The government’s efforts to show how women-friendly it is would be almost laughable – if they didn’t reveal a profound indifference to the real impact its policies are having on women’s lives. Struggling to make ends meet, worries about unemployment, cuts to help with childcare, loss of public services, and an attack on the value …

I know I’m not famous among Progress readers for my tough attitude to sentencing in the criminal justice system. But this week I’m proud to be proposing an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders bill to increase the minimum mandatory life sentence for those convicted of murder where the crime was …

Last week’s analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, suggesting a 700,000 increase in child poverty by 2020, was depressing, but unsurprising. The long-tail effects of the government’s austerity measures, and the winnowing both of the value of, and entitlements to, benefits make such an outcome pretty well inevitable. But I certainly cannot agree with …

I’ve spent the past two Sundays with my colleague Debbie Abrahams attending inspiring meetings with groups of Labour women. This weekend Debbie and I were invited to Stalybridge and Hyde, to a women’s forum attended by around 60 women who’ve been getting together every couple of months since the middle of last year. Last Sunday, …

I must admit I haven’t read every chapter of the Purple Book. But two chapters in particular have caught my attention: those by Frank Field and Liam Byrne. These chapters grapple with Labour’s post-election anxieties about public hostility to ‘welfare’. Both favour a more contributory, personalised approach to social support. The more you put in, …

Just about every economic indicator you can think of is now going the wrong way. Growth stagnant, unemployment up, consumer confidence drained away. Families are being hit by a perfect storm of job losses or reduced hours, rising prices for household basics, and cuts to safety net benefits. In my constituency, the sense of insecurity …

Last week it was reported that the government is considering removing benefits from those found guilty of criminal offences. This follows the announcement from some local authorities and housing associations after the recent riots that they would look at evicting tenants who’d been involved in the disorder and looting. I’m sure such measures will be …

On Tuesday, the Public Bill Committee for the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill will discuss the government’s planned reforms of civil law. In response to lobbying by insurers and those that have fallen foul of the law, the government plans to make it practically impossible for lawyers to take on business and …

This week a debate will take place in Westminster Hall to discuss how we can help disabled children to achieve their aspirations as they move into adulthood. Great strides have been made in supporting disabled children and their families in recent years, thanks in particular to the Aiming Higher for Disabled Children programme introduced by …

Last week, a single mother who’d been imprisoned for an offence in relation to the recent rioting and looting (and who happens to be my constituent) was freed following an appeal against her custodial sentence. She’d been convicted not of being involved in the riots – she’d been at home at the time – but …