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.
Westminster Hall speech on regional inequalities and child poverty - 02/03/2022
Sharon Hodgson MP, Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West, participated in the British Obesity Society's podcast "Fat Chat".
Photo Credit: NK-Photography, 2017
During the podcast, Sharon spoke about her personal experiences with her weight and health, and also explained how her own experiences have influenced her in her role as Shadow Minister for Public Health.
You can listen on iTunes here
You can listen on SoundCloud here
The podcast is 28 minutes.