Elections Bill Amendments: Accessibility, Inclusivity, Independence and Secrecy

The Elections Bill has just passed, including my amendments which will enable blind voters to vote independently and secretly. Tonight, Monday 25th April, the Elections Bill passed its final stage, Third Reading, in the House of Lords.  The Bill will soon receive Royal Assent and pass into law.   Until now, for so many citizens, …

UK Fintech Week Round Up

What a brilliant and busy week celebrating UK Fintech. As the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen MP, said on Monday “fintech is punching higher and harder”. In his speech he also highlighted progress one year on from the Kalifa Review and I’m particularly delighted that Ron Kalifa himself is chairing the Steering Group …

Blockchain APPG Evidence Meeting – Government, Democracy and Voting

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain held an evidence session considering how distributed ledger technologies (DLT) could support democracy. Chaired by Martin Docherty-Hughes MP, I was delighted to join the discussion and sit on a virtual panel alongside other witnesses: Dr. Luke Riley, Head of R&D, Quant Network Dr. Robert Herian, Associate Professor of …

Report into Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)

Report published I am, today (Wednesday 9th March 2022), publishing a report into the Disabled Students’ Allowance. What is DSA and is it working? As the name suggests DSA is a scheme to support students with a disability to thrive in higher education. It’s a gem of a policy and when it works well, it …

Beijing 2022 Paralympics: Day 4

A day of impressive finishes and close comebacks for Paralympics GB in the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics. Day 4 in Beijing saw two sports out on the snow and ice. Our Para Nordic skiers competed in the Biathlon, while our Wheelchair Curlers were back at the Ice Cube for their latest matches in the round …

Beijing 2022 Paralympic Games: Day 3

Another action-packed day saw Paralympics GB add two more medals to their tally, taking their total to five after just three days – Incredible! There were also massive performances away from the ski slopes, including a best ever result in Para Snowboard for Paralympics GB and a huge win for our Wheelchair Curlers. Another day, …

Winter Paralympics produce history in the Beijing Hills

The Beijing Winter Paralympic Games are flying for Paralympics GB as they mash it up in the mountains above China’s capital city.  And it’s all on Channel 4: The Paralympic Broadcaster. Day 2 – one for the history books!   Paralympics GB continued to shine in the mountains of Beijing on Day 2, with the …

E-Scooters, Dangerous by Design

In July 2020 the Government launched e-scooter trials. E-scooters exploded onto our streets, not just legal e-scooters, run by rental companies as part of the Government trials, but illegal, privately owned e-scooters were suddenly everywhere. A motorised vehicle that could only legally be ridden on private land was killing, often teenage, riders on our roads, …

Access to Cash Crisis

Thousands of bank branches closed Analysis of bank branch closures since 2015 have shown not only that huge numbers of bank branches are closing but also that closures are happening at an accelerating pace. Over 700 bank branches closed last year alone and 220 branches are already scheduled to close this year (2022). In total, …