Tuesday was a very busy day of timed meetings with MPs in the foyer
of the Grand Hotel, Brighton, next door to the Conference venue, with lots of
tea! They were all very generous in giving
us their time.
We met with Helen
Goodman, MP for Bishop Auckland, Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, Cat Smith MP
for Lancaster and Fleetwood, Kate Green MP for Stretford and Urmston, Catherine
West, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford and Isleworth,
Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne Central, and Viendra Sharma, MP for Ealing
Southall.
I was surprised, and encouraged, that a key message that came out of our conversations was that the Labour party wants to engage with faith groups because they are a force for change. MPs said that the Churches are one of the few agencies that can speak out, and because they are involved with communities, they have individual stories to tell. That is what MPs need. Even if an MP is passionate about an issue, they need to be able to illustrate it with case studies and examples. Then they can find other MPs who are interested, so they can force a debate.
Kate Green said, ‘we
have got the policies – plenty of them – what we need is case studies of the
context – e.g. stories of what the gender pay gap means for a real person.’
Views on Jeremy Corbyn as Leader
It was also
interesting to hear their views on Jeremy Corbyn, especially as some said
openly that he was not their first choice as leader. All were enthusiastic that
he is making space for discussion and debate, and they felt a freedom for MPs to
say what they really think.
An issue they felt strongly about was mobilizing opposition to the extension of Sunday Trading. The reasons they gave were
-
Grinding down shop workers
- Taking time for children and families to be together - Cat Smith’s family are shop workers and she told us that 5.00 on Sunday was the only time in the week her family were able to have a meal together.
- Shift in culture and commercialization of values – ‘shopping’ is the only thing to do.
- Which day isn’t important, but people need ‘down time’ to spend together
The Pope’s encyclical
on climate change is really good and we need to publicise it.
Housing
They have great
confidence in John Healey as Housing Minister. It is clear that there will be
fierce opposition to the right to buy for Housing Association tenants.
Women and Equalities
Cat is concerned about
equal pay, and the disproportionate impact of the loss of tax credits on women.
She raised issues affecting young women, such as sexual harassment and body
image as a result of social media. ‘It is what young women do to make a difference
that matters, not what they look like.’
She wants to encourage
more young women to get involved in politics. I told her about 3 Generate, and said she
would be a role model for young Methodists. She is very keen to do all she can –
so come on – we need to invite her for next year! 
What can the Methodist Church Do?
I was thrilled by the
sense that the Labour Party really wants to work with the Churches, recognizing
that we are ‘community activists’.
‘Telling our stories’
is one thing that we can and must do. These MPs have asked us to share
individual case studies, that reveal the impact of policies on real people.
Ruth Cadbury stressed, ‘these human stories need to come from the churches’.
We can only change attitudes by speaking out!
No comments:
Post a Comment