The tragedy unfolding in Gaza

Please find below a timeline of Barry’s actions and advocacy on the tragedy unfolding in Gaza:

In response to the Rafa offensive, Barry stated:

“It is clear from the reports we are getting that Israel’s evacuation order for 1.4 million people to move from eastern Rafah to the so-called “expanded humanitarian area” of Al Mawasi is both impractical and inhumane. Humanitarian aid agencies have stated that they will be unable to reach people there, and we already know that Al Mawasi has been targeted twice by the IDF, undermining people’s confidence that they would be safe in moving there.

Barry signed the Early Day Motion 177 calling for an end to arms sales to Israel, and has advocated for it on the mainstream media. Before the Rafah offensive began Barry went on Times Radio to argue for the end of arms sales to Israel. He even managed to get Tory MP Richard Graham to admit that if the Rafah offensive were to go ahead, the UK would have to rethink arms sales to Israel.

You can also read the letter that Barry co-signed with Zarah Sultana here.

On the 22nd of May 2024 Barry signed a joint letter to the foreign secretary calling on the Government to condemn any threats and attempts to undermine the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court in its investigations into crimes in Gaza. You can read this letter here.

In April, Barry asked the secretary of state to explain why the party of Churchill had become the Party of appeasement.

Following this statement, Barry met with several constituents in Parliament who spoke powerfully about their concerns about what is happening in Gaza at the Ceasefire Lobby Day. https://x.com/BarryGardiner/status/1783134539247661365

After Iran’s unjustifiable attack on Israel in early April, Barry asked the Prime Minister what action the UK will take if Israel seeks to escalate the conflict further.

On the 19th of February 2024 Barry asked the Minister of State for the Home Department that, “whatever one believes about the actions of Israeli government, racism and anti-Jewish hatred must not be allowed to hide being any political mask”.

This came after a student outside of JFS was attacked outside of the school, the perpetrators goaded the student about the situation crisis in Gaza.

Barry has consistently taken every opportunity he has had to vote for a ceasefire. Below are the media appearances in February 2024 where Barry outlined why we must not let parliament chaos distract us from a ceasefire.

In November 2023 the SNP introduced a motion to call for a ceasefire. Barry was proud to be one of the 51 Labour MPs to vote for this ammenment. Below is his appearance on the Today programme where he argued why voting for this motion was so important.

On the 3rd of November 2023 Barry told Politics Joe that Keir Starmer must take “moral leadership” and call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In an interview with ITV News, Barry responded to Sir Keir Starmer’s speech where the party leader said a ceasefire would only freeze the situation. On the contrary Barry pointed out that any ceasefire depends on what is negotiated and will only happen through pressure by the international community.

Barry has also been consistently opposed to the Government's anti-BDS legislation. In July 2023 he made it clear to the House that it would have prevented protests of Apartheid South Africa.

The UK must defend the independence of the International Criminal Court investigations

On the 22nd of May 2024 Barry signed a joint letter to the foreign secretary calling on the Government to condemn any threats and attempts to undermine the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court in its investigations into crimes in Gaza.

This comes after the ICC prosecutor announced that it is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders including Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders.

Water companies must not be rewarded for their systematic mismanagement

On the 22nd of May 2024 a letter which Barry signed alongside 4o of his colleagues was published. The open letter addressed to Ofwat concerns the proposed 40% increase in water bills despite their catastrophic failure in service.

Leasehold Must be Abolished

Barry has been campaigning to end Leasehold for over 20 years. Recently, Barry sat on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill Committee, trying his best to improve the Government’s flawed legislation.

Below are clips from his contribtuons in Parliament and the Bill Committee.

You can find Barry’s contributions from before the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill here.

Leaseholders need help - the government must act to end this misery

For many people, the issue of leasehold crystalised after the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the subsequent purgatory that hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the country found themselves living through as they waited to have their own buildings’ fire safety defects remediated. They are still waiting.

The problem is the whole imbalance of power between leaseholder and the freeholder. Leasehold tribunals were intended to be a cheap, a cheap, efficient way of resolving normal disputes between reasonable people within without enormous legal costs. But landlords have intimidated leaseholders by engaging vast array of lawyers and threatening the forfeiture and bankruptcy.

Below are Barry’s interventions and speeches in the House of Commons from 2023 back to 2020, all on the subject of leasehold.

In 2018 Barry submitted a 7-page proposal on a leasehold reform, the full letter can be read here.

Barry spoke on Leasehold as far back as 2002, you can read the full speech here.

Connecting British Indians to Labour

Seventy five years on from India’s independence, Barry spoke at a Labour Convention of Indian Organisations (LCIO) fringe meeting at Labour Party conference on 25 September 2022.

LCIO has been reinvigorated to inclusively connect British Indians to Labour and to engage with India on the big issues of our time – namely the climate crisis, sustainable development and enhancing internationalism.

Watch Barry talk of how he had spent the previous day working with the police, the council, faith leaders and Indian media to make sure that the Indian community in Brent did not rise to the bait of a planned demonstration outside a Hindu temple in my constituency. I also wrote about it in the Eastern Eye.

Fighting fire and rehire

Barry has been touring Constituency Labour Parties and trades councils with his film about his fire and rehire campaign. Northampton, Southend and Lincoln have been among those CLPs he has spoken to. Find out more about the campaign and the film here

Stop Fire and Rehire

Every day, workers across Britain are being threatened with being fired and rehired under worse terms and conditions for basically the same job.

Unreasonable employers use this tactic to force staff to accept lower wages, different hours or changes in working life. In many other countries this is often against the law. Barry introduced a Private Member's Bill in Parliament, called the Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement), in June 2021 to outlaw this practice in the UK. The Bill was ultimately blocked by the Tory government, even though numerous ministers claimed to oppose fire and rehire and to be committed to outlawing it.

Now, in 2022, Lord Tony Woodley, the former Unite general secretary, has reintroduced the Bill. So we still need your help and support to make sure it finally becomes law.

Barry has launched a tour of Labour Parties and trades councils around the country showing a film about the campaign. Find out more here

Barry in campaign mode

There is nothing more that Barry loves than getting out on the campaign trail or spreading the Labour message across the country whether that be on the doorstep or in packed out halls.

An astute and formidable debater, Barry is very rarely caught on the back foot and relishes the opportunity to go up against the opposition. Here you will find a selection of clips from Barry in campaign mode.

Barry’s speech at 2016 Labour Party conference in which he officially announced a Labour Government would ban fracking.

The infamous moment where Barry asked how many cornflakes you would get in a Tory school breakfast (Spoiler: Not very many!)

Barry gives Sky News broadcaster, Adam Boulton a lesson in holding people to account.

Barry schools David Davis during a Question Time from Barnet during the 2017 General Election on Tory tax giveaways to corporations.

Barry tells Dominic Raab how it is in the spin room of the leadership debate from the 2019 General Election

Barry’s powerful speech for Labour during the Opposition Day Debate on Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2019

Barry tackles Matt Hancock on why he backed out of debating him during the 2019 General Election and then promptly begins to debate him!

Barry takes on Andrew Neil eloquently and precisely during the 2019 election campaign

Barry explains to Peston why Boris Johnson hates scrutiny

Barry once again on Peston, this time explaining why the Tories have let young people down over the last decade and why they are frustrated.

Barry appearing on Question Time during the 2019 election campaign and putting forward the case for a more compassionate Government that is on the side of ordinary people and doesn’t inflict austerity on them.

Barry setting out Labour’s vision for Britain to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

Barry taking part in the Oxford Union debate on why we should have no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government in 2019.