Preet Kaur Gill - My Weekly Update - 9 May

Preet Kaur Gill MP
1 hour ago
7 min read

UK-US Trade Deal

Keir Starmer announcing the UK-US trade deal at Jaguar Land Rover in Solihull

The UK and the US have agreed to enhance our trading relationship with the Economic Prosperity Deal.

It is the duty of any government to protect the economy and ensure economic security for working people. That is why we have done this deal with the US – the first country to do so – in our national interest.

Car export tariffs will reduce from 27.5% to 10% - saving hundreds of millions a year for Jaguar Land Rover alone. This will apply to a quota of 100,000 UK cars, almost the total the UK exported last year.

The UK steel industry – which was on the brink of collapse just weeks ago – will no longer face tariffs thanks to today’s deal. The Prime Minister negotiated the 25% tariff down to zero, meaning UK steelmakers can carry on exporting to the US. This follows last month’s intervention from the Prime Minister to take control of British Steel to save thousands of jobs in Scunthorpe.

In a win for both nations, we have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef – with UK farmers given a quota for 13,000 metric tonnes. There will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports. We will also remove the tariff on ethanol – which is widely used in our manufacturing sector - coming into the UK from the US, down to zero. Read more here.

JLR

West Midlands MPs with Sir Keir Starmer

On Wednesday, West Midlands MPs met with Jonathan Reynolds to raise the importance of a trade deal with the US to protect British jobs in the automotive sector. The car industry is vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, sustaining 250,000 jobs. Jaguar Land Rover, who have sites in the West Midlands, employs 39,000 people and the US is their biggest export market.

The Business and Trade Secretary assured MPs that he was working very hard to secure a deal with the US. It was great to see Keir Starmer at Jaguar Land Rover’s site in Solihull the following day announcing a deal that will secure the future of our automotive sector and protect hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Farmers

Showing my support for British produce

The deal we signed on Thursday with the US will also protect British farmers and uphold our high animal welfare and environmental standards.

Steve Reed, our Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has always been clear: no hormone-treated beef, no chlorinated chicken. As promised, these products remain illegal in the UK, and that will not change. Nigel Farage, however, has threatened to sell our farmers down the river by allowing chicken washed in chlorine and reared in appalling conditions to flood the UK market, which threatens to put British producers out of business.

What's more, for the first time ever, the Government has secured exclusive access for UK beef farmers to the US market. You can read more here.

UK-India Trade Deal

With Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds

The UK has secured the biggest deal we have made since leaving the EU and the best deal India has ever agreed, providing businesses with security and confidence to trade with the fastest-growing economy in the G20.

This deal supports the UK’s world-leading high-growth sectors identified in the Industrial Strategy. It will slash tariffs for the UK. Whisky and gin tariffs will be halved from 150% to 75% before reducing to 40% by year ten of the deal, while automotive tariffs will go from over 100% to 10% under a quota.

This will be measured in billions of pounds into our economy and jobs across the whole of the United Kingdom. Our trade deal will raise living standards, put more money in the pockets of British working people, and deepen the unique ties between our two nations. Read more here, and my thread on National Insurance contributions here.

Interest Rates Cut

Under the Tories, interest rates skyrocketed, putting your mortgage up. Today interest rates have been cut for the fourth time in a row since Labour was elected, from 4.5% to 4.25%. For someone on a variable rate mortgage that can mean around £100 a month off mortgage payments. You can read more here.

Data Bill

My speech in the House about the Data Bill

I recognise the incredible power of data, that’s why I tabled two amendments to the Data (Use and Access) Bill on the need to record ethnicity data for Sikhs and Jews.

Jews and Sikhs have been legally recognised as ethnic groups for over 40 years since the Mandla v Dowell Lee case in 1983. This was reaffirmed in the Equality Act 2010, where they are considered as both religious and ethnic groups.

As protected characteristics, you would expect that public bodies are instructed to routinely collect information on Jews and Sikhs. But they are not. In recent years, Sikhs and Jews have only been recorded in religious data.

If some communities are invisible to public bodies, how can we expect them to be served equally?

GP Surgeries

Outside Jiggins Lane medical centre

The Government has announced that patients will benefit from over 8.3 million more GP appointments each year as over a thousand doctor’s surgeries will receive vital upgrades and refurbs.

Lordswood House Medical Centre, Bartley Green Medical Practice, Quinborne Medical Centre, and Ridgacre House Medical Centre in Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency will benefit from the £102 million funding boost.

My constituents tell me their frustration after enduring the dreaded ‘8am scramble’ and the difficulty that they have in getting a GP appointment. I promised Labour would help bring back the family doctor – with 1,500 new GPs recruited already, I’m delighted that our Labour Government is starting to deliver on that promise.

I have written to all the surgeries will be meeting with them to ensure that the Government's investment is delivered locally. You can see my letters to the surgeries below.

I urge constituents to get in touch with me if they are struggling to get a GP appointment. Read more here.

Justice

*At a morning briefing with West Midlands Police*

For too long, cowardly criminals have got away with not facing their victims in court. Our Labour Government is compelling perpetrators to attend their sentence hearings, and be punished for refusing to do so. This government is going further and giving judges the power to impose a range of prison sanctions on top of additional years on their sentence to ensure heinous criminals who refuse to attend can be appropriately punished.

The powers of the Victims’ Commissioner will also be strengthened, empowering them to play a greater role in individual cases and requiring them to produce an independent report on compliance with the Victims’ Code.

This Bill will deliver long overdue reforms to ensure victims see justice done and are given the vital support they need as they rebuild their lives. Read more here.

VE Day

Outside Downing Street with members of the military

This week, we celebrated 80 years since VE Day – May 8th 1945, when the war against Nazi Germany ended. We honour the courage of those who served and the lives lost in the fight for freedom.

Ahead of VE day, the Government announced that veterans across the UK will have easier access to essential care and support under a new VALOUR system.

The new VALOUR network will deliver easier access to care and support with new regional networks connecting housing, employment and health services in every corner of the UK. Backed by £50m of funding, VALOUR will foster the enterprising spirit of veteran charities, better connect local and national services and ensure veterans’ support is truly data driven. Read more here.

On VE Day, I remember my grandfather who fought in Burma during WWII. Over 80,000 Sikhs served in the British Indian Army, fighting with courage in Europe, North Africa and Asia. Their legacy of sacrifice and valour must never be forgotten.

India and Pakistan

Asking a question on Jammu and Kashmir in the House

I know many of my constituents will be concerned about current tensions between India and Pakistan. The UK has close and unique relationships with both countries, and I know some of my constituents will have family in India and Pakistan.

The Foreign Secretary is urging India and Pakistan to show restraint and engage in direct dialogue to find a swift, diplomatic path forward. If this escalates, no one wins. Read more here.

I have spoken to the Minister asking for urgent peace talks via the United Nations Security Council.

Melanoma

Meeting Melanoma Focus

It was great to speak to Melanoma Focus, the UK's leading melanoma charity.

More than five sunburns doubles your risk of melanoma skin cancer. Protect your skin from the sun.

Local News

Buses

This week, plans to bring our buses back into public ownership in the West Midlands have been approved.

For too long, our buses have been run for private profits, not public good. Today, that changes.

The public have been clear - they want a better bus service under public control. Labour promised to take back control of our buses - and today's decision shows we're delivering on that promise.

Tram Plan

With Mayor Richard Parker

It's great news that an ambitious £1 billion proposal to build a new tram line has been announced to improve connectivity across Birmingham. The Metro line would link east Birmingham to north Solihull, going through the city centre, Digbeth and Bordesley Green and past sites like Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre. It’ll terminate at the HS2 interchange at Arden Cross. It would also serve the new Birmingham City FC Stadium and a sports quarter that’s expected to open by 2030. You can read more here.

Coffee Morning

Next Saturday, 17th May, I will be doing a coffee morning in Bartley Green at St Michael and All Angels, 96 Romsley Road, Birmingham, B32 3PS, from 10am-11am.

Please do come along if you are a constituent and would like to chat about the issues that matter most to you.

Flytipping

Environmental Secretary Steve Reed

So many of you write to me about flytipping blighting our constituency, that’s why I welcome the government launching a new crackdown on cowboy waste operators. We will tackle soaring fly-tipping and clean up Britain’s streets, lanes and rural areas by getting councils to work with the police to identify, seize and crush vehicles of waste criminals. Drones and mobile CCTV cameras will be deployed to identify cars and vans belonging to fly-tippers so they can be destroyed.

In addition, waste cowboys will now face up to five years in prison for operating illegally. Read more here.

PMQs

If you are a constituent of mine and would like tickets to attend Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament, please do get in touch with my office at preet.gill.mp@parliament.uk.

Best wishes,

Preet Kaur Gill MP

Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston, covering Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, North Edgbaston and Quinton

Preet Kaur Gill for
Birmingham Edgbaston

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