Highlighting the increase, and the contrast between national and local figures, Emma said:

“This is yet again another disappointing increase in the claimant rate and unemployment in Wolverhampton. The government isn’t helping those areas where unemployment is higher than the national average and where it is increasing.

“While the government boast about the national figure, many people in my constituency are struggling. The government is clearly failing to focus help where it is needed most. I am calling on them to take urgent action and for the Chancellor to announce measures to tackle this in his Spring Statement.”

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We have always been a broad church and there have always been some disagreements over policy. However, we do have to address some of the criticisms that were levelled yesterday, particularly about the way in which the party

is dealing with anti-Semitic abuse and bullying.

Brexit has not been easy for any of the main political parties. There are divisions in our party, but they are nothing compared to the divisions in the Conservative Party. We will have further crucial votes on Brexit next

week and in March. I believe that Labour MPs are stronger if we stick together as much as we possibly can. This is not an easy situation for any MP. The referendum result was a narrow victory for leaving the EU but it
was silent on how we should leave.

As a member of the Exiting the EU Select Committee, we have heard so much evidence over the last two and half years about the complexity of leaving the EU and the dangers to our economy of no deal. Understandably many people

are worried about Brexit and the impact on their day-to-day lives, regardless of whether they voted to leave or remain.

My preference is that MPs should sort out the mess that the Government has created and I believe that there will need to be an extension of article 50 beyond March. I have argued strongly in Parliament against leaving without

a deal. However, if we continue to face a deadlock in Parliament, putting the question back to the people might be the only way through.

Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss any of these issues with me

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Emma joined Wolverhampton’s two other MPs, Pat McFadden and Eleanor Smith, to join forces and call on the Government to keep their promise to the over 75s of Wolverhampton, and ensure the BBC keeps free TV licenses for the over 75s.

The BBC is currently consulting over changes to free TV licenses, and in a letter to Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright, the three city MPs have called on him to intervene and keep the free benefit.

Speaking about the letter, Emma said:

“The three MPs represent over 17,000 households in Wolverhampton with a resident aged 75 or older, who could be affected by any changes to free TV licenses. Older people are disproportionately affected by loneliness and isolation, and any change will just make this worse.

“Free TV Licenses is a Government policy and as such the Government has always funded them. But the Government decided to hand over the responsibility for funding this to the BBC, and now they will not provide any compensation to the BBC for this. This was a Government choice and could reduce the money available for the programmes and services we all use every day.

“The Government made a promise to the over 75s that they would not lose their TV Licenses. They must step in and make sure they do not break it.”

After signing the letter, Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said:

“Free TV licences for older people were introduced by the Labour Government because we understood that when people retire and are earning less, a TV is often an essential. The policy saves pensioners £150 a year. The Tories placed the axe over this when they shunted responsibility for it to the BBC. They said they would maintain free TV licences until the end of this Parliament but now the BBC is threatening to cut back entitlement, either by raising the age limit or means testing the benefit.

“If they did either of these things, over 2,000 households in my constituency could lose out. This is a benefit and should never have been devolved to the BBC. Doing so is no excuse for the Tories to break their manifesto commitment or make people poorer. The Government should stand by their word and ensure old people can keep their free TV licenses”.

Eleanor Smith, Member of Parliament of Wolverhampton South West said:

“Television is very important to the over 75s as a source of information, entertainment and company. At the stage of life when these households are likely to have less income, the saving of £150 a year on a TV licence could be very important.

“This is a benefit and it is so typical of this Conservative Government to take things away, and then try and put the blame for this on another organisation. They are putting the BBC in a predicament, but it is the Government who are responsible.”

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There were 285 homicides where the method of killing was by a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March 2018.

This was an increase of 73 compared with 2016/17, and the highest number since the Home Office’s Homicide Index began in 1946, the Office for National Statistics said.

Emma said, “The scale of the problems with knife crime has been laid bare by these shocking figures which show the number of people stabbed to death at a record high. I am deeply concerned about this increase in fatal stabbings.

“The government urgently needs to get a grip.  I have been campaigning for stronger action on knife crime including the banning of so called zombie knives. I strongly support the Express and Star’s own campaign to halt the sale of these large and dangerous knives.

“This government continues to be in denial about the impact of police cuts on the rise in violent crime. Just this week the government pushed through another unfair police funding settlement. Since 2010 the West Midlands has faced £175m in government cuts, losing over 2,000 officers as a result. The Chief Constable of the West Midlands, Dave Thompson, recently said he is ‘struggling to deliver a service to the public’ and ‘criminals know how stretched we are.’ West Midlands Police need more funding to allow it to address this alarming increase in fatal stabbings.”

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Emma said, “As a vice-chair of the APPG on Ending Homelessness, I welcome the debate secured by the chair of the APPG, my colleague Neil Coyle MP on rough sleeping. This debate today will help to raise pressure on the government to end the sharp rise in rough sleeping and homelessness since 2010.

“The government may have committed to ending rough sleeping by 2027 but it needs to turn these warm words into action. In the West Midlands I am alarmed that the trend is going in the other direction. It is unacceptable that official figures released last month showed there were 420 people sleeping on the streets of the West Midlands on one night in November 2018, up 42 per cent on the previous year.

“Nine years of austerity has stripped support services for addiction and mental health to the bone, and left people at risk of homelessness without the support they need.

“If the government wants to meet its own target, and get people off our streets and into secure accommodation, it needs to invest more money.

“Across the UK 4,677 people across the country will be sleeping on the streets tonight. That is 4,677 too many.”

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