter.

Alison Thewliss MP said:

“I am delighted to support this year’s #givingtuesday campaign. It’s a great event and an exciting opportunity for charities and businesses in Glasgow to showcase the work they do all year round.”

Hannah Terrey, Head of Policy and Campaigns, at the Charities Aid Foundation said:

“It is fantastic to see so much enthusiasm for the #givingtuesday movement from so many amazing individuals and organisations across the country.”

“After the festive retail frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday #givingtuesday is a great opportunity to give something back and we are thrilled that so many people used the day to do good stuff for charities they care about.”

Alison Thewliss MP supports Macmillan’s coffee morning

2016-09-30-16-55-49-webAlison Thewliss MP showed her support for Macmillan and helped to raise awareness of the issues faced by people affected by cancer on Wednesday by attending a World’s Biggest Coffee Morning event in Parliament.

More than 220,000 coffee morning events were held around the UK to raise money for Macmillan on and around 30th September and Alison Thewliss MP held a coffee morning in her Glasgow Central constituency office which raised £102 for Macmillan Cancer Support. Following the success of the national events, Macmillan hosted a coffee morning in the House of Commons where MPs had the opportunity to hear about the challenges facing people living with and beyond cancer and to learn more about some of the services that Macmillan provides.

Alison Thewliss MP attended the Commons event and said,

“Macmillan’s coffee morning is a fantastic annual fixture and I was really glad to have the opportunity to both attend one in parliament and host one in my constituency office. It was also a great way to hear more about the support that Macmillan offers directly to people affected by cancer. With the number of people living with cancer increasing, this event is an important opportunity to not only raise funds for a worthy cause, but to bring people together to talk about an issue that will become more urgent in the future.”

Having raised £27 million in 2015 and over £138 million to date, the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is the original and most successful charity fundraising event of its sort. The idea remains simple: get together with friends, colleagues or neighbours to hold a coffee morning and raise money for Macmillan, with every donation helping to ensure that no one faces cancer alone.

City MP welcomes moves for safe injecting facility

Alison Thewliss MP sitting at her desk in Parliament

Alison Thewliss, MP for Glasgow Central, has given a cautious welcome to moves to introduce a Safe Injecting Facility (SIF) in the city.

The decision to approve the move towards a supervised injecting facility was taken today at a meeting of the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board. It follows months of consideration, research and scrutiny of the proposal by the Alcohol & Drug Partnership.

Glasgow MP, Ms Thewliss, travelled to Dublin last month to meet with officials, politicians and the Ana Liffey drug project to learn more about SIFs and how they operate. The Irish Government has already announced plans for its first safe injecting facility to open early next year.

Speaking after today’s decision was taken, Ms Thewliss said:

“The issues of discarded needles, the increase in infection rates and drug overdoses are not things people find easy to talk about. It is an uncomfortable subject and for too long it’s been an issue swept under the carpet. We cannot ignore this any longer.

“The sad fact remains that this city has a public drug injecting population of approximately five hundred people, who are extremely vulnerable. I’ve seen with my own eyes people injecting in broad day light near to my office at Glasgow Cross. Dirty needles are regularly being discarded and it’s becoming a major public health risk, not only for the Council staff clearing them away but for local people finding syringes in their closes and near their homes.

“As well as fearing for the safety of the drug injecting population, I am deeply concerned that members of the public could be injured by a discarded syringe.

“I’ve been elected now for almost a decade and can see that this is an issue which is not going away. I’ve considered this very seriously, I can really see no other option but to move towards a supervised and safe injecting facility.

“Research has shown that safe injecting facilities save lives, move drug injecting off the street and open up a vital dialogue between services and drug users. Safe injecting facilities can rapidly reduce the rate of deaths from overdose which must be at the forefront of our minds.

“We need to ask ourselves a very difficult question. If someone I cared about was injecting drugs, where would I want them to be? Would I want them to be on dirty waste ground, in a dark city centre lane or a back court all alone, or supervised in the safety of a consumption room with trained medical staff available and services to help move them away from drugs in the longer term?

“I welcome this very carefully considered step by the Integration Joint Board, believe it will improve public safety, and hope it is a first step to supporting this vulnerable population towards recovery.”

Alison Thewliss MP shows support for people living with incurable secondary breast cancer

Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, met with Breast Cancer Care in Parliament on Wednesday 12 October to pledge their support for the charity’s campaign to ensure people with incurable secondary breast cancer no longer get second-rate care.

A survey of people with incurable breast cancer by Breast Cancer Care revealed just over a fifth (21%) of people who previously had breast cancer are first treated by their GP for another condition. More than four in 10 (42%) do not feel their overall care is well-managed and well-coordinated. This suggests people living with incurable breast cancer are not getting the care and support they need.

In addition, a report from the charity reveals that, despite it being mandatory since 2013, a fifth (19%) of Hospital Trusts are not collecting any data about the number of people diagnosed with incurable breast cancer. And almost half (47%) are not recording the numbers fully.

Breast Cancer Care believes incomplete data for the number of people with incurable breast cancer is one of the major barriers to urgently needed improvements to poor care.

Ahead of Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day , attended Breast Cancer Care’s parliamentary event – hosted by Sharon Hodgson MP, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer and new Shadow Public Health Minister – to meet women living with incurable breast cancer and call for an end to second-rate care.

Commenting on the campaign, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“It is so important to show my support for women living with incurable secondary breast cancer. It is absolutely vital that this Breast Cancer Awareness Month people with incurable breast cancer are not forgotten. It must be made a priority that everyone diagnosed and living with the disease is counted.

“I am calling on the UK Government to do more to support women and men affected by incurable breast cancer and make vital improvements to care.”

Danni Manzi, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Breast Cancer Care, says:

“We are extremely grateful to Alison Thewliss MP for joining us ahead of Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day to show his/her support for our Secondary. Not second rate. campaign, improving care for incurable secondary breast cancer patients.

“There are still gaps in care for people with incurable breast cancer and consistent data collection is essential to enable crucial services and support to be planned effectively for people living with the disease.

“We are calling on the UK Government, Public Health England and NHS England to do all they can to ensure everyone with incurable breast cancer gets the best care possible.”

When time is uncertain, women with secondary breast cancer need to be certain of your support. Act today to improve care, visit breastcancercare.org.uk/secondary

“Blind people should be able to use buses too” says Alison Thewliss MP

Alison Thewliss MP heard about the importance of audio-visual announcements on buses at SNP Conference last week.

She heard about the experiences of a guide dog owner who had missed their stop and been left stranded on a bus because they were unable to know where on the route they were.

Sadly, this is not an isolated experience: 7 in 10 passengers with sight loss have been forgotten on a bus. Talking Buses, which provide audio-visual “next stop” and “final destination” announcements, are essential for people with sight loss to live independently. Worryingly, only one fifth of the UK’s buses are talking buses, 97% of which are in London. For a sighted person, missing a stop is an annoyance, but for someone with sight loss, it is potentially dangerous.

The MP for Glasgow Central supports Guide Dogs’ proposal to make buses accessible for everyone. Earlier this year the SNP called on the UK Government to make sure all new buses are talking buses, calling it a “life-changing” move. As a result of Guide Dogs’ campaign, the UK government has acted to include this proposal into the Bus Services Bill.

Alison Thewliss MP commented:

“I was shocked to learn when speaking with the charity Guide Dogs how often blind people miss their stop because they do not know where they are. The Bus Services Bill is the biggest reform of buses since the 1980s so it is a unique opportunity to make sure that blind people can use buses safely too. I’m delighted that the UK government has listened and included talking buses in the bill”

James White, Senior Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs, commented:

“Talking buses give independence to people with sight loss, enabling them to travel on their own and reducing stress and anxiety. They also help other travellers including tourists and infrequent bus users to reach their destination safely.

“The UK government have now recognised the need to roll out talking buses nationwide. We are asking politicians like Alison Thewliss to ensure they follow through and commit to making talking buses the norm across the UK.”