Easter is always a wonderful time of year, I always enjoy coming back from Parliament for the easter recess, driving along the main road in Ryton to see the trees blossom, with the darker nights a thing of the past. I’m sure it gives all…
The last week has been incredibly worrying overseas and in the middle east. The escalation of air strikes in and from Iran have led to several UK residents overseas being stuck. Increasingly there have been reckless strikes from the…
Festive decorations may be up, but things are far from winding down in Westminster. The Budget, delivered on November 26, has set the stage for a busy advent period as MPs like me will be spending December unpacking its contents. There is…
“We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency, or we can choose division, renewal or decline.” These were the words spoken by Keir Starmer from the lectern in his…
The start of September is a busy time for parents. As children return to the classroom, I know many families in my constituency will be rushing around to make sure that they have everything ready for the new school year. It’s a good time…
Shotley Bridge Hospital’s Urgent Treatment centre is closed over night for a 3 month period while Durham and Darlington Trust assess the situation. I am concerned that this will have a direct impact on my constituents and residents in the…
As Parliamentarians, we are always looking at ways to support our constituents. The people, businesses, schools and organisations that make up our communities deserve the strongest voice, and it is my job to ensure that they are heard. So…
So, what has a Labour Government done in a year? The short answer is a huge amount – wages and employment are up, and NHS waiting times have fallen. Labour have been taking steps since day one to ensure that everyone in our country can…
We’ve passed the first anniversary of Rishi Sunak standing on Downing Street in the pouring rain announcing a General Election. A year that has both seemed to have flown by, yet has seen so many difficult headlines. From the heartbreak in…
It’s official, we have a new hospital approved for the people of Blaydon and Consett. January proved one thing – we finally have a Government willing to listen. Trust in our nation’s politics has been damaged time and time again over the…
It is a sign of modern Britain that we can look back at our history and see moments in which glass ceilings were shattered. Ever since the Representation of the People Act in 1918, which granted limited voting rights to women for the very…
Political parties can make no greater statement than during conference season. As Westminster breaks for a few weeks, thousands of members and activists congregate in exhibition centres, attend roundtables and queue for hours to see their…
Very much that back to school energy in Westminster this week as MPs from across the political spectrum are coming back from a summer full of constituency business and I and many of my colleagues are raring to go. Over the last month we…
Liz Twist Summer Survey – 2024 I am clear that I want to work for the whole constituency of Blaydon and Consett to represent your views and act upon what is needed, that is why I wanted to hear your thoughts. Please fill out the form below…
The people of Blaydon and Consett deserve an NHS that’s fit for the future. The previous conservative government promised to deliver a new hospital for Shotley Bridge, a promise that was both undeliverable and unaffordable, and they did…
Well how much can change in a few months? Nearly 100 days since my last Journal column and in that time, we have seen the election of hundreds of new councillors, a new North East Regional Mayor and a new Labour Government. It’s been quite…
“Parliament has now been dissolved until the General Election and I am no longer an MP. Incoming emails to this account may be received and read, however this email address is only being used to respond to urgent constituency work”. I will…
It’s not often that you get the chance to ask a question directly to the Prime Minister. Last week, it was my turn. This just so happened to coincide with a publication from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on poverty in Britain. The report…
Happy new year! We all begin 2024 with hope and optimism for the year ahead, and the chance for change. Looking back on the turbulent year that was 2023, many of you across Blaydon, and indeed the whole country, suffered at the hands of…
It’s been the privilege of my life to represent Blaydon Constituency, full of its rich history and heritage but I know we have so much more we want to achieve, that is why I will be campaigning to become the first Labour MP of Blaydon and…
We’ve hit the summer with ominous clouds having over the country, literally and figuratively, a month of almost non-stop rain while we’ve seen an increasingly desperate government. By-elections don’t normally bode well for governments, in…
There are moments in the history of our country that stand alone as achievements unparalleled across the globe, and few more so than our National Health Service, standing for 75 years as the envy of the world. I was born in 1956 and I am…
Another month, another controversial story surrounding the Home Secretary in a month to forget for Suella Braverman, who has been accused of asking Government officials for preferential treatment over a driving ticket. She still somehow…
Back in 2017, I was gifted the opportunity of a lifetime to enter Parliament as an MP and represent the people of Blaydon. I knew what I was going down to fight for. In the North East, we often see common issues arise that must be…
The International Monetary Fund has ended January with a stark warning on the economy, predicting the UK economy will suffer worse than that of a sanction-imposed Russia over the next year – and so far we have heard nothing from the Tories…
Happy New Year to all of you, a time which is normally full of optimism and hope for the year ahead – but sadly 2023 feels like it has begun in the same way we left the previous year. An unprecedented crisis in our NHS and doctors and…
The beginning of December marks that moment when we all get in the festive spirit. Opening advent calendars, shopping for Christmas gifts in a season to catch up with loved ones. The month also offers us a chance to reflect, and with 2022,…
ANOTHER month, another Prime Minister and no end in sight to the Tory chaos which has dominated our headlines for much of 2022. In the new chapter of this ongoing Tory saga, it is Rishi Sunak who takes the reigns and tries to pull the wool…
Another month and yet another crisis in our country caused by the Conservatives, an economic one, made in Downing Street and paid for by working people. It has been exactly one month since Liz Truss was officially given permission to form…
The start of September always feels like an opportunity to look ahead, the new school year starting up and the likes of Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas on the horizon, so why does it feel that with all of this to look forward to all…