One of the reasons I am really proud to be MP for Islington South & Finsbury is that we are very international and we take a world view.
I receive letters and e-mails from constituents about a huge range of international issues like international development and the situation in the Middle East.
I have been working in Parliament for more action to deal with problems like HIV/AIDS. I am proud of the strong leadership and sizeable funding the UK has provided in the fight against AIDS, but I believe the Government can still do more to ensure people around the world have access to affordable generic versions of crucial AIDS drugs. To that end, I have written to Gordon Brown urging him to push for an international agreement to help us we reach the goal of universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010. You can read more about the Stop AIDS Campaign here.
During the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006 I spoke in Parliament and with other MPs called for an immediate ceasefire in a letter to The Guardian. I was especially concerned about violence being directed at civilians in Gaza and Lebanon as well as Israel.
With parliamentary delegations organised by the Council for Arab-British Understanding and Labour Friends of Israel, I have been on two fact-finding visits to Israel and the West Bank to see for myself the situation on the ground (see the link below for my blogs from those trips). I met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and was shocked by the scale of the deprivation I saw. I welcome the Government’s provision of humanitarian and financial help in Gaza, but it is clear the borders must be opened further to allow Gazans to rebuild their homes and vital services, and I am pleased the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for International Development have said they are pressuring Israel to do so.
I have also been campaigning for Parliament to have the power to decide whether we go to war. When he was Leader of the House of Commons, the late Robin Cook ensured that there was a vote before the war on Iraq. Before I became an MP I marched against the Iraq War, and now that I’m in Parliament I would like to see a change in the law so that Parliament rather than the Prime Minister decides whether we go to war.
On the issue of Trident, I am firmly opposed to the renewal of our nuclear weapons. It is a waste of £76 billion that could be better spent on ending child poverty (see my 2009 Budget speech). More importantly I do not believe we should have weapons designed to kill millions of civilians.
