Letter from Parliament - Tony Lloyd MP

A bill  about organ donation has started its Parliamentary journey - about increasing the number of lives saved as a result.

I had a meeting about the Rochdale Citizens' Advice Bureau, which saw over 2,000 people last year about a variety of issues requiring legal advice. 

I had a meeting with Disability Confident about employers treating the needs of those with disabilities seriously and reducing prejudice. This applies to employees who are already working, but also any future employees .

I spoke in support of a debate about regulating cannabis for medicinal use. It has nothing to do with whether it is right or wrong to use as a recreational drug, but entirely about its use as a medicine. The government is stupidly resilient to change the law around this.

There is a young boy, Alfie Dingley who has epilepsy. The Home Office has denied a request for medicinal cannabis oil, which he was given in the Netherlands and subsequently reduced his seizures. His parents should not have to risk breaking the law: people can differentiate between morphine and heroin, which morphine is derived from, but they can not with cannabis. 

I met with the teachers union about national education funding. Rochdale has lost a lot of funding over the years, an average of over £200 per pupil which when multiplied by every child in the class really adds up.

I met with an organisation about the need for houses being better equipped for disabilities. They do good work fighting for new homes to be built that are easy to convert to accommodate disabilities, such as widening door frames for wheelchairs. It's cost effective to do this when they are built.

I met with the United Nations' Assistant Secretary General of Human Rights, who talked about troubled spots around the world and what needs doing to address these issues. 

I raised the issue of ticket touts in Parliament. Touts who buy and flog tickets online at inflated prices are supposed to have been stopped. It's wrong that touts can get all the tickets and and mark them up in this way. The Republic of Ireland is looking at introducing legislation around this and I'll be watching with interest to see what happens. 

I met with some local women who are looking for justice after they, or their mothers, took Primodos when pregnant. Primodos was an oral pregnancy test drug administered during the 1960s and 70s and has been linked with severe health defects and deformities. 

The appalling conditions in Liverpool prison were raised in Parliament. I spoke as some Rochdale and Greater Manchester residents are in there. The conditions are horrendous with rats and broken windows, three to a cell and a communal toilet. Whatever people think about prison, those conditions are gross and unacceptable. 

I spoke in a debate about air quality. The government lose a case in the courts again recently. When I was interim mayor of Greater Manchester, I did a lot of work on this, specifically about scrapping old vehicles that produce a lot of pollution. 

I also held my advice bureau. 

This weekend I will be in Milnrow with the local Labour party and attending a meeting with members of the Bangladeshi community.