It wasn’t so much the red carpet but the House of Commons green carpet that was rolled out for the eBay Business Awards event in Parliament last week. I am delighted that one of my constituents was on it.
Ilana from Shoreham set up her ‘Found So Pretty’ business before the pandemic selling pre-loved clothes and accessories built on her passion for keeping clothes going for longer as an essential part of a sustainable future. For that she received the ‘Above and Beyond’ award as the judges said she is always wiling to go the extra mile for her customers, ensuring items are delivered next day for important events like weddings, funerals and job interviews. Well done Ilana. You can find her at www.foundsopretty.com
We also marked Baby Loss Awareness Week with 2 debates in Parliament about Birth Trauma and Baby Loss. It has become something of a tradition that we highlight these important issues and what more needs to be done to make maternity services safer. It has also become a regular feature of the debates that MPs make often very emotional contributions about their personal experiences which certainly enriches the occasion.
This year was no exception as my colleague Theo Clarke from Stafford recounted what sounded like a very traumatic time having her first baby recently, not helped by some very ignorant criticism she received about her attendance record in Parliament when she was quite righty on maternity leave!
I used the opportunity to challenge ministers again about the continued delays in bringing in the regulations to enact the final part of my Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act which was passed by Parliament right back in 2019 now. The outstanding and very simple measure would empower coroners to be able to investigate stillbirths when there remained questions about the death of a baby before it was born. Recent reviews on avoidable baby deaths in hospital trusts including East Kent and Shrewsbury highlight how important this extra scrutiny could be, so let’s get on with it.
