Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Mar-Apr 2022 number 149


Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Mar-Apr 2022 number 149

Echo Column: Office closure makes it clear levelling-up rhetoric is hollow.

Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, pledged to work with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to help make ‘science fiction a reality’ during a special parliamentary reception.



Image copyright British Heart Foundation, 2022.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Feb-Mar 2022 number 148

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Feb-Mar 2022 number 148

A child’s access to healthy food should not be quibbled over.



I wish to express my utter and complete condemnation for Vladimir Putin and his administration as it wages an invasion in Ukraine, killing innocent civilians and wounding many more. I have been working closely with colleagues to ensure that the Government offers the best route to asylum for Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes as their brave soldiers repel the Russian invaders.

But, closer to home, this week I raised the issue of regional food inequality in Parliament.

Westminster Hall speech on regional inequalities and child poverty



Image copyright, Parliamentary Recording Unit, 2022.

Sharon Hodgson MP - spoke in a parliamentary debate about regional inequalities and child poverty held in Westminster Hall, called by Labour colleague Liz Twist, MP for Blaydon.

The debate couldn’t be more relevant at the current time, when children in the North East have the second highest poverty rate in the UK, and 51% of Washington and Sunderland West households with children are in receipt of UC or Working Tax Credit. Many of these families were struggling before the pandemic, but a toxic combination of low incomes, a cost-of-living emergency and the Government’s £20-a-week cuts to universal credit has sent many families into crisis. Speaking in the debate, I focused on the provision of free school meals – a quarter of North East Children in poverty are not eligible for a free school meal. Hungry children cannot learn, and I wanted to make it clear that the Government’s talk of levelling up is meaningless when thousands of children in poverty are being left behind. Food insecurity must be addressed.

Image copyright, Parliamentary Recording Unit, 2022.

Watch the debate in Westminster Hall here >
Read this debate in Hansard >
Facebook clip here >

Text of speech (from Hansard):

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Jan-Feb 2022 number 147

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Jan-Feb 2022 number 147

You can read Sharon's latest Echo column below, or on the Sunderland Echo Website



Inflation is at the highest level that it has been in three decades, food costs are soaring, and fuel bills could increase by another 50% in the next few months. We are in a cost of living crisis.