I want to hear from you about fixing our broken SEND system.

If you're the parent or carer of a child in Thurrock with special educational needs or a disability, please fill in my survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/MG8ST6Q

I'm determined that parents' voices are at the heart of the upcoming changes.

I am absolutely determined that children and their families are at the heart of incoming of reforms.

It's great to see the Secretary of State for Education committed to working closely with SEND parents, restoring trust in our broken system. /2

SEND parents are furious that we have to spend time and energy we do not have, fighting against a system designed by successive Conservative governments to deny our children the support they need.

Change is coming under Labour, but after a decade of failure, parents are understandably anxious. /1

I have chosen to sign a reasoned amendment which aims to halt the progress of the government’s welfare bill.

While I recognise the need for reform, I have serious concerns around the impacts of the proposed legislation - particularly for disabled people.

If an unmarried women looses her partner during pregnancy, she must undergo a traumatic legal process to register their name on the child's birth certificate.

I've proposed a bill that seeks to provide a simple process for bereaved mothers, dragging outdated legislation into the 21st century.

This week, I asked Education Minister @cmckinnellmp.bsky.social about the progress in delivering the British Sign Language GCSE.

As Chair of the BSL APPG, I've been working hard with fellow MPs and @bda.org.uk to get this lifechanging qualification introduced at the earliest opportunity.

Brilliant to see the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee taking effect in Thurrock, with eight new neighbourhood officers now on the beat thanks to this funding.

Constituents want visible, local policing. This is an excellent first step, and an important investment in our police force.

For people with learning disabilities or autism, a locked mental health ward can be a living hell.

Under the 1983 Mental Health Act, these conditions alone can be used to justify detention.

I strongly welcome the government’s new Mental Health Bill, which will help end this shameful practise.

Like thousands of other people with a serious mental illness, I've created my own package of care.

Because I deserve to live, and to live well.

We must overhaul community mental health services, to give people with a serious mental illness the ability and right to live the best lives they can. /2

In a debate on the Mental Health Bill, I spoke about my personal experience of serious mental illness.

While I have received good care, this is sadly the exception, and not the rule.

Too often, treatment is patronising, reductive, and inconsistent. /1

Ahead of #VEDay80, I reflected in Parliament on the remarkable social change brought about by the end of the war.

As 300,000 disabled servicemen and women returned home, attitudes toward disability changed – leading to groundbreaking legislation considering the needs of disabled people.

In recent years there’s been a systematic failure to identify and address child sexual abuse in the family – with victims' voices ignored.

I asked @jessphillipsmp.bsky.social how Labour’s strategy on violence against women and girls will tackle this complex form of abuse.

School support staff, teaching assistants, and learning support assistants play a key role in enabling the inclusion of children with SEND in our schools.

I asked @cmckinnellmp.bsky.social what steps the department is taking to upskill the school support workforce to meet the needs of every child.

It’s particularly concerning that we are seeing gambling mechanics embedded into video games.

It's important we understand how children are being exposed to gambling, in order to prevent them developing potentially problematic behaviours from an early age.

In recent years, there’s been an alarming increase in the prevalence of gambling addiction.

With people now bombarded with betting ads and able to gamble from their phones, I asked experts in @commonshealth.bsky.social about how we can safeguard children 📺👇

Responsibility for children's SEND provision falls under several departments.

Historically, policies have been disjointed, with parents forced to piece together support.

I asked the Minister what steps he is talking to make sure this government’s SEND strategy is joined-up and holistic.