Joe Powell MP

What do Reform actually believe in? They promised to cut council tax, but where they run councils from Kent to Durham they've increased it. Their shadow team is arguing amongst themselves on social media about their immigration policy.

It's vital justice is delivered as swiftly as possible for Grenfell bereaved and survivors. Today I asked @elliereeves.bsky.social to ensure the government works with the judiciary to prepare for when charges are confirmed next year, so that there are not further delays in the courts.

Something really exciting is coming to Golborne. I was lucky enough to see the work going on behind the scenes at what will be a state-of-the-art new medical centre on Kensal Road.

Thank you to everyone who came to my recent surgery at Action Disability Kensington & Chelsea. If you have a problem I can help with and you want to speak to me, just email me at joe.powell.mp@parliament.uk to book an appointment.

I'm delighted our campaign to tackle criminality on our high streets has taken a big step forward with the Government setting up a new high street crime fighting unit to lead a nationwide blitz on dodgy shops.

This week there was an important update from the Met Police regarding their investigation into the Grenfell Tower Fire. I spoke to Rags Martel at ITV about the announcement.

Big news today for drivers. We're extending the cut on fuel duty for the rest of the year, and we’re saving truck drivers £600. Global events have pushed up prices, but the goverment is acting to protect the public from the cost of living crisis.

A great visit to Holmfield House Family Hub on Golborne Road last week - a welcoming, supportive space doing fantastic work with local families.

Great to visit Sheraine and the team at the Response Community Project in Earl's Court. Grassroots organisations like this really are the pillars of our community, and the £1.8m from the Mayor of @london.gov.uk and The National Lottery will mean the Loved and Wanted programme can continue to thrive

A brilliant visit to St Francis of Assisi this week, an amazing school with dedicated, caring teachers and staff who do so much for their pupils and our community. It was great to see the breakfast club in action, making a real difference for children and families -

As Chair of Labour Friends of Morocco I'm proud of the excellent British-Moroccan candidates standing in local elections in Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster on 7 May. Have a listen to some of their priorities, and the progress we're making on strengthening the UK-Morocco partnership.

From today, over 26,000 renters in Kensington & Bayswater have stronger rights. ❌ No more no-fault evictions 💸 Limits on rent increases 💰 No bidding wars 🐾 Easier to have pets ✅ Applying the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector 💪🏻 Improving Council enforcement powers & much, much more

This government is protecting people in the short-term, and making the right long-term decisions to secure our energy independence and bring down bills.

My message to Admiral and Silvertime: We don’t want your slot machine casinos in our community. End of. Yesterday I was proud to support an amendment that I’ve long campaigned for - to give local communities more power to object to multiple gambling premises causing serious cumulative harm.

For too long, gambling companies have been allowed to take over high streets and harm our communities. That changes today. Tonight we'll be voting to give more power to local communities and to halt the gambling takeover.

I was delighted to visit Ark Brunel this week where I got to speak to kids and staff about their free breakfast club - and to see it in action! We now have seven government-supported school-based breakfast clubs in our community which is brilliant news - saving parents up to £450 a year...

Amazing to see such a big community turnout for the campaign against Silvertime expanding into a former bank site opposite Earl's Court station, including human rights advocate Bianca Jagger. We must stop the takeover of our high streets by slot machines and casinos.

It's a tragedy for North Kensington and the surrounding area that the much-loved Pembridge Hospice has been closed to inpatients for several years now. The new West-North London ICB should act urgently to locate new enhanced care beds in areas of need, such as at Pembridge in North Ken.

Great news for Lancaster Gate! Tomorrow, Hallfield Primary School will be opening a new government-backed free breakfast club, giving parents more options and ensuring children have a healthy start to the day.

Great news for North Kensington! Bevington Primary School will be opening a new school-based nursery in September. This is backed by funding from the Labour Government and will mean parents are able to access affordable childcare for the hours they need.

I’m glad that this morning the PM condemned the disgusting comments made by Reform’s housing chief Simon Dudley. He has rightly been sacked.

In the next 5 weeks people across this country will feel a tangible positive difference thanks to the changes this Labour government is making: 💰 Increasing the National Minimum Wage ❤️‍🩹 Freezing prescription costs 🚂 Freezing rail fares for the first time in 30 years 💵 Increasing the State Pension...

In Lancaster Gate, our (extremely!) hard-working Labour Councillors have delivered for the community - bringing back Council funded CCTV, investing in our high streets, a new playground on Hallfield, enforcing renters' rights, new public toilets and much more.

Big developments in the U.S. have just put a spotlight on the risks that children face online, with platforms like Instagram and YouTube found to be deliberately addictive. This should concern all of us.

Today's news that the Mayor of London will provide £4.66M for the 60th Notting Hill Carnival is hugely welcome. It will ensure a well organised and safe carnival can go ahead.

Reform have been bank rolled by overseas residents who made their fortune in Crypto, flirted with Elon Musk over a $100M donation and now Nigel Farage is investing £200k of his money into Kwasi Kwarteng's Crypto company.

Residents at St Joseph's Close in Golborne have battled ASB, fly tipping, illegal parking and waste spills for years. Working with brilliant residents like Amal and local Councillors, I was pleased that the housing provider installed a new electric gate and proper covers for the bins.

Yesterday's attack on Hatzola ambulances - a Jewish charity that does amazing work for the community in North London - is an attack on all of us. As politicians we have to call out the rise in antisemitism wherever we see it.

🥧 🥧 🥧 Is your order a single, a double, or even a treble? Watch to see what the Leader of the Commons likes to order 👀 This week I took our Save Cockney’s Pie & Mash campaign to Parliament. Cockney’s on Portobello Road isn’t just a pie and mash shop - it’s part of the fabric of our community.

90 days ago the Prime Minister rightly issued a deadline to my former constituent Roman Abramovich to release more than £2.5 billion from the sale of Chelsea FC for Ukraine today.

Last night the Grenfell Memorial passed through the House of Commons, giving the authority for the Government to provide the funding for a fitting memorial and it's upkeep, in addition to an archive and exhibition.

I welcome yesterday's announcement that the Ethics & Integrity Commission will conduct a review into reforms to strengthen our democracy, including overdue tightening of lobbying rules. This is something I have advocated for over many years in light of the Greensill/David Cameron scandal and others.

I’m deeply concerned at media reports that the new Ayatollah has a London property empire including in Kensington & Bayswater. It’s vital sanctions are urgently considered - and this is an example of the importance of an accurate foreign property register to clamp down on dirty money in our capital.

Should the government take action on children and smartphone use? 📱 Sign up to my newsletter to hear first about my event on the topic 🎟️ Just click the link in my bio or email me at joe.powell.mp@parliament.uk 📧

Brilliant Labour Councils like Westminster deserve to be re-elected on their own record of building more council housing and investing in CCTV to improve public safety.

It's time to take the next step to support Ukrainian children in the UK by introducing formal language qualifications, including bringing back the Ukrainian GCSE. No more offering Ukrainian children a GCSE in Russian.

Learning to cook delicious and healthy meals at school is so important - so I loved seeing the collaboration between the brilliant St Clement and St James Primary School and Leiths cookery school recently, and meeting Dame Prue Leith herself to discuss the nationwide rollout of support to schools.

As we mark four years since the illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine I have one simple message for Roman Abramovich: pay up what you owe Ukraine from the Chelsea FC sale now.

Thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday to mark four years since Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. I joined to express my solidarity for those fighting on the frontline of freedom and democracy in Europe.

We need more transparency and accountability in public life. I came into politics after a decade working on open government and anti-corruption around the world. I believe people want to see power closer to them, not a perception of elite capture and influence peddling.

Victims deserve swift justice, but too often the system is letting people down with a backlog of 80,000 in the crown court, meaning many wait years for their day in court. The status quo is not defensible.

We are cleaning up the e-bike mess. 🧹 Hundreds of people have written to me about dockless e-bikes clogging pavements. Badly parked e-bikes like these are a real nuisance for pedestrians and cyclists, and for people with disabilities or additional mobility needs, they can block homes and streets.

Jimmy Lai's family - my constituents - are devastated by today's sentencing.

I have been deeply moved to hear from Iranian residents across Kensington & Bayswater in recent weeks about the appalling attacks many of their friends and family have been victims of in Iran.

Last week, the government published the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill - a major step towards our manifesto commitment to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end as we know it. Here are six things to look out for in the Bill.

🚇 Fantastic news for our campaign to make South Ken station step free! Since elected I've been leading this campaign & I’m delighted that the Mayor & TfL have agreed to back our campaign to modernise the station, taking full advantage of the multi-year funding settlement from this Labour Government.

Thames Water needs to be transparent with residents, following the major flood at Lorne Gardens. People are in temporary accommodation as a result. We need to know how this happened and we need to know that it won’t happen again. I will be pressing Thames Water for answers in the coming weeks.

From Earl's Court, to Notting Hill Gate, Queensway and across Kensington & Bayswater, I have been supporting residents to halt the gambling takeover of our high streets. We've had some wins, but the RBKC approval of a new casino just before Christmas shows there is a lot more work to do.