This week:

I went to the September meeting of Full Council.

• The council agreed to make the changes in governance that I am concerned will make the councl even less democratic.
• The council also agreed a motion to do more to end violence against women and girls, including working with survivors and services In Newcastle to understand the impact and asking schools to provide education on healthy relationships.
• There was also a vote calling for the council to withdraw from the Tees Valley Incinerator Project I supported this because I am concerned that the claims about the positive environmental impact of the incinerator and the potential for carbon capture – an as yet unproven technology – have been overstated and we need to rethink.
• People Against Rafael presented their petition to council calling for an investigation into Pearson Engineering, which is owned by the Israeli State, and which they are concerned may be being used to make weapons used in the genocide in Gaza. The council agreed to send the petition to the government. I hope that there is a full and speedy investigation and, that if the suspicions are correct, they are acted on. Our city cannot be party to war crimes.

On Saturday I attended an event organised by Standing Together, an organisation that brings together Palestinians and Israelis to work for peace and equality. It was immensely moving to hear from people from the Parents CIrcle Family Forum who, despite immense personal loss have chosen to “transform their pain into a force for reconciliation, dialogue, and peace“.

Continued to support residents with housing, bin and asb issues