Paul Blomfield Former MP for Sheffield Central
Brexit inevitably dominates my week again. After a meeting of our Shadow Brexit team, I’ll be in the Commons Chamber for a statement from the Prime Minister on last week’s Cabinet ‘peace summit’. Friday’s truce lasted two days and Brexit Secretary David Davis’ resignation re-opened the deep rupture within the Tories that has paralysed the negotiations for the last two years.
I’ll be speaking for Labour in a Westminster Hall debate tomorrow on a customs union with the EU and on Thursday afternoon I’ll be on the front bench for an expected statement from the new Brexit Secretary on the publication of the White Paper on the Government’s negotiating aims, which is due to follow a speech in the Prime Minister in the morning, but who knows what might have changed by then!
Beyond Brexit, I will start the week visiting Save the Children’s Pop up Nursery in Parliament, where I will be meeting an early years teacher from Sheffield and talking about how early education can give children the best start in life. On Tuesday, I’ll be meeting with NUS representatives who provide the secretariat to the All-Party Group for Students that I chair. Then I’ll pop along to an event organised by the British Red Cross, which I work with closely on immigration detention.
On Wednesday I’ll be attending the AGM of the All-Party Group on Debt and Personal Finance, of which I am currently Secretary. I have been working with Citizen’s Advice on debt issues around Universal Credit and in the rent-to-own sector. After a meeting with the other Sheffield MPs to discuss local issues, I’ll be at the All-Party Group on Migration for a discussion on how Brexit and the Roma community, and later heading off to watch the game.
After the statement on Thursday, I’ll be heading back to Sheffield. On Friday, I’ll be catching up with my team, meeting with Sheffield Climate Alliance and speaking in the evening at an event for Hope for the Future, a local based charity that runs training to engage people more effectively with lobbying on climate change. Then on Saturday I have one of my monthly advice surgeries.