Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website. 

This is my final Echo column of 2016, and what a year it has been. It’s safe to say 2016 has been a year of upheaval. However, one thing remains constant, I will continue to represent the people of my constituency here in Sunderland to the full; making sure that their voices are heard in Parliament.

2017 is expected to be as busy a year as any, with the negotiations for exiting the EU expected to officially begin by March 2017 when Article 50 is invoked – which will begin the official negotiations of our exit.

We are still none the wiser as to what a post-Brexit Britain will look like or what our relationship with the EU will be, but it is welcome that the Government have finally conceded to Labour’s calls and will now set out their Brexit plans before Parliament.

It is only right that Parliament has a role to play in the negotiations. This is a momentous constitutional, economic and diplomatic task that we must get right, or face serious consequences and ramifications.

Parliament must be able to fully scrutinise the Government’s plans. MPs are elected by local people to be their voice in Parliament and hold the Government to account; Brexit does not change that.

The result of the referendum was clear, we will be leaving the EU, and if and when the times comes for Parliament to vote on invoking Article 50, I will be voting for it.

Yet, this does not mean that Theresa May and her Brexiteer Secretaries of State have free rein to do as they wish.

The people of our City did not vote to become poorer as a consequence of leaving the EU, and it is up to me, my other Sunderland colleagues and all MPs to hold the Government to account so we get the best deal possible that protects the jobs and livelihoods of people across the country.

To do that, I need to hear what the people of our area want us to do as their politicians, and I welcome any comments from my constituents about what Brexit should look like to them, and as part of this, I will be holding public meetings in the New Year to hear more about the views of the residents of Washington and Sunderland West.

Brexit will happen, but it is still unclear what it will look like.

I will make sure to continue to hold the Government to account, and continue to be the voice for Washington and Sunderland West in Westminster.

For me, we need a good deal that respects the outcome of June’s referendum but does not make us poorer because of it. This will be my driving force in the coming year.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website. 

The age-old proverb: “out of sight, out of mind” always springs to mind when we have some old electricals tucked away at the back of the cupboard or stowed up in the loft.

They sit there for years on end gathering dust and filling up useful storage space, and we always think, “I will get that fixed soon” or “I’ll get round to throwing that away eventually”. 

According to United Nations experts, the electronic waste (e-waste) which is discarded by consumers globally totals over 42 million tons a year with less than 16% of that astronomical figure being diverted to recycling or reuse.

This is all alarming news when it is reported that the electrical items we throw away each year contributes up to 4,400 tons of ozone depleting chemicals being let off into our environment.

We all talk about “going green” or “doing more for the environment”, but sometimes we easily forget the effect of throwing away an old camera or mobile phone can have on our environment.

However, a new initiative aims to change all of that. It’s called Restart, and it aims to help empower consumers to address the growing issue of waste and learn life skills to recycle, repair and reuse old electricals which may still have some life left in them – if only they were given some TLC.

The project is currently only based in London, but hopes to expand out across the country.

To do that they held a Restart party in Parliament, where MPs were able to take their old electronics and repair them themselves.

I, for one, was delighted to personally repair an old clock of mine that I had been tempted to throw away but now can put up again in the house with no need to buy a new one or add to the yearly levels of e-waste we are producing.

Restart hopes to set up local Restart parties across the country where local people can come together and learn more about how they can recycle and repair their old electrical items so we can all take positive steps towards reducing harmful e-waste in the UK whilst also learning valuable life skills we can use in the future. You can find out more about Restart by visiting their website: https://therestartproject.org/

The initiative is only in its infancy, but it is set to grow in popularity where more and more people will learn about repairing or recycling their old electrical items, and can finally empty out that cupboard full of old electrical items and give them a restart to a new life.

You can see some photos of Sharon below at the RESTART reception in Parliament:

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website. 

Last week saw Nissan solidify its relationship with Sunderland and the North East further when the company announced that their two new car models, the new Qashqai and the X-Trail SUV, would be built here in Sunderland.

The news which was expected later this month, was brought forward and definitely lifted a weight off the shoulders of those who work at the Sunderland plant and within the supply chain, here in the North East and across the country.

It is not surprising that many people were apprehensive about the impending decision, especially after comments by Chief Executive, Carlos Ghosn, on future investment here in Sunderland due to Brexit. But what this news has done is allowed families who depend on Nissan for their jobs and livelihoods to plan for the future, now that they are secure.

It is only right that we celebrate the good fortune our City and the wider North East region received last week, and recognise the sigh of relief for the many tens of thousands of families, rather than dampen the jubilant mood felt across the region with scepticism. There will be time to discuss what deal was struck and the content of the letter, but for now, this is good news and that should not be forgotten.

+ This week saw LACA’s National School Meals Week return.

National School Meals Week is a year-round initiative which promotes pupils taking up school meals and showcases the improvement seen over the years. Our school catering workforce is larger than the British Navy but can often be overlooked when it comes to celebrating the improvements we have seen in school food over the last decade.

That is why it is important that we recognise all of their contributions to the health, education and well-being of our children.

It was for this reason that I was delighted to invite Audrey Chappell of Albany Primary School to come down to London and cook in Parliament’s kitchens, and for me to go along and see her in action and hear about her day’s experiences. It was lovely to hear about everything Audrey got up to on her visit and how it would not be an experience she will forget.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website.

In my last column for the Sunderland Echo, I wrote about the need for us to get the best deal possible out of the EU exit negotiations and the importance of local elected representatives listening and learning from the referendum vote to ensure the voices of the people of Sunderland are heard loud and clear in the coming months and years ahead.

Now that we have a new Cabinet in place, which is led by our second female Prime Minister, Theresa May, it is now time for politicians to hold her and her government to account on the upcoming negotiations. This is especially true of the three key Cabinet positions of Foreign Secretary, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and Secretary of State for International Trade; which are all occupied by key Brexiteers.

That is why last week I welcomed the launch of a public consultation by the North East’s two Labour MEPs, Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brennan, who are planning to engage with business leaders, universities, civil society, trade unions and community groups and most importantly, ordinary people, to understand what they want to come out of the EU exit negotiations.

This consultation will be important to allow the voices of people here in Sunderland, and across the North-East, to be heard by those in Whitehall and Brussels, especially when it is unclear exactly what will come of these negotiations.

This is even more concerning when only hours after the result was announced for us to leave the EU, that those leading Leave campaigners reneged on some of their key campaign promises, such as the additional funding to the NHS, and since then have sadly been unable to outline what a post-Brexit Britain would look like, on policy such as worker’s rights and if we will remain in the single market or not.

It is clear that we face uncertain times and protracted negotiations; however, it is important that we all come together and make sure that our City’s voice is heard and the fragile economic prosperity we have seen is not weakened further by this Tory Government failing to recognise the support the people of our City need to thrive.

I hope as many Wearsiders as possible will get involved in Jude’s and Paul’s consultation, and will visit the Plan for The North East website here: http://www.northeastlabour.eu/plan and take part in the consultation’s survey so we can try and ensure that this government can get the best outcome for the people of Sunderland and deliver on what the Leave campaign promised for Brexit.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website.

Last Thursday, saw months of campaigning culminate in the result of the EU Referendum being declared for the UK to leave the EU.

This was one of the most important decisions our country has had to make in recent decades, and it was welcome to see so many people in our City take part and vote; many for the very first time.

The vote across the country was close, showing just how divided we are on the issue of the membership of the EU.

However, here in Sunderland, voters turned out in unprecedented numbers and came to the decision that we should leave the EU.

As politicians we must listen, learn and move forward accordingly. Though many voters are facing leavers remorse, we must accept that the vote has now been cast and our focus must be on negotiations.

I am not in favour of invoking Article 50 immediately - which will begin the official negotiations of our divorce from the EU - instead believing that economic stability must be ensured by having a blueprint of what our plans going into these negotiations will be. Our economy, especially here in the North-East, is already fragile and we cannot risk weakening it any further.

That is why it is time for leadership which sees us getting the best deal possible out of the EU exit negotiations, which will detrimentally hit our communities and businesses who relied upon support from the EU and access to the single market.

We also need leadership that addresses the reported increases in hate crime towards ethnic minorities and migrants over the weekend and into this week. I appeal to the better judgements of the people of Sunderland to not allow such a divisive campaign and outcome to rip our communities apart.

In the coming months ahead, I will be keeping a close eye on the developments of the negotiations and will ensure that after listening clearly to the decision of our City that I will work to get the best outcome for us here in Sunderland and those people up and down the country who need it most.

This week saw MPs debating the new legislative programme announced in last week’s Queen’s Speech.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website.

Food is an undeniable and essential part of our lives. It helps fuel our minds and bodies, whilst also giving us the vital nutrients to stay healthy, especially for children. This is something I have championed for a long time now.

This first started with my push for universal free school meals in 2008, after a fact-finding mission to Sweden where I saw exactly what could be possible here in the UK, and drove me to lobby the Labour Government of the day to introduce universal free school meals pilots in Durham and Newham.

The evaluation of these pilots clearly showed the impact universal free school meals had on addressing educational and health inequalities, along with social and behavioural problems.

Sadly, these were scrapped by the incoming coalition Government in 2011.

Soon after they commissioned a report into school food, by two entrepreneurs, John Vincent and Henry Dimbleby.

During their investigation, I worked closely with them to see recommendations for better food in our schools, including one for universal free school meals – which they included with the proviso, ‘when funding could be found’.

This was seen sooner than expected in 2014 with the introduction of Universal Infant Free School Meals, when all infant children received a hot and healthy school meal in England, and the evidence on the ground is showing the benefits this policy can have to a child’s education.

Yet, there is a growing problem when it comes to the school holidays when children have little, if sometime any, access to healthy food and we see all the good work done during term time reversed.

Many will argue that what happens when the school gates shut is none of our business, but when families are relying heavily upon food banks in the holidays and teachers reporting children returning from the holidays malnourished, then it is damning that we aren’t doing anything to support these families.

That is why I, as Chair of the School Food APPG, set up the Holiday Hunger Task Group, which since its creation in 2013 has gone from strength to strength, including publishing voluntary guidance to organisations providing holiday activities and also a report which highlighted best practice across the country.

However, there is a lot more still to be done.

Ahead of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy later this year and the Summit4Nutrition at the Rio Olympics this summer, which aims to address hunger domestically and internationally, I will be lobbying the Government to do more, and not waste this opportunity to realise an ambition I hold dearly: that no child goes hungry during the school holidays.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo website.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen the Government limp from one crisis to another which all comes against the backdrop of the Tories ripping themselves apart over our continued membership of the European Union and who will eventually succeed David Cameron when he steps down as Prime Minister.

Firstly, we had the ultra-shambolic Budget which saw the resignation of the then Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith because of the divisive measures in the Budget and the Government’s failure to support the most vulnerable in society.

This was then followed by the decision by TATA Steel to sell off their entire UK Steel business, which sent shock waves right through the steel industry and its supply chain, and connected industries, all whilst the Business Secretary was away in Australia on a business trip knowing full well that crunch talks in Mumbai would be happening at the same time.

With nearly 40,000 people employed in our steel industry, it was deeply shameful of the Government to look complacent in the wake of such a devastating blow to one of our most important industries – especially after their failure to save Redcar steel works last year.

There have been countless opportunities for the Government to step in and save our steel industry including supporting, rather than blocking, reforms in the EU that would have alleviated the problem of cheap Chinese steel swamping the market and could have helped save this vital industry.

Instead of putting their heads in the sand, government ministers must publish a full industrial strategy that includes procurement measures to support British steel wherever possible with publically funded infrastructure projects.

To top it all off, we then had the release of the Panama Papers – which showed the Prime Minister’s father’s company was linked to the revelations which showed what we all knew was the case, tax avoidance is rife in British Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies, and after four days of misleading statements, the Prime Minister finally admitted to benefitting financially from his father’s company’s tax avoidance.

The Government has continually failed to deliver on collecting the missed income that would come from closing tax havens and loopholes, which could help our vital public services which we all rely upon. With an estimated £34billion tax gap in HMRC, more action must be taken to address this gap, however there are concerns that measures proposed in the Finance Bill will not go far enough.

It is a damning indictment of this Government when they are far more interested in their own Party’s internal division, instead of addressing some of the most pressing issues of the day. That is why Labour will continue to hold the Government to account and remind them of their duty as the Government to improve the lives of ordinary working people, rather than saving their own skins and egos.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo's website.

Last Sunday, mothers across the country would have woken up to breakfast in bed, cards, gifts and flowers from their families, thanking them for caring for loved ones and nurturing their children all year round.

We all know mothers care can go unrecognised – but we do it nonetheless.

Then on Tuesday we celebrated International Women’s Day. I was delighted to welcome Katie from St Robert's Sixth Form to shadow me and take part in International Women’s Day celebrations here in Parliament.

Katie was one of nine selected out of 75 young women from across the UK, who were also shadowing their MP, to swap places with MPs on the Women & Equalities Select Committee and question them on what more we can do to address inequality.

Some argue that celebrating a woman’s place in society can be counter-productive to our struggle for equality.

Yet, with the gender pay gap still persistent in many areas of the workforce and women still greatly under-represented in top positions in business and public life, it is clear we still need to continue our fight for gender equality.

Unfortunately, this Tory Government is exacerbating women’s inequality.

Women face the brunt of public sector cuts; one in nine pregnant women are forced out of their jobs each year, and by 2020 women will have paid for 81% of the Government’s tax and benefit changes implemented since 2010.

Pair all of this with the 763 fewer Sure Start Centres, which provided vital support to families, then it is obvious this Government’s strategy for women is not working.

Labour understands if our country is to succeed, then women must be a part of that success, too.

That is why we pushed further than any other Party on women’s representation with All-Women Short Lists. We also introduced rafts of equality legislation, reduced the gender pay gap by a third over our time in office and we were the first administration since the Second World War to develop a childcare policy and flagship programmes, such as tax credits, to help women into work.

Instead of this Government rolling back women’s hard-fought rights and support, what we need is a strategy to support women, as both equal members of society and as drivers for the economic growth we need.

Labour recognises this and will do all we can to achieve this when holding the Government to account in Parliament.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo's website.

Students have suffered yet another blow by this Conservative Government.

When the then Coalition Government trebled tuition fees in 2011, it was promised that the most disadvantaged would still be able to access higher education without being deterred.

Yet, students from disadvantaged families planning to go on to University will now be seriously affected by the Conservative Government’s decision to scrap maintenance grants in favour of a loan system.

As a non-repayable grant of up to £3,387, maintenance grants are designed to provide extra financial support to students from low-income families with their living costs.

The National Union of Students (NUS) estimates that approximately 500,000 students currently rely on maintenance grants.

Replacing this important source of income with a loans system will seriously affect students from low-income backgrounds, who are estimated to face an extra £12,500 worth of debt upon graduation, rising from £40,500 to £53,000.

This will only exacerbate the current situation in England where students from more affluent backgrounds are more than twice as likely to go on to higher education than their less affluent peers.  

With maintenance grants scrapped, this gap will only widen.

These concerns have also been reflected in the Government’s own Equalities Impact Assessment which acknowledges that the changes may have a negative impact specifically on women, disabled learners, older learners and students from ethnic and religious minority backgrounds.

Labour understands that burdening graduates with masses of debt on entering the world of work will not be the best start to adulthood.

That is why we have opposed these changes and highlighted that these changes were never included in the Conservative’s 2015 election manifesto.

During a Delegated Legislation committee – a small, representative group of MPs from across the House – we opposed these changes.

We then used one of our allotted slots for debate in the main Chamber – as we believed it was too important a change to not be fully debated on the floor of the House – and called on the Government to make a u-turn.

Unfortunately, the Government won the vote, albeit with a majority of only 14 – the smallest majority they have had this Parliament.

Despite this, Labour remains committed to ensuring young people from the poorest backgrounds reach their full potential, whether by going on to university or getting a high-quality apprenticeship, and we are committed to continuing with this aspiration in the face of Tory senseless cuts.