Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or by going to the Sunderland Echo website. 

Last week, I delivered the most difficult speech I have ever given in the House of Commons during my 13 years as a Member of Parliament.

I spoke about my own experiences after the birth of my daughter, Lucy, who sadly arrived into the world stillborn.

Since my speech, I have received messages of love and kindness from all over the country and my story has even reached the Netherlands and Italy.

I have also received messages from other families who, like me, have experienced the heartbreak of losing a baby and were distressed to find that they were unable to register their birth and death because they were born before the 24-week gestation threshold.

To the law, these babies did not officially exist.

But to the families who have felt the excitement of expecting a baby, have felt the baby moving and have given birth, their baby did exist.

That is why something has to change, so that no stillborn baby before 24 weeks is ever made to not officially exist.

This is something Tim Loughton MP’s Private Members Bill on Civil Partnerships (Etc.) Bill hopes to achieve, and something I have campaigned for with my cross-party colleagues on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Baby Loss.

Losing a baby is not party political, and together members of the APPG have raised many issues in Parliament since our late night meeting back in 2015, about baby loss and is an exemplar of cross-party working at its best.

With the help of charities, such as the Lullaby Trust and SANDS, families who have lost a baby are now able to have the care and support I, and many others, never had.

Thanks to developments in healthcare, babies born too soon and before 24 weeks now survive in much greater numbers than ever before.

But babies stillborn before 24 weeks deserve recognition of their existence in the law.

20 years on, Lucy’s legacy lives on through my work as an MP. I hope that my speech persuades the Government to make this important change so that families who have experienced this tragedy know that, within the law, their baby officially did exist.

Sharon Hodgson, Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West and Shadow Minister for Public Health, joins celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver in the calls for a pooled marketing fund to advertise vegetables.

#VegPower is asking for Government, growers and retailers to contribute to a pooled marketing fund to relaunch the image of vegetables and to support a healthier food environment.

Figures show that 95% of teenagers and 80% of adults don’t eat enough vegetables and that consumption is in decline.

Most vegetables are currently unbranded and don’t have big marketing budgets, but vegetable advertising would increase consumption and a healthier lifestyle.

Sharon said:

 “We know that advertising for junk food drives up demand and consumption, so I am pleased that #VegPower is now looking to do the same for vegetables not only to encourage healthy eating and to drive up demand, but also to support our farmers.

“We are constantly bombarded with junk food advertising so I fully support this campaign which will positively promote vegetables.

“Eating a balanced diet, which includes vegetables, is key to a fit and healthy lifestyle, so it is important that healthy eating is encouraged across all ages.”

Sharon Hodgson, the Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West and Shadow Public Health Minister celebrates the centenary of women’s suffrage, calling for the struggles of the past to be celebrated whilst the issues of the present must not to be forgotten.

Being the only Sharon ever elected and the 289^th of the 489 women elected to the House, Sharon urges women to use their vote and become more involved in politics as when women are united they can achieve anything.

Sharon Hodgson MP said:

“Today I am celebrating the landmark centenary year of some women being given the right to vote. 

I am proud to celebrate the tremendous courage of those brave women who fought so hard for women’s right to vote and the legacy they have left behind.

As we celebrate these women, we should also look forward to the possibilities for the next 100 years and make 2018 a year of great achievement for women and girls everywhere.

Our challenge now must be to build on past achievements and push for full equality and protection for women: financially, in the workplace, in families and homes and in public spaces.”

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or by going to the Sunderland Echo website.

Last weekend, news broke of the collapse of Carillion and throughout the week it has dominated the news as more and more of this sorry saga unravelled.

But what was deeply concerning was the Government’s failure to recognise the warning signs in front of them.

For the last six months, alarm bells have been ringing about Carillion, who over that short period issued three profit warnings.

Despite these warnings, the Government granted three separate contracts to Carillion, worth nearly £2billion of tax payers’ money, believing that it would make this growing situation go away.

But the Government’s gamble has not paid off, and now it is the nearly 20,000-strong Carillion workforce who will bear the brunt of this Government’s recklessness, with jobs, pensions and ongoing public sector projects that are now in jeopardy.

It is crucial that jobs and pensions are protected and that shareholders and creditors do not walk away with the rewards from profitable contracts whilst the taxpayer is left to foot the bill for loss-making parts of this business.

The Government’s failure to exercise due diligence on Carillion has put services paid for and relied upon by taxpayers such as schools, prisons and hospitals at serious risk.

It is important that the Government works to ensure that these services can continue to be provided at the high standard taxpayers rightly expect.

It is now time for the Government to accept some responsibility on this matter and recognise the need to bring public sector contracts back in-house to protect public services and serve the public rather than private profit.

The Carillion workforce deserve assurances on the status of their jobs, wages and pensions, and the UK electorate deserve a Labour administration that cares about them and not private profits. 

On Thursday 11^th January, Sharon joined the likes of Action Against Smoking and Health, Fresh NE and a host of NHS professionals to launch the NHS Smokefree Pledge.

Sharon with the NHS Smokefree Pledge, and Ailsa Rutter from Fresh NE and Dr Tony Branson, Co-Chair North East Smokefree NHS

NHS organisations who sign the Pledge are making a commitment to help smokers in their care to quit and create smokefree environments that support them to do so.

The commitment includes measures to:

• Treat tobacco dependency among patients and staff who smoke as set out in the Tobacco Control Plan for England;
• Ensure that smokers within the NHS have access to the medication they need to quit in line with NICE guidelines on smoking in secondary care;
• Create environments that support quitting through implementing smokefree policies as recommended by NICE.

At the event, Sharon spoke alongside Bob Blackman MP (Chair of the APPG on Smoking and Health), Celia Ingham-Clark (Medical Director for Clinical Effectiveness and National Director for Reducing Premature Death at NHS England), Duncan Selbie (Chief Executive, Public Health England), Professor Sean Duffy (Clinical Director and Alliance Lead, West Yorkshire and Harrogate Cancer Alliance), Dr Tony Branson (Co-Chair North East Smokefree NHS/Treating Tobacco Dependency Taskforce) and Steve Brine MP, Minister for Public Health and Primary Care.  

In her speech at the launch event, Sharon said:

“Last year, it was welcome when the Minister finally published the delayed Tobacco Control Plan – after a little chivvying from myself at our first outing together at Health Questions. There is a lot in the Plan that we welcomed but recognised the need for the funding to be stumped up so that the vision set out in the Plan could be achieved.”

Sharon then went on to say:

“ … we have seen serious strides in the rates of smoking across the country there is still so much more we could be doing. This includes doing more work to make sure that smoking cessation becomes a central theme of healthcare staff’s engagement with patients and making every contact count to help people to quit smoking but also creating important smokefree environments where smokers can quit smoking and live healthier and happier lives.”

Sharon has pledged to tackle children going hungry during the school holidays.

Attending the launch of charity Feeding Britain’s new report, Ending Hunger in the Holidays, Sharon showed her support for the upcoming School Holidays (Meals and Activities) Bill, which has been put forward by Frank Field MP and has cross party support.

The Bill would give local authorities the legal duty to ensure that children can have free food and fun activities during the holidays to support their educational attainment and health. The Bill would also bring extra resources for holidays clubs funded by money recouped from the Sugary Drinks Levy.

Sharon, said:

“I have long campaigned on the issue of children’s health, well-being and education, and the importance of feeding children properly so they can achieve their full potential and believe we need to be doing more to address the issue of hunger in our society.

“For the 5^th richest economy in the world, it is deeply saddening that our 21^st century society harks back to one from a Dickensian-era, where children go hungry for extended periods of time without any support or action from authorities to protect children – as is their duty.

“That is why I am fully behind this Bill, as it will help take us one step closer to ending child hunger and I will make sure I am in Parliament to help see this legislation through to its next stages.”

Feeding Britain’s report reveals that in excess of 187,000 meals were provided to children in the summer and during October half term holidays this year, but stresses that this is only a drop in the ocean compared to the level of need.

The report concludes: “Holiday clubs provide an urgently needed safety net to protect children from hunger and social isolation, but an incomplete one, and one that is increasingly strained.”

The report highlights the importance of holidays clubs, which protect children and their families from hunger and social isolation in the holidays, boost children’s health and learning, and to help prevent children falling behind their more affluent peers during the holidays.

Recent research done by Northumbria University in the North East showed that children from poorer backgrounds see a stagnation or reduction in spelling skills over the summer holidays, and take several weeks to recover lost learning.

The Feeding Britain report Ending Hunger in the Holidays, can be downloaded from www.feeding-britain.org. 

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or by going to the Sunderland Echo website. 

Supporting children in their formative years has always been a passion of mine and an area which I have helped push during my time as an MP.

Yet recent analysis by Labour has shown that under the Tories we have seen £500 million cut from the Early Intervention Grant since 2013, with a projected £183 million more to be cut by 2020.

This represents a total cut of 40 per cent between 2013 and 2020.

Early intervention saves society a lot more than intervening at a later stage when support can be less effective.

It can ensure that children’s lives are improved and they have the opportunity to achieve all that they can. This is not being seen under the Tories, despite their rhetoric of being champions of social mobility.

If they were serious about improving the lives of children, then they wouldn’t be cutting off the vital funding necessary to achieving it.

The Government has a track record of putting the opportunities of children at risk with no consideration for their futures.

Firstly, we have seen one in three Sure Start Centres close across the country.

Secondly, we have seen the Government determined to scrap Universal Infant Free School Meals on two occasions now (2015 and 2017), which thanks to campaigners and parents we have seen saved for now.

Or, thirdly, the current worries regarding the roll-out of Universal Credit and the impact this will have on free school meals, where under proposals on the future of free school meals currently under consultation, the Children’s Society have estimated that one million children living in poverty may miss out on this important intervention.

Labour have always championed improving services for children and families, and will continue to hold this Government to account on their actions as they cut these services to the bone and provide an alternative approach that allows all children, no matter their background or circumstances, to flourish.

Sharon has joined Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, in hitting out at the Government for attempting to mask the Government’s lack of a plan to invest in the North East’s transport infrastructure.

In a letter sent to all Members of Parliament on 12^th December, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling suggested that the “Northern regions” of England would receive £1,039 per head in planned transport infrastructure spending to the year 2021, which is £13 more than London’s £1,026,

But, on closer inspection, it appears that the Transport Secretary deliberately grouped the North East together with the North West to make the Government’s transport spend look higher.

An analysis of the Government’s transport spending plans, which informed the letter, reveals that planned transport spending in the North East is currently only £822, compared to £1,353 for the North West.  Instead of providing a real figure for each of the north’s separated regions, Mr Grayling’s letter simply provided an average, giving the impression that transport funding is equally spread throughout England.  The planned spend per head in Yorkshire and Humber currently sits at £726.

Commenting on the Transport Secretary’s letter, Sharon said:

“It is shocking that the Transport Secretary has fudged his figures to put a positive spin on the transport infrastructure spend for the North East. Clearly, he believed he could pull the wool over the eyes of the regions MPs and the people of the North East; however, he has failed in doing so.

“The North East deserves the right levels of transport funding to unlock much-needed economic growth and ensure that there is a level playing field when it comes to how infrastructure spending is allocated across the country, and not have a Government who mask the damning reality of their failed approach to regional growth.”

Commenting on the Transport Secretary’s letter, Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, said:

“This kind of creative accounting on the part of the Transport Secretary serves only to draw attention to the Government’s lack of planned transport spending in the North East.

“In reality, it’s clear the Government is failing to provide adequate funding for transport infrastructure in our region whilst at the same time pumping billions into London and projects like HS2.”

You can read the letter to MPs from Chris Grayling here: Letter to MPs from Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling

Planned Central Government transport capital spending per head across regions

Claimed spending by Chris Grayling by ‘regions’

Northern Regions (North West, North East, Yorkshire and Humber) £1,039 per head

Middle regions (East of England, East Midlands and West Midlands) £1,076 per head

Southern regions (London, South East and South West) £1,029 per head

Investment per person (£, 2016/17 prices)

East Midlands £946                                    

East of England £994                                

London £1,026                                          

North East £822

North West £1,353

South East £1,139

South West £851

West Midlands £1,269

Yorkshire and the Humber £726

Sharon responds to constituents asking her to sign Early Day Motion 581 calling for a moratorium on waste incinerators. 

Read my latest Sunderland Echo column here or read it on the Echo's website. 

The past couple of weeks have seen the Tories embattled as they lurch from one crisis to another.

What this has done is distract from the job of government and this week’s Budget was sadly more of the same.

Under the last seven years of Tory rule, we have seen austerity weaken our country’s future potential, and this week’s Budget confirmed what we expected to be the case: productivity, business investment and growth forecasts revised down for the next five years.

Whilst there were welcome announcements in the Budget, including the Government footing the bill to refurbish the Tyne & Wear Metro rolling stock after concerted campaigning by local MPs and Nexus, this does not mean we should celebrate this Budget; far from it.

The wider economic forecasts show an impact on jobs and people’s incomes, yet the Tories are failing to come forward with radical proposals to address these growing issues.

Instead they are providing more of the same with the odd token policy thrown in to gloss over their failures.

More must be done than what is happening at the moment.

Instead of focusing on clinging to power, the Tories must make sure that they deliver for as many people as possible in our country.

Labour has a clear plan which includes real investment in skills and jobs and a large-scale housebuilding programme, plans to help people’s incomes by providing a real living wage and capping energy prices, and ensuring the super-rich don’t get away with more tax breaks and tackle tax avoidance.

People wanted change when they voted in the snap General Election in the summer. Yet, at the first chance this Government had to offer just that, they let down so many people by sticking with the status quo and overseeing a fragile economy that is failing to put the many first.