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Emily Thornberry MP AGM Report November 2014

Our reputation in Europe: the Human Rights Act

I visited the European Court of Justice and the

European court of Human Rights. It would not

be an understatement to say that I met people

who were completely bemused but the attitude

of the Tory Government.

Questions people at the Courts asked me

included:

At the European Court of Justice

Do they really want to leave the

European Union? Can it possibly be in

British interests? Don’t they realise the

effect this will have on the British

economy.

Why is our judgement on “benefit

tourism” on the front page of all your

newspapers? Why are they saying it’s a

victory for Cameron? All that happened was

that we stated what the law is and has

been.

At the European Court of Human Rights

Why does the Lord Chancellor say none of

our judges are legally qualified?

Why are they trying to fight with us—we only

held against the UK three times last year?

The European Declaration of Human Rights

is a largely British document, we are

spreading basic standards across 47

countries, why does the British Government

object to this so much?

Are they really going to scrap the Human

Rights Act? We regularly rely on the wisdom

of decisions in your Supreme Court when

making our judgements.

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Local Elections

We had amazing local election result in

Islington South and Finsbury.

When I was first elected as an MP there was

not a single Labour Councillor in Islington

South. After a great deal of work that we’ve

done collectively we have managed to turn that

result around. We haven’t won an election with

three Councillors in Clerkenwell since 1974.

Future Campaigning

I am grateful to the dozens of people who have

been helping to deliver my Annual Report to

41,000 households in Islington South. With the

General Election less than 6 months away we

need to continue campaigning both in Islington

and around the country to secure a Labour

Government.

Results by ward

Barnsbury

Clerkenwell Bunhill

St Peter’s

Caledonian

Holloway St Mary’s

Canonbury

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National Campaigning

Rugby East Dumbartonshire

Cambridge Bristol West

Rochester and Strood Norwich North

Harrow East Cardiff Central

Wythenshaw and Sale East

North East Somerset

Brighton Pavillion

Rugby

Stevenage

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National Campaigning

Norwich North and South Erewash

LSE London Young Labour

Glasgow Finchley and Golders Green

Bristol Labour Kent Labour

Cardiff North Cambridge Labour

As well as:

Brent Central

Lewisham

Hornsey and Wood Green

Bristol North East

Birmingham

Swindon North and South

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Major events in 2014

Constituency work

Fought the closure of Clerkenwell Fire Station

Fought the closure of Highbury and Islington

Post Office

Fought the proposed housing development at

Mount Pleasant

Raised concerns of safety on the tube after

staff loses and longer opening hours

Supported the British Postal Museum

Launched Labour’s Childcare Policy in

Islington

Worked with the Foreign Office to secure the

safety of a UK citizen who seems to have

been illegally rendered and now faces the

death penalty in Ethiopia.

Welcomed the 999 NHS March from Jarrow

as it passed through Islington.

Attended a reception after Arsenal won the FA

Cup

Campaigned in Islington for the Local

Elections

Hosted fundraisers in Islington

Attended the first ever same sex marriage in

Islington

Parliamentary work

Pushed for the prosecution of Bernie

Eccelstone

Held the CPS to account on rape prosecutions

Exposed the fall in prosecutions for Violence

against Women and Girls

Launched Labour’s Proceeds of Crime policy

Closedthe Home Affairs section for the

Opposition during the Queen’s Speech

Gave advice on DRIP, war in Iraq and Syria.

Voted to recognise Palestine

Defended the Human Rights from Tories’

attack

Labour Party Conference

Visited ECHR and ECJ

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Constituency Work

Held surgeries and coffee mornings in the

constituency

Spoke at the Battle of Ideas on the rule of law

Was lobbied on violence against women and

girls and gave a talk on how lobby MPs

Met with the local Rabbi

Attended an Alzheimer's event with local

constituents

Met with the Islington Mental Health Service

Attended Remembrance Services at Islington

Green and Spa Green

Met with Islington Clinical Commissioning

Group

Joined local councillors and school children

celebrating the introduction of the Living

Wage for Islington’s carers.

Media Appearances

Guardian, Comment is Free, Sunday Mirror,

Financial Times, Metro, Times, Independent,

Sun, BBC News Website, Huffington Post

Today, Newsnight, Channel 4 Newss, Radio 5,

ITV Late Debate, ITV and BBC Regional News

Shadow Cabinet Activities and Parliamentary work

Attended meetings of the Shadow Cabinet

Attended meetings of the Shadow Justice

Team and the Legislation Committee

Spoke at Justice’s Annual Human Rights

Conferene

Met with Nia Griffiths MP and a constituent

about potential fraud cases

Met with Transparency International

Spoke at the launch of the University of Law’s

apprenticeship scheme

Spoke at the Women’s PLP on Human Rights

Visited the ECHR and ECJ

Campaigning

Campaigned in St Mary’s, Cannonbury,

Caledonian, St Peter’s and Holloway

Spoke at London Young Labour’s

Parliamentary reception

Spoke at Lewisham CLP’s GC

Hosted a fundraiser in Islington

House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA thornberrye@parliament.uk 020 7697 9307 (2-5pm on Mon, Tues, Thurs)

My Diary - October/November 2014