Alison Thewliss

Tier one immigration tribunal delays raised in Commons

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Glasgow Central MP, Alison Thewliss, today pressed the Government on lengthy delays with the tier one immigration tribunals.

Referring to a number of outstanding constituency cases she has been dealing with, Ms Thewliss asked the Leader of the House of Commons to personally intervene in speeding up tier one tribunals.

Recent cases include a constituent who has been waiting for a hearing date since March 2016. He is now facing eviction from his home, along with his wife and children, as he is unable to work until his case is heard. Other cases include a gentleman who has been waiting since November 2015 for an appeal regarding an entry visa for wife. Another constituent has been waiting since February 2015 for an appeal which had originally been promised by last May.

Ms Thewliss has welcomed the Leader of the House’s commitment to personally look into these cases. She commented:

“These delays to tier one tribunals are totally and utterly unacceptable and the Government must take urgent action to speed up this process.

“A snapshot of my own constituency caseload suggests that these delays are leaving people in incredibly precarious circumstances, leading to problems which, in all honesty, could easily be avoided.

“A family in my constituency is now faced with eviction because of UK Government inaction. It is incumbent upon the Leader of the House to give his colleagues in the Government a nudge and get urgent action to tackle this backlog”.

Glasgow MP takes part in Commons Yemen day

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Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, yesterday took part in Yemen day at the House of Commons.

Ms Thewliss, who is an office bearer of the influential All Party Parliamentary Group on Yemen, addressed the event which was attended by a host of diplomats, aid agencies and campaigning groups.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“Conflict in Yemen has been raging for some time now, but very few people have taken notice of one of the world’s greatest humanitarian crises. Over three million people have been displaced and 10,000 people have been killed during the civil war.

“Yemen day was a valuable opportunity for a range of interested parties to come together and take stock of the current situation in Yemen. It was an incredibly sobering experience to reflect on the fact that 12 million Yemenis lack sufficient food and over 460,000 children under the age of five are at serious risk of malnutrition. 4.5 million people in Yemen urgently require emergency shelter.

“This week, the Disasters Emergency Committee launched an urgent appeal and I would encourage as many people as possible to donate to that vital fundraising drive. As important as aid is, we also need significant diplomatic intervention so that agencies can deliver life saving services.

“Wednesday’s revelation that the United States is suspending some of its Saudi arms sales is a small but welcome step forward. It is now incumbent upon the United Kingdom Government to immediately follow suit and suspend the sale of the UK-produced bombs which have been bombarding Yemen. We urgently require a ceasefire in Yemen and the UK Government must step up to play its part”.

MP Thewliss rails against Tory austerity

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Alison Thewliss MP at Buchanan Street Steps

SNP MP Alison Thewliss today took the UK Government to task during a parliamentary debate on Government’s Autumn Statement and its impact on women.

Leading the debate on behalf of the SNP in the Commons, the Glasgow Central MP railed against the recent Autumn Statement which she said was a real “missed opportunity” for women.

Commenting after speaking in Parliament, Alison Thewliss said:

“Today’s debate was an opportunity for us to shine a very bright light on the fact that this Government’s austerity agenda disproportionately impacts women. We know that tax and benefit changes since 2010 will have hit women’s incomes twice as hard as men by 2020. Women will be on average over £1,000 worse off by 2020; for men, that figure will be £555.

“The Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity for our new female Prime Minister to stand up for women. Instead, it appears the Prime Minister has pulled the ladder up behind her.

“As part of the continued economic offensive against women, last month’s Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity to scrap the rape clause and two child policy. It was a missed opportunity to deliver justice for women affected by state pension inequality, who are being forced to work longer for their pension. It was a missed opportunity to give everyone access to a real living wage.

“I also pressed the Minister on the on-going tampon tax. Whilst it’s welcome that the Government is diverting VAT raised from the tampon tax into women’s good causes, the reality remains that I and millions of other women are still being taxed every month for having periods. The Government need to press ahead without haste and secure agreement from Europe to abolish the tampon tax.

“My colleague Angela Crawley MP has been doing a sterling job in campaigning against the 4% fee levied on Child Maintenance Service payments for women and children trying to rebuild their lives after domestic abuse. The Prime Minister must respond to legitimate calls for the Government to axe this cruel tax on child support payments.”

Alison Thewliss MP joins in feline festivities at parliamentary reception

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Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, joined other politicians at a parliamentary reception to celebrate the work of Cats Protection and help the charity come up with names for unwanted cats that come into its care.

The event, held at the House of Commons on Wednesday, was hosted on the charity’s behalf by Sheryll Murray MP to highlight its work in campaigning on issues affecting cat welfare in the UK.

Cats Protection is the UK’s largest cat charity, helping around 200,000 cats every year through a network of over 250 voluntary-run branches and 32 centres.

Commenting on the event, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“I was delighted to help Cats Protection League come up with names for unwanted cats and learn about the growing kitten breeding industry in the UK.

“I and my SNP colleagues take animal welfare seriously and the SNP-led Scottish Government has implemented Animal Dealers regulations in Scotland, which places sensible restrictions on the sale of cats and dogs and protects the welfare of kittens and other pets. I hope the UK Government will adopt similarly proportionate and sensible measures to protect animal welfare across the UK.

The charity’s Advocacy Manager Jacqui Cuff said:

“Cats are one of the nation’s favourite pets so it was wonderful to welcome so many politicians to discuss how we can improve feline welfare in the UK.

“Sadly, despite their popularity, we see huge numbers of cats and kittens coming into our care every year. Cats Protection works tirelessly to tackle the root of the problem, by promoting neutering and offering advice and information on responsible cat ownership.

“This year we have also launched our True Cost of Kittens campaign to highlight a growing kitten breeding industry which frequently puts profit before welfare. As part of this campaign, we’ve been calling for a change in the law to better protect kittens and cats from poor breeding practices that frequently lead to serious health issues.

“Throughout the year, we have been asking MPs for their help in pushing forward these changes which will greatly improve the welfare of cats in the UK. So this Christmas, we thought we’d ask them to get involved in one of the more creative and fun areas of our work – coming up with names for the cats in our care.

“There’s been some lovely suggestions and we’ll be choosing our seven favourites – one for every day of the week – which will be used for cats that come into our care during the New Year.”

Alison Thewliss MP calls for justice for International Human Rights Day

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To celebrate International Human Rights Day (Saturday 10th December), Alison Thewliss MP took part in Amnesty International’s largest annual letter writing campaign at a reception in Speakers’ House in Westminster Palace.

Alison Thewliss MP joined other Members of Parliament and staff and campaigners from Amnesty International to appeal to Iran to call for the immediate release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe as part of Amnesty’s Write for Rights Campaign.

Amnesty’s Write for Rights encourages people around the world to send personal messages of support to people behind bars, or whose lives are in serious danger.

Alison Thewliss MP said:

“As a Member of Parliament, I know all too well the power of the pen, and the impact that can be achieved when many voices rally around one call. I am hoping that my message, and those of others sent during Amnesty’s Write for Rights campaign, will send a clear message to governments that the world is watching and human rights must be respected.”

Former Al Jazeera foreign correspondent Sue Turton, who had been charged and tried in absentia in Egypt, after being falsely accused with eight of her colleagues of aiding and abetting the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke at the reception.

Sue Turton said: “Locking up a journalist who is asking too many questions can scare others into self-censorship clearing the way for further abuses to be committed with impunity.

“There has never been a greater need for balanced, well-researched journalism….But those of us who go into conflict and war zones need to know someone has our backs. That someone for (imprisoned Egyptian photographer) Shawkan is all of us.

Year after year Amnesty sees successes from its global letter-writing campaign. Last year thousands of people across the world wrote messages of support for Albert Woodfox – the longest-serving isolated prisoner. Albert had spent a staggering 43 years in solitary confinement. In February this year, after thousands of letters of support Albert was freed!”

For more information on Write for Rights visit: www.amnesty.org.uk/write

MP condemns plan to close Bridgeton JobCentre

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Alison Thewliss MP sitting at her desk in Parliament

Bridgeton’s MP has condemned Tory plans to shut Bridgeton Jobcentre, as well as seven other offices in the city – leading to a 50% cut in the city’s Jobcentre network.

Commenting, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“The DWP’s proposals to half the number of Jobcentres in Glasgow is astonishing and I am very concerned about the impact these cuts will have on a city that already has many challenges around unemployment and ill health.

“The planned closures will cause serious problems for people who need to travel to other Jobcentres for appointments which will further squeeze already meagre budgets. Some people in my constituency will now need to take two buses to get to their nearest Jobcentre – adding to the risk that they might be late for an appointment and end up being sanctioned.

“As well as the severe impact these closures will have on members of the public who need to attend a Jobcentre, these closures will mean huge amounts of extra work for staff at other centres and we don’t know what the DWP’s plan is for coping with this.

“Along with my SNP colleagues at Westminster, I will be pressing the DWP for more information on these closures and we will work hard to fight these closures tooth and nail.”

Alison Thewliss MP supports Soft Drinks Industry Levy at Parliament event

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Alison Thewliss MP today prioritised children’s future health by showing their support for the UK Government’s ambitious soft drinks industry levy.

The event organised by the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of over 35 health charities, medical royal colleges and campaign groups, offered a chance for MPs to show their support and learn more about the benefits of the soft drinks industry levy, as well as talking to clinical experts who busted popular myths about the levy.

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy, also known as the sugar tax, is one of a few vital measures with strong potential to help make our children healthier. We know that our children are eating too much sugar, with their main source being sugar sweetened soft drinks which is contributing to more than one third of our kids being overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school. Added to this children from deprived areas of the UK are twice as likely to be overweight or obese as their counterparts from less deprived areas, whilst more likely to consume sugar sweetened soft drinks.

Obese children are five times more likely to become obese adults, increasing their risk of developing serious health conditions like type 2 diabetes, cancer, liver and cardiovascular disease and associated mental health problems. Obesity also currently costs the NHS at least £6billion a year.

Alison Thewliss MP said: “We have a childhood obesity crisis in this country. It’s unbelievable how much sugar is in many of the drinks our children regularly consume. These drinks easily become part of their regular diet and usually have no nutritional value so just end up being empty calories.

“This is why the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is so important. Decreasing the amount of sugar in these beverages will contribute towards making our children healthier now, and in the future.”

Professor John Wass from the Obesity Health Alliance said: “Our children are consuming too much sugar and soft drinks are their number one source of sugar. “The case for the soft drinks industry levy, coupled with the reformulation of soft drinks to reduce their sugar content, has never been clearer. The nation’s diet needs to be unsweetened – and fast.”

Consultation on formula promotion bill

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Alison Thewliss MP sitting at her desk in Parliament

An MP campaigning to tighten up the law surrounding the marketing of formula milk has opened a consultation for consumers, campaigners and health professionals.

Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, was recently given leave of the House of Commons to bring forward her Feeding Products for Babies and Children (Advertising and Promotion) Bill. Now the MP is asking interested parties to submit thoughts and proposals for consideration before 9am on Monday 9th January 2017. After that she will move to drafting the Bill, which will be published early in the new year.

The Bill seeks to make provision for the control of advertising and promotion of feeding products for babies and children. The MP intends for the Bill to establish a body – completely independent of industry – which would regularly safety test formula milks and other infant feeding products, and potentially adjudicate on the veracity of claims made by companies as to the ingredients and nutritional value of such products. The Bill aims also to include provision for stiffer financial penalties for formula companies which publish scientifically inaccurate and misleading claims.

Those interested in responding to the consultation are asked to fill out a short consultation form.

Commenting, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“I have been overwhelmed by the support and good wishes of so many people who have a wealth of knowledge around infant feeding. I would encourage as many people as possible to visit my website, fill out the consultation form, and let me know their thoughts as to what might potentially be helpful to include in the Bill.

“Taking a Ten Minute Rule Bill all the way through to being put on the statute books is a tall order, so I am keen to give the Bill the best possible chance of success. I am conscious that if the Bill is drafted sensibly and pragmatic enough, then there’s every chance that the Government might consider adopting it.”

Rape clause minister resigns

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

Alison Thewliss MP has welcomed news that the Welfare Minister, Lord Freud, is resigning from the Government.

The Tory Peer, who was handed the welfare reform brief by David Cameron in 2010, has signalled his intention to leave the Government at the end of the month. The SNP MP welcomed this development, saying that Lord Freud was “without doubt one of coldest, heartless and most ignorant politicians” she had ever met.

The un-elected Tory Peer had been tasked with driving the Government’s welfare cuts programme, which includes limiting tax credits to two children per family and a rape clause whereby women who would have to prove their third or subsequent child was born as a result of rape.

Thewliss and Freud clashed earlier in the year during a meeting at the DWP’s headquarters in Caxton House, London. Following the meeting, the Glasgow Central MP condemned Freud’s remark that women who are subject to domestic and sexual abuse should “just flee” their situations.

Commenting on Freud’s resignation announcement, SNP MP Alison Thewliss said:

“Lord Freud was without doubt one of the coldest, most heartless and ignorant politicians I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with in almost ten years of elected politics.

“His blatant disregard for some of the most vulnerable women in society was utterly appalling and his departure from Government is a very welcome development. His suggestion that women experiencing abuse from their intimate partner should “just flee” revealed to me how utterly out of touch he was with reality and how unfit he was to be making policy for women and children who have already been through severe trauma.

“With the Government’s rape clause consultation having just closed at the weekend, I am heartened in the knowledge that Freud will no longer be overseeing this medieval and pernicious policy agenda.

“Throughout this entire campaign, I have been of the view that any Minister with a sense of compassion or decency would understand that making women prove they were raped to receive tax credits is utterly degrading and the policy should be scrapped. Lord Freud’s departure from Government gives me a real and renewed sense of hope that this Government will now see sense and ditch this appalling proposal.”

Alison Thewliss MP joins charities and businesses to support #givingtuesday

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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.”