Alison Bennett's Monday Mail: Is Love Enough?

Is Love Enough?

On Tuesday I met Charlotte and Caitlin who are two of the young adult carers who wrote and perform the Christmas single ‘Love is Enough’. All funds raised from downloads and streams will go to the Carers Trust and Bath Philharmonia, so do consider playing the song this week.

Now whilst the headlines have been about Ed Davey’s bid to get a Christmas Number 1, actually Charlotte and Caitlin are the real stars of the show. They sang the song so beautifully when I met them, and it was great to be able to talk to them too. I told them that I have one concern about the song. The title. ‘Love is Enough’ is a beautiful sentiment, but the reason why the Liberal Democrats are campaigning for a better deal for carers - young and old - is because love isn’t enough. Carers need to be supported by many parts of national and local government, from Health and Social Care, to Education, the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC. 

That’s one reason why I have joined the APPG on Carers, who working with Carers UK have called for the government to bring forward a National Care Strategy that works across government so that carers aren’t battling with silos that don’t talk to each other.

Charlotte and Caitlin told me that they have joked about a single next Christmas being called ‘Enough is Enough’. I think they may be onto something here, 

A week in the House of Commons

Sometimes things happen all at once, and last week was a case in point. There was lots of important business happening in Parliament, and as a result, my social media updates got a bit behind. 

Due to each social media platform behaving slightly differently, I have put a thread on Twitter (it can cope with larger file sizes, and you can tag most organisations on there in a way you can’t yet with Bluesky) about what I was up to in the House of Commons. 

Apologies to those who would rather I didn’t use Twitter. In this instance I have chosen to say what I have been up to via the most convenient route rather than not tell anyone at all. 

Here is the thread with a Monday to Friday montage of what I was saying in the Chamber.

Compensation fo LGBT+ Veterans

Something truly privileged about being a Member of Parliament is that you get to meet extraordinary constituents who otherwise you might never have come across. Stephen Purves from Haywards Heath is one such person. He was the last serving officer in the RAF to be jailed for being gay. 

This week, the government announced the compensation scheme for the countless LGBT+ veterans who lost their livelihoods. During the debate I spoke about Steve’s life, service and the price he paid for being himself.

Getting in touch

My parliamentary email address is: alison.bennett.mp@parliament.uk. If you need my help, please get in touch and I will do my best to help. 

I am pleased that the backlog of letters and emails that built up immediately after the general election is getting smaller thanks to my lovely and dedicated staff. Response times are still not as quick as I want them to be, but we are making progress. 

Best wishes,
Alison

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