On the 18th of January 2024, Barry questioned the Residential Freehold Association on their justification for Ground Rents.
Barry said on X, formerly known as twitter,
The Residential Freehold Association, who represent the big landlords, tried to persuade us that Ground Rents were justified & pension funds would suffer if they were abolished. Sorry. Not buying it!
On the 22nd of February 2024 Barry made a speech into the House against the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, describing it as a “sad attempt to sow division and polarise our politics.”
Barry argued that this Bill is a demonstration that the government has “given up governing” and is “out of step with the British people’s priorities”.
“The government is failing to understand that to transition away from fossil fuels, you have to stop producing them”.
Barry is proud to condemn this Bill to the same fate as this Conservative government, “a vote of no confidence”.
Over 5 million people now live in leasehold properties in the UK. Today, on Tuesday the 16th of January 2024, the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill begins its scrutiny stage in Parliament.
The Bill makes it easier for existing leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold but does nothing for millions of leaseholders trapped in properties they cannot sell or afford. The new law fails to end the outdated feudal leasehold system which no longer exists in Scotland.
Barry Gardiner has campaigned to abolish leasehold for over 20 years and is on the Bill Committee that will examine the proposed legislation next week. To highlight his campaign, he has launched a new 40-minute documentary telling the stories of leaseholders trapped in homes they cannot sell or leave. It features residents across England and highlights the imbalance of power that keeps leaseholders’ prisoners in their own homes. The documntary will be released at the end of January.
Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, said “The government’s bill is 133 pages of tinkering with a fundamentally unjust system. Leasehold needs abolishing, not updating. It’s a relic of a feudal system. Every other country has abolished it because it leaves people as tenants in their own homes. It reinforces the imbalance of power between freeholder and leaseholder. I’ve seen it lead to bankruptcy, mental health issues and even suicides. We need an end to leasehold.”
Click here for more information: https://www.leaseholddoc.com/
The 16th of January 2023 sees the first session of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill in its committee stage. Barry being on this committee questioned several panels. The first with Sebastian O'Kelly, CEO, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and Liam Spender, Senior Associate, Velitor Law. The aim of these panels is to gather evidence for the impact of leasehold on verious different stakeholders.
The second featuring the three co-founders of the National Leasehold Campaign, namely Katie Kendrick, Jo Derbyshire and Cath Williams.
The next panel consisted of Professor Nicholas Hopkins, Law Commissioner for property, family and trust law, Law Commission.
On the 14th of December 2023 Barry asked the Leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, to join him in thanking food banks for all the work they do. In particular mentioning the amazing support that the London Community Kitchen and the Sufra Food Bank provides the Brent community.
Barry called on Penny Mordaunt to host a debate in the new year, not just to praise food banks but to make them “redundant”.
Is it right that at a time when Thames Water is failing to provide “key environmental and performance targets” that it still pay out dividends to it’s shareholders, such as Kemble Water Holdings?
This is the question that Barry posed to Thames Water bosses on the 12th of December 2023. This panel featured Alastair Cochran, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Cathryn Ross, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Sir Adrian Montague, Chair.
If Kembell Water faces some financial difficulty, “it would be Thames Water and the bill payers that ended up paying for whatever trouble the holding company go itself into”, in exactly the same way that Macquarie (a former shareholder) did and exactly in the way that Sir Montague claimed was “ancient history” earlier this year.
This session was covered extensively across the media in the BBC, the Telegraph, CityAM, the FT and more. You can read the write up inthe BBC here.
Barry intervened on a speech by former Housing Minister Rachel Maclean to correct her on the history of leasehold legislation in the UK.
Maclean claimed that Labour had failed to introduce leasehold legislation as they “bowed to pressure from the freeholder”, claiming that “we will never know why”.
Barry corrected her, pointing out that it was in fact the House of Lords at the time in the early 2000s, the filled with a majority of Conservatives, that blocked Labour’s leasehold reform. Barry also points out that at this time, 66% of Lords listed on the register of interests that they earned the “majority of their income from the management of land”.
On the 5th of December 2023, Barry, alongside his EAC colleagues, launched the Enviornmental Audit Committee report into the Financial Sector and Net Zero.
This launch was held live from Dubai at COP28 and was done alongside MPs Philip Dunne and Claudia Webb.
You can watch the full launch below:
On the 15th of November 2023 Barry went on the Today Programme to explain why, if a vote is held, he will be voting for a ceasefire today in parliament.
Barry responded to Sir Keir Starmer’s position that a ceasefire would only freeze the situation. On the contrary Barry points out that any ceasefire depends on what is negotiated and will only happen through pressure by the international community.
Dear Constituent,
I share your concern for the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza and was one of the first MPs to publicly call for a ceasefire in the media. If you visit my website you will find links to my appearances on ITV News, BBC Politics Live, and an extended interview on Politics Joe. In all these interviews I make it clear that a ceasefire is the only way to move the situation forward.
You can find these by clicking on the link here:
https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/we-must-take-moral-leadership-and-negotiate-a-ceasefire
https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/barry-tells-itv-news-that-a-ceasefire-can-bring-hope
https://www.barrygardiner.com/barry-on-the-box/working-hard-to-make-people-in-brent-feel-confident-in-their-own-safety
You may know that I was also one of the first signatories of the Early Day Motion 1685, which since the New parliament after the Kings Speech has become EDM1.
This too is on my website at: https://www.barrygardiner.com/policy-responses/protecting-civilians-in-gaza-and-israel-edm-1685
It is likely that there will be a vote in parliament to support a ceasefire this week. If so, I will be voting in favour of the ceasefire.
Yours sincerely,
Barry Gardiner
Member of Parliament for Brent North