Barry speaks movingly during the Rare Cancers Bill

Barry spoke movingly today in the House about losing his mother and father to cancer when he was a young boy. Barry said;

“This year, it is 60 years since my father died of oesophageal cancer and 50 years since my mother died of stomach cancer, both of which are rare cancers. If I said that the treatment in those days was rudimentary, I would be lying; it was cruel. What they went through was awful, and it is appalling that only now, 60 years later, are we in this House trying to change that.”

Barry joins Action Aid for "Who pays the price? Bankrolling the climate crisis"

Today, Barry joined Action Aid for their parliamentary event for the launch of their report on who is bank rolling the climate crisis.

UK banks including Barclays and HSBC are financing companies polluting our planet and in the process, harming women’s rights.

ActionAid is campaigning with women’s movements to get these banks to stop funding fossil fuels and industrial agriculture, and to get governments to invest in sustainable alternatives.

Barry joins the call to ban trophy hunting

Barry joined Ban Trophy Hunting for their event which called on the Prime Minister to stop Britain enabling the slaughter of endangered animals. The event marked ten years since the death of Cecil the Lion who was shot and killed on 1st July 2015 by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe, sparking international outrage and renewed scrutiny of the global trophy hunting industry.

Unlike in countries such as the United States, UK law still allows hunters to apply for permits to import the body parts of animals killed abroad, including species listed as endangered.

So long as the hunt is deemed non-commercial and the import classed as a ‘personal’ trophy, permits can be issued for elephants, black rhinos, cheetahs, leopards and other protected species.

The loophole means hunters can legally bring home skins, skulls, and full-body mounts, provided they secure export approval from the country of origin and a corresponding UK import permit.

Barry asks the Foreign Secretary what action he will take against Benjamin Netanyahu

As the Member of Parliament for the largest Jewish school in Europe, Barry thanked the Foreign Secretary for his assurances on safeguarding the community in this country.

Barry also commended the way in which he has diligently pursued a negotiated outcome to this destabilised situation?

He finished by asking the Foreign Secretary, what action will he take against Prime Minister Netanyahu specifically, in order to stop the destabilisation of the Middle East

Barry raises concerns over transparency following US strikes on Iran nuclear sites

Barry raised concerns with the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy today

He outlined that the failure to get transparent information from the United Nations Special Commission and the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission caused untold damage 22 years ago culminating in the Iraq War.

He further asked what discussions the Foreign Secretary has had with Director General Grossi at the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that there is real transparency and real information on which the UK can base any action with regards to Iran

Barry pays tribute to those who died in Air India crash

Barry paid tribute in the House to those who sadly lost their lives in the Air India Plane Crash.

He also thanked the Minister for the way in which his officials have engaged and the help that they have been able to offer to constituents affected in Brent West.

However, some constituents have had problems. The Saiyed family—mother, father and two adult children—were travelling together. Three of the bodies have been identified, but one body has not yet been identified. This is because DNA testing has now been randomised, but Barry urged the Minister to try to do everything he can to ensure that the four bodies can have the necessary funeral arrangements celebrated together, rather than waiting longer.

Barry raises the plight of people in Gaza with the Foreign Secretary

Barry addressed the Foreign Secretary, David Lammy in the Commons today, reminding him that food is the means of life and musn’t be used as a weapon of war.

He agreed the Foreign Secretary was right to call the blockade of aid getting into Gaza as “morally wrong” and if it was to continue, the Foreign Secretary would have to use another word, that word being genocide.

Barry also called for sanctions against Israeli Government Ministers calling for displacement in Gaza and to ‘cleanse’ it.

Barry raises the Global Ocean Treaty

Barry urged the Leader of the House and the government to take leadership on the Global Ocean Treaty. He reiterated that the United Nations ocean conference will take place next month, and the importance that the treaty gets ratification and that “the world is looking at us, and if we want to take leadership on this issue, we need to act.”

Barry congratulates the government on Indian trade deal

Barry congratulated the government today on striking a trade deal with India. He also asked the Minister to recognise the doubling of India’s service and IT exports over the last decade and the benefits that we can gain from engagement and co-operation in respect of the service and knowledge economy, and thought it important for him to outline further what the benefits of the double contribution convention on national insurance will be, and how they will facilitate that engagement and co-operation for our workers in India.

Barry raises concerns over Iranian government pressuring those living in the UK

During a statement on counter terrorism arrests, Barry said a number of Iranian citizens in this country still have relatives in Iran, and it is not beyond the wit of the Iranian Government to use that pressure on them. In requiring the citizens of Iran in this country to report to our Government if they are in any way connected to the Iranian Government, has he taken measures to protect them from exposing their family to the pressure that the Iranian Government may put on them

Barry champions the importance of energy resilience

Barry raised energy resilience in the chamber, outlining that Energy resilience comes from a secure supply of clean and cheap energy and that the major cause of the financial crises that the world has experienced over the last 40 years is the insecurity of supply of the fossil fuel markets, with Ukraine being just the latest case.

He laid out the facts for government, as for cheap, the last Government in answer to a parliamentary question admitted that the levelised cost of gas was £114 per megawatt-hour, whereas offshore wind was £44 per megawatt-hour. As for clean, the House may be aware that wind and solar are not known as great emitters of greenhouse gases. So renewables are clean, cheap and secure. Renewables and resilience go together.

Barry leads debate on Global Deforestation

Barry led a debate on global deforestation this morning in Westminster Hall.

In his speech he reminded those present forests may be home to 80% of land species, but they are also vital to the survival of our own. They produce 40% of the oxygen we breathe, support 1.6 billion livelihoods and play a crucial role in holding back a climate disaster on a massive scale.

He added: The drivers of deforestation are well known. Agricultural expansion remains the single largest cause, and according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, is responsible for 88% of global deforestation. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that it contributes 11% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Similarly, in its report on deforestation in January last year, the Environmental Audit Committee identified what we might call the seven deadly sins of deforestation—the seven commodities that are driving 90% of global deforestation: beef and leather, soy, timber, palm oil, paper, rubber and cocoa

Ending with a flourish, Barry said “We sometimes hear the environment and the economy pitted against each other, as if nature is a subset of the economy. Of course the truth is the other way round, because without nature and the ecosystem services that it provides, there is no economy, and the most vital part of that nature is our amazing forests.”

Barry speaks on North Sea Oil and gas workers

Barry was in Westminster Hall today to talk about North Sea oil and gas workers and the transitional support that will be needed as the U.K shifts towards renewable energy.

Barry acknowledged this by saying that it is a simple truth that the North sea basin is in terminal decline. That is not a political choice; it is a geological reality. For too long, the previous Government buried their head in the sand and watched as jobs supported by the UK’s oil and gas industry more than halved over the past decade. That is why this Government are right to finally draw a line under new licensing and the illusion of endless new oil and gas.

He added that Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund must be laser-focused on building up a thriving manufacturing sector. A properly resourced clean industry bonus is not just good policy; it has the potential to create 10,000 permanent, direct jobs and 13,000 indirect ones in areas that need it,

Barry raises trade leakage on UK-US trade and tariffs

Barry raised trade negotiations with the US with Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Johnny Reynolds asking him What measures he was taking to combat trade leakage and the diversion of goods produced in countries hit by high US tariffs, which may dump their products in the UK, undercutting our domestic producers and what steps is he taking to encourage manufacturers based in those countries and, indeed, in the EU, to relocate to the UK and export from here to the US to take advantage of our lower 10% tariff?