jonesjb

Tackling animal cruelty

Published on April 19, 2021April 19, 2021 by jonesjb

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill has finally reached Second Reading. The Government first proposed this legislation in 2017, along with protections for animal sentience, but then dropped the animal sentience bit. It was June 2019 before the Government brought in this Bill, but with all their shenanigans of shutting down Parliament and then using the Queen’s Speech as a party-political broadcast before holding a general election, the Bill fell twice in as many months. Now, with only a few weeks left of the fourth Parliament since the Government first promised this legislation, we are either going to have to rush the Bill through, pass a carry-over Motion or lose the Bill yet again.

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Undercover Policing Inquiry – no access to Special Branch registry files

Published on April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 by jonesjb

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning tabled an Oral Question to ask HMG what assessment they have made of the progress of the Undercover Policing Inquiry into police surveillance, established in 2015.

I said: My Lords, the chair of the inquiry has ruled that the Special Branch registry files, which could give more information about the work of undercover officers, will not be part of the inquiry. That means that the truth will be very filtered, which makes it hard for core participants, who feel that they will not get justice. Would the Minister agree to a meeting with me and perhaps a member of each of the opposition parties to discuss the major flaws in the inquiry and why the core participants are so upset?

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Prince Philip was one of the pioneers who started to highlight the links between people and planet

Published on April 13, 2021 by jonesjb

A big debt is owed to Prince Philip and that whole generation of environmentalists of which he was a part and which he promoted through his work. But I cannot speak about one death, however momentous, without speaking of the 127,087 other deaths over the past year due to coronavirus. Many of those deaths will have been premature, with people of all ages dying before their time and leaving many more people – hundreds of thousands of them – grieving. Continue reading “Prince Philip was one of the pioneers who started to highlight the links between people and planet” →

COVID 19 ONE YEAR ON – The unlawful, coercive and nasty parts of the Coronavirus Act must be repealed and a public inquiry launched

Published on March 26, 2021May 11, 2021 by jonesjb

One year ago Parliament passed the biggest infringements to our rights and civil liberties that this country has ever witnessed. We were promised that there would be meaningful reviews of the provisions and that the Government would repeal anything that was not absolutely necessary and proportionate. A couple of days later, the Government published the real rules in the lockdown regulations, which imposed even tighter restrictions than were ever anticipated in the Coronavirus Act. Continue reading “COVID 19 ONE YEAR ON – The unlawful, coercive and nasty parts of the Coronavirus Act must be repealed and a public inquiry launched” →

Domestic Abuse Bill Third Reading

Published on March 25, 2021March 26, 2021 by jonesjb

The Bill was universally welcomed but then attracted about 200 amendments, which were fiercely argued. The Government suffered nine defeats in votes and made many concessions. For me, making misogyny a crime was a priority. I am deeply sad we have not done that but we have moved towards it, and it is a step in the right direction by the Government which we can use to test the process. Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Third Reading” →

A hostile environment for migrants sanctions domestic abuse

Published on March 18, 2021 by jonesjb

When a survivor of domestic abuse reaches out for help, they should be treated as a human being and given the help that they need unconditionally. What is the Government’s priority? Do they care more about helping survivors of domestic abuse end that abuse and making them safe, or about catching and deporting migrants?

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Overseas Operations Bill – the international version of the SpyCops Bill…

Published on March 10, 2021March 10, 2021 by jonesjb

I think that this Bill is a terrible piece of legislation – worse than terrible. It is actually quite shocking. It is the international version of the “spy cops” Bill, which granted broad legal immunity to state agents who commit criminal acts. How can that be right? It is one of those Bills that I think is so bad that we need to scrap it entirely. Continue reading “Overseas Operations Bill – the international version of the SpyCops Bill…” →

Women ChangeMakers: Women Campaigning on Air Pollution 1pm 8th March

Published on March 7, 2021March 7, 2021 by jonesjb

Please join me for a conversation on International Women’s Day

I will be talking with Rosamund Addo-Kissi-Debrah, Co-founder of the Ella Roberta Foundation, Dr Maria Neira, W.H.O Director of Environment, Climate Change and Heath, clean air advocate Penny Hosie and host Andrea Carey Fuller

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwrcOuqqjgrGNcHeyB3HT7yUX9uB78oxAv_

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A Lords Debate on the National Minimum Wage

Published on March 3, 2021 by jonesjb

If a Green was put on the Low Pay Commission, it would pay benefits in all sorts of ways. What we should not do is tinker around the edges, which is what is happening at the moment. We need a fundamental shift in the way that our society and our economy approach work. The Government have missed an opportunity to trial a universal basic income scheme in response to the pandemic. It should not matter whether someone is on furlough, unemployed, retired or in work. Everyone should have enough to meet their basic needs in the 21st century.

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Domestic Abuse Bill Win

Published on March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 by jonesjb

This week the Guardian reported that non-fatal strangulation is to carry a five year prison sentence as an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill. This news comes after Jenny and Natalie have both worked hard to propose and support improvements to the Bill.

The Domestic Abuse Bill was the one positive Bill in this awful Parliamentary session, but it still needed a few friendly amendments to make it a perfect Bill. Over 190 amendments were tabled at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, covering areas like police training, revenge porn, the links with drug abuse and the inclusion of statutory duties. Perhaps the key set of amendments was the creation of a specific crime of non-lethal strangulation in recognition of how this is employed in numerous relationships as a means of control.

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