Barry outlines his commitment to ending the 'cage age'

Many constituents have written to Barry asking his opinion on the caging of pigs. Barry has long been advocate for animal rights, and has written his response to constituents worried about this issue below.

I am committed to ending the ‘cage age’ of outdated farming practices that cause animals distress and restrict natural behaviours. I back our British farmers and want to see meaningful support for farmers moving to higher welfare standards. 

In 1999, the then Labour Government banned cruel sow stalls that kept pigs caged for the entirety of their pregnancies. However, it is still permitted for female pigs to be kept in restrictive farrowing crates before they give birth and until their piglets are weaned. I believe this must change. 

I support introducing a ban on sow farrowing crates with a reasonable phase-out period and replacing these with safe, free-farrowing systems.  

In February 2020, the Opposition voted to include in the Agriculture Bill a phased ban of farrowing stalls, and for financial support to be made available to farmers with the capital costs of this process and for those who take interim measures to improve the conditions of farrowing sows. Disappointingly, this was voted down by Government MPs.  

I support the Pig Husbandry (Farrowing) Bill by Sir David Amess MP, which would require the phasing out of farrowing crates for pigs by 2027 and would prohibit the installation of new crates across England. 

Barry gives his views on 'Covid Passports'

I have had many constituents contact me about the government’s review into whether “COVID-status certificates” could play a role in reopening parts of our economy, including restrictions on social contact. The review is expected to report before 21 June 2021. As a proposal it raises fundamental issues of fairness, power and liberty which I will weigh very carefully before coming to a conclusion. 

First let me say that I firmly believe that vaccines are the most effective public health intervention against COVID-19. Vaccines protect us as individuals against the virus and they protect society by enabling restrictions to be lifted. 

Approval is only given to a vaccine in the UK if the regulator – the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – is satisfied that the vaccine is both safe and effective. I am convinced that the vaccines currently authorized for use against Covid-19 are an important weapon in our fight against this disease and I believe it is important that everyone who is offered a vaccination should take it for their own sake and for the sake of their wider community. 

BUT Vaccines are not mandatory. Nor should they be. The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, which applies to England and Wales, is clear that any health protection regulations “may not include provision requiring a person to undergo medical treatment”. This includes vaccinations. So the Covid status-certificates issue raises important matters of autonomy. 

I may disagree with someone who refuses to be vaccinated, but I respect their right to control their own body and their own health regime. Equally I am concerned that their right to refuse medication that might safeguard them, does not give them a right to expose other people to greater risk of infection because of their personal decision. People who choose not to be immunized against a dangerous and communicable disease have a corresponding obligation to ensure that they are not putting others at increased danger.  

Issues of fairness are vital. Not everyone has been offered a vaccination. I think especially of young people who have been at least personal risk of getting the disease but have been some of the most disadvantaged by the lockdown. It would be particularly unfair if they were now to be doubly penalized and have their social lives curtailed yet further when they have not been given the opportunity to be vaccinated. Others, such as pregnant women have been told on medical advice that they should not be vaccinated. It would be wrong to discriminate against those who would be at risk medically from having the vaccine and exclude them from the workplace, public events or other social settings where people congregate. This would not be “getting life back to normal” it would be entrenching discrimination into our lives in an entirely unacceptable manner. 

Those who argue for Vaccine status-certificates claim that they could provide businesses with the confidence they need to reopen and resume operations. However, they might also be used by employers as a mechanism for discriminating unfairly amongst members of their workforce. This is why the consultation must address issues of power and control. Our world is increasingly becoming dominated by data and the issue of who controls it. Personal data can help us to take more informed decisions and manage our own lives better, but if that data is used by others as a mechanism of restricting our freedoms then we face an increasingly dystopian future.  

The idea of a vaccination passport suggests – falsely – that immunity is a binary matter. Vaccination is not a one-off event: immunity fades over time and people will need booster vaccinations and new vaccinations against new variants of the virus. This means the simple fact of being vaccinated is not a guarantee. It is also clear that supplies of the vaccines may not always be able to keep pace with the need to keep everyone’s immunity levels up to date. This could lead to certain already disadvantaged groups in society becoming further discriminated against.  

Our government is becoming increasingly authoritarian. It has sidelined parliament and I am deeply troubled by recent measures on Covert Human Intelligence, Police Powers and the undermining of the Refugee Convention. If government introduces a two-tier system in which those who are not vaccinated are blocked from essential public services, work, or housing then the balance of power in our country will have definitively shifted in an alarming way. 

Whilst I believe it right to listen carefully to the arguments put forward during the consultation period. I have tried in this email to indicate some of the issues which I consider any such scheme for Covid-Status Certificates must be able to answer satisfactorily. At present I am not persuaded that such answers are available. 

 

Barry writes for the B&K Times- 'Creeping control over our NHS by American companies'

As excuses go, “I was just following orders” became bankrupt in 1945.

So it has been extraordinary to hear health chiefs claim (wrongly) that they have no option but to do what NHS London tells them, and rubber stamp the take over of 48 GPs surgeries in London by the American owned company Operose Health Ltd.

Most patients will never have heard of Operose. They will probably not even have heard of the company AT Medics, which currently provides their GP services in Brent through the Wembley Practice in Chaplin Road and the Burnley Practice in Willesden; and in another 46 practices in 18 other London Boroughs.  Yet without public consultation last November a decision in principle was taken to allow the transfer of the medical services contract by the Brent Primary Care Commissioning Committee (BPCCC) at Part 2 of its meeting.  The Part 2 is important: it is the secret part of the meeting. And this Wednesday NHS London have told them they must ratify it in the open session of the meeting to make it legally binding.

They should refuse.

They should reject this sell-off of London’s primary healthcare and fulfil their obligation to conduct appropriate scrutiny over the transfer and award of contracts that will affect hundreds of thousands of Londoners. The Committee should ask whether a company that has acquired a reputation for ruthlessly exiting contracts, including one in Camden where a practice was reputedly run down and closed with patients given only four weeks’ notice to find another GP, is fit to be a trusted provider for vulnerable patients here in Brent.

The other matter the Committee should be concerned about is the financial backing of the company whose accounts appear to reveal losses of almost £6.5million. Operose’s American parent company, Centene, have invested more than £9milllion into Operose despite it showing year on year losses since 2017. This of course could be an extraordinary generosity and concern for the welfare of British citizens; but some might suspect that it is a way of paying no tax in the UK whilst offsetting these losses against the global income of the US company for American tax purposes. If this were indeed the company’s objective then it would constitute a very unreliable partner for Brent patients indeed.

I have made my views clear to Dr MC Patel as Chair of the CCG and asked him to facilitate a conversation with the lay Chair of the Committee ahead of the meeting on Wednesday. I pay tribute to all those on Brent Patient Voice  who have raised this matter with me and believe that it is essential that those who can see what is being done to our health service do not just “follow orders” issued by NHS London, but honestly weigh up the likely repercussions of such creeping control over our healthcare by American companies with no ultimate loyalty to the health of British patients.

The old structure of Primary Care Commissioning Groups (PCCGS) is being done away with – the government would say “consolidated” -- and so this will likely be one of the last critically important decisions the Brent PCCG will take before it is “consolidated” into the new North West London grouping. That means nobody will be left to carry the can for the decision they take.

They must not let this abomination be their legacy.

Askham Bryan are playing a "three card trick" on the people of Cumbria

Barry was once again grilling witnesses at the Select Committee for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with regards to Askham Bryan College.

Askham Bryan College currently hold controversial plans to shut down and sell Newton Rigg in Penrith to which Barry said they had played a “three card trick” on the people of Cumbria when Newton Bryan acquired Newton Rigg in 2011 when the ‘asset deed’ that Cumbria County Council originally insisted upon to ensure facilities had to remain there for further education purposes, was nullified when Askham Bryan purchased it.

Barry also suggested that Askham Bryan had run down Newton Rigg so it could be sold to raise money that belonged to Cumbria County Council and then use it to prop up a financially failing college.

The full exchange can be viewed below

Barry participates in cladding meeting with leaseholders

Barry joined fellow Brent MP’s Dawn Butler and Tulip Siddiq as well as councillors and leaseholders in a meeting on the ongoing Leasehold scandal.

Barry would like to extend his thanks to all that attended, and especially Lucie Gutfreund of Brent and Camden Cladding Action Group for organising and hosting the meeting.

Barry outlines where he thinks the system is breaking down- at the level of building control. He provides the example of the Capitol Way developments in Brent North, and says the most important thing leaseholders can do is continue to make noise so the Government can recognise what is needed.

Unfortunately, as is often the way with virtual meetings there was a technical issue which affected the end of Barry’s speech. You can watch the whole zoom meeting here and Barry’s contribution below.

Barry gives closing remarks in Democracy Forum event on Environmental and Human Rights threats in Tibet

Barry joined speakers including Professor John Knox, former UN Special Rappoteur on the Right to a Healthy Environment and Delchen Palmo from the Tibet Policy Institute. A 2019 IPCC report found that the ‘Third Pole’ region was warming at a rate three times that of the rest of the world, predicting that 2/3rds of glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau will be gone in the next 80 years unless global temperature rises are curbed. Coupled with China’s destructive tactics, including as highlighted in the discussion the use of dams to prevent water flows and contributing to major droughts in South East Asia, the crisis in the region is upon us.

Barry focused his closing remarks on three areas. Firstly, he stressed the importance of not divorcing climate and environmental struggles from human rights struggles, citing the need to secure land rights frameworks at national and local level and working in consultation with local communities on environmental solutions. Secondly, Barry argued for transparency from companies and Governments not only on their climate risks but also wider environmental risks and impact in their supply chains, highlighting the need for mandatory sustainability reporting as a driver of change. Finally, Barry touched on the importance of this year’s COP15 and COP26 conferences on Biodiversity and Climate respectively, highlighting the importance of cooperation between China and the international community to secure our common future.

Barry gives Special Address at India Smart Grid Forum Smart Utility Week 2021

The India Smart Utility Week has been running since 2015 and is now one of the top events on Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Barry gave a Special Address on the inaugural day alongside distinguished panellists from Government, International Energy Organisations such as ISA and IRENA and business. Barry focused his address on the ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ Initiative launched at the first Assembly of the International Solar Alliance by Prime Minister Modi. Barry highlighted the growth in India’s Renewable Energy sector and how the Initiative will create jobs and attract investment to create a globally interconnected electricity grid.

Barry to join Cladding meeting for Brent Leaseholders- Register to Attend

Cladding meeting for Camden and Brent leaseholders
Tuesday 16th March 6-7pm

Join MPs Tulip Siddiq, Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner, Brent and Camden councillors and End Our Cladding Scandal campaigners in an online webinar discussing current status on key issues for leaseholders affected by the cladding and building safety crisis, the latest government’s funding announcement, planned campaign actions and how you can help.

Follow this link to join- https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86004750570?pwd=RnF3LzQ4TlQ0OHlRR0haY0NoTEl2dz09
Meeting ID: 860 0475 0570
Passcode: 864350

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