At the end of May I visited South Africa with Shadow Africa

Minister Liz McInnes to renew Labour’s relationship with our

sister party the African National Congress. This was the first

senior Labour Party visit to South Africa since 2008, and it

came at a very pivotal time as the leaders of both South

Africa and neighbouring Zimbabwe have recently been

replaced.

At the South African Parliament in Cape Town I had the

pleasure of meeting the Speaker Baleka Mbete, Chief Whip

Jackson Mthembu and other leading figures in our the ruling

ANC. We discussed their optimistic visions of South Africa

under the new President Ramaphosa. Our ANC colleagues

made it clear that they want South Africa to return to the

world stage, by pursuing a temporary seat on the UN

Security Council, and using the country’s position on the UN

Human Rights Council to promote a vision of international

human rights inherited from Nelson Mandela.

In addition to political meetings, I visited charity workers

who gave me an insight into the challenges South African

society is facing. In Cape Town I visited projects run by

Masicorp, an NGO which provides early years support,

education programmes, and vocational courses in the

Masiphumelele Township. In Johannesburg I took part in a

discussion on urban design and social justice with the

Nelson Mandela Foundation. The campaigners gave me an

insight into the stark realities of segregation, political

disenfranchisement, and lack of basic utilities which many

poor South Africans face, particularly those who live in urban

informal settlements. I came away from my trip feeling that

while there are many challenges still facing South Africa, the

change in leadership has given the country a renewed

determination to bring about social and political progress.

We have offered the ANC the Labour Party’s assistance.

Constituency Report (June 2018)

Visit to South Africa

Baleka Mbete and Jackson Mthembu,

28th May

Albi Sachs, 27th May

Meeting ANC Parliamentarians, 28th

May

South Africa Meetings

27th May

Albi Sachs, anti-apartheid activist and former

Constitutional Court judge

28th May

Richard Calland, political analyst

Chris Nissen, Commissioner, South African Human

Rights Commission

Lawson Naidoo, constitutional rights campaigner

and a leader of the Save South Africa campaign

Beatie Hofmeyr, National Manager of the

Education and Training Unit for Development and

Democracy

29th May

Carol Hanks, Milli Firth, and Fiona Maitland,

Directors of Masicorp

ANC Parliamentarians Hon Masango, Hon Boroto,

Hon Maloyi, Hon Carrim, Hon Fubbs, and Hon

Makue

Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, South African

Ambassador to the United States 2010-2015

30th May

Ben Llewellyn-Jones, British Deputy High

Commissioner to South Africa

Sinead Delany-Moretlwe, Associate Professor and

Director of Research at the Wits Reproductive

Health and HIV Institute

31st May

Professor William Gumede – Associate Professor,

School of Governance at Wits University, Executive

Chairperson of Democracy Works Foundation

Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, ANC elections general

manager

Donovan Cloete, ANC Head of Communications

Dr Showers Mawowa, from the South Africa

Liaison Office

Gabriel Shumba, Advocate of the High Court of

South Africa

Dr Clever Chikwanda, former Southern African

Development Community Secretariat

Professors Toni Griffin, David Harvey, Edgar

Pieterse, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mandisa Dyanti, Deputy General Secretary of the

Social Justice Coalition

1st June

Sir Nigel Casey, British High Commissioner to

South Africa

Sacred Heart College Students, with Liliesleaf

Trust

Trevor Manuel, Former Finance Minister

Maria Ramos, CEO Absa Group

Students from Sacred Heart College,

with Liz McInnes MP, 1st Jun

Visiting a Masicorp project,29th May

Standing up for my constituent Shao Jiang

In May I lead for Labour in a debate about the British

government’s decision to abstain from a UN vote on

whether to conduct an independent investigation into the

horrendous violence in Gaza.

This government’s dereliction of duty on the world stage

is part of a worrying trend of letting those countries it

considers allies get away with rampant breaches of

international law. From Saudi war crimes in Yemen to

allegations of torture in Bahraini prisons, this

government continually allows allies to act with impunity.

Calling for Israel to investigate itself in this matter, as the

government has done, makes a mockery of international

law and the international community more widely.

Yemen APPG Report Launch

On the 22nd of May I had the privilege of being the

keynote speaker at the All Party Parliamentary Group for

Yemen’s report launch.

The war in Yemen has had a devastating impact on the

local population, with the air and naval blockade resulting

in severe food shortages and rampant cholera amongst

the civilian population. I was pleased to see that this

report has echoed so much of what I have been saying in

the chamber over the past few years.

The recommendations of this report highlight the steps

our government must take to help alleviate the suffering

of Yemeni civilians. In particular, the Tory government

must urgently support a ceasefire in the port city of

Hodeidah, where almost 600,000 civilians still live.

On the 14th of June I spoke at City University’s Women on

Air conference. This conference celebrates women in

broadcasting and acts as a forum to discuss how best to

increase women’s voices in the media.

I noted in my speech that in broadcasting, like in

Parliament, progress in gender equality is measured in

decades rather than years. One survey found that for every

woman interviewed on a broadcast UK news programme,

ten men were interviewed.

Despite this gross imbalance in coverage my female Labour

colleagues and I continue to argue our case in print, on the

radio, and on television, and we will not be shouted down.

Women on Air Conference

Cally Festival, 17th Jun

Urgent Question on Gaza

Urgent Question on Gaza, 22nd May

Yemen APPG Report Launch, 22nd May

In the constituency and out campaigning

18th May: Islington Square site visit

23rd May: East Worthing and Shoreham CLP

Fundraiser

6th Jun: Trade Unions Congress 150th

Anniversary Reception

13th Jun: Safe Passage Parliamentary lobby

15th Jun: Islington Housing Strategy meeting

with Cllr Richard Watts and Jeremy Corbyn

15th Jun: Farringdon Station Crossrail Open

Day

17th Jun: Cally Festival

17th Jun: North London Prabhati Sangha

(NLPS) Boishakhi

19th Jun: Commemoration of Finsbury Park

Mosque Attack at Islington Town Hall

Foreign affairs meetings and work in parliament

16th May: Toni Pearce, Oxfam Head of

Government Relations

17th May: Dr Waqar Azmi, Chair of Remembering

Srebrenica

17th May: Working Lunch hosted by Italian

Ambassador

18th May: Lord Paul Boateng

18th May: Ms Nomatemba Tambo, South African

High Commissioner

21st May: Brownen Maddox, Director of Institute

for Government

21st May: Urgent Question on Gaza UN Vote

Abstention

22nd May: Yemen APPG Report Launch

23rd May: Julian Weinberg, Forward Thinking

23rd May: John Battersby, Director of South Africa

Chamber of Commerce UK

24th May: Visit to US Embassy

24th May: Lee Cheuk Yan, Vice Chairman Hong

Kong Labour Party

24th May: Mrs. Jutta Urpilainen, Finland’s Foreign

Minister’s Special Representative on Mediation

24th May—3rd Jun: South Africa Visit

6th Jun: Cycling APPG MPs Bike Ride

6th Jun: Jamie Angus, Director of BBC World

Service

6th Jun: Nuclear Test Veterans campaign event

7th Jun: Roundtable with Cyprus High

Commissioner

12th Jun: Shadow Foreign Office team meeting

with Jeremy Corbyn

18th Jun: Iranian Ambassador, with Jeremy Corbyn

19th Jun: Jamie McGoldrick, oPt Humanitarian

Coordinator for the UN

19th Jun: Reprieve with Shami Chakrabarti

Media appearances have included…

13th Jun: Newsnight

14th Jun: City University Women on Air conference

17th Jun: Andrew Marr Show

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

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