How I've been delivering for you in November

This week the Chancellor announced that the Labour Government is ending the historic injustice of the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, returning £2.3 billion to 40,000 former coal miners and their families across the country.

This landmark decision will mean an average increase of £100 per week for each pensioner of their families – a 40% increase to the annual pensions of mineworkers and other staff who are BCSSS members. This will benefit over 300 individuals in our constituency, predominantly based in Dodworth.

At the last Budget, Labour ended the injustice of the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme and today we right another wrong - returning what is rightly owed to mining families. Together, both schemes mean nearly 1,000 former mineworkers across our constituency will receive an increase to their pension.

I’ve listened to so many constituents and our fantastic local National Union of Mineworkers reps about what a difference this will make. I’ve been working with other coalfield MPs, including Stephanie Peacock MP and Dan Jarvis MP, to ensure we deliver justice to BCSSS members.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the mineworkers who built and powered our country for generations. This will finally end this historic injustice, and delivers what is rightfully owed back to former miners and their families across our communities.

I was also delighted that the Two Child Benefit Cap is being repealed, lifting 450,000 children out of poverty.

The Chancellor also announced in the Budget that the vile “rape clause” will also be removed.

The Clause currently requires women to provide evidence that their child has been conceived non-consensually to receive the payment they are owed.

This government will not tolerate the grotesque indignity to women of the rape clause any longer. It is dehumanising, it is cruel and we will remove it from law.

This month, Labour published England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy – from cancer, to cardiovascular disease, and mental health.

This strategy marks a turning point – the first time we’re taking comprehensive, coordinated action to address the specific health challenges facing men and boys.

A key part of the strategy is a dedicated to tackling the crisis in men’s mental health. Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death for men under 50.

Through partnering with the Premier League and £3 million funding, the strategy will bring men’s mental and physical health services closer to the community.

The strategy also includes extra support for former mineworkers with respiratory conditions, across former mining communities like ours in Dodworth. I’m particularly pleased to see this in the strategy, having raised it with government after many doorstep conversations with retired miners and their families, as well as with the National Union of Mineworkers and Coalfields Regeneration Trust .

This bold strategy supports the work to halve gaps in life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas, whilst increasing it for everyone.

It’s fantastic news for our communities that the government are freezing rail fares in England next year for the first time in 30 years.

This will mean passengers will not pay a penny more on season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities.

This fare freeze will directly bring down the cost of living, and make train travel more affordable.

This will save commuters hundreds of pounds off their season tickets - saving up to £300 per year on the more expensive routes.

I know that train travel is a vital way to connect our communities to work, education, and to see family and friends. But we’ve seen train ticket prices go up and up.

This is the next step in the Governments plans to rebuild a publicly owned Great British Railway that our country can rely on and be proud of.

The Government has also announced they will freeze prescription charges next year – taking firm action to tackle the cost of living and saving patients around £12 million next year.

No one should put their health at risk because they can’t afford their medication.

World class NHS care enabled me to walk, so I could go onto fulfil my potential. I’m so proud that this Government are fixing our NHS and making it so it’s once again there for you when you need it.

This Remembrance Sunday, I was proud to honour to all those who gave their lives in World War I, World War II, and all conflicts since.

It is special day where we come together as a nation to remember their service and sacrifice, to defend our freedoms and protect our way of life.

I am deeply proud of our Armed Forces personnel, veterans, and the families who support them, for the contribution they make to our country. Theirs is the ultimate public service.

I had a very special time walking around the Crafty Ladies’ incredible hand-made Remembrance displays in Cawthorne village.

Their ‘Flanders Field’ on the Village Green and cascading poppies on the War Memorial and outside the Cawthorne Methodist Church were particularly stunning.

Thank you to Margaret Cooper, Chair, Shirley, Yasmin, Alison, Ruth and all the incredible Crafty Ladies who handmade over 3,000 knitted and crocheted poppies that made the display possible. What a beautiful act of Remembrance, particularly in memory of the First Eleven men from the village who volunteered to serve in 1914, with three of them perishing in the conflict.

Thank you to all those who organised the event and the wonderful coffee morning at the Methodist Church, including the Cawthorne a Village Remembers Project.

It was also an honour to attend the Stocksbridge Royal British Legion Remembrance Service on Remembrance Sunday, with Councillor Janet Ridler, to honour all those who gave their lives for our country and our freedoms.

It was incredible to speak to John from the Stocksbridge RBL, who told me they have raised £20,000 this year for the RBL’s work.

This month I launched my first Penistone to Stocksbridge Constituency Sponsored Swim to raise money towards an accessible changing room at Stocksbridge Leisure Centre. I’ll be swimming 7km – the distance between Penistone and Stocksbridge – to raise £7k towards adapting a changing room at the leisure centre into a fully accessible disabled changing room.

Stocksbridge Leisure Centre is a special place to me. When I was growing up, I learned to swim at the baths at the Leisure Centre, overlooking our incredible Stocksbridge valley. Never in my wildest dreams, when I was doing swim training three times a week as a 14-year-old, would I have believed that one day I’d become the MP for the area.

I want to give back to the place that gave me so much by helping to fundraise to make the swimming pool more accessible for local disabled people.

Increasing access to sport for local disabled children and young people is something I’m passionate about. When I was at school in Penistone, I was left to referee netball and hockey matches for my non-disabled classmates. There was no understanding that I might be able to join in too, as a disabled person. That’s why inclusive sport is so important to me.

I want everyone in Stocksbridge and beyond to be able to use this wonderful community resource. Stocksbridge Leisure Centre currently doesn’t have fully accessible poolside changing facilities, so I’m proud to be swimming 7km to raise £7k towards transforming an existing space at the centre into a fully accessible changing room.

7km (or 4.5 miles) is 280 lengths of the pool, and the distance from Penistone to Stocksbridge – two of the main towns in my constituency. Raising the target goal of £7,000 would contribute approximately 20% of the total cost of £35,000 to convert an existing room in at the leisure centre into a fully accessible changing room.

I’ll be completing the swim at the baths at Stocksbridge Community Leisure Centre at the end of November. You’ll be able to sponsor the project after I have completed the swim as well.

If you are a constituent and you would like my help, please get in touch with me at marie.tidball.casework@parliament.uk with an outline of how you would like me to help, and I’ll do my very best.

With best wishes,