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Articles by Kelly Grehan
Dismissing policies as simply being too ‘nanny state’ is depressingly familiar – LabourList
As the price of energy becomes unaffordable and the National Grid warns of rolling blackouts, it is somewhat surprising that a floundering Liz Truss has blocked plans for a public information campaign asking people to save energy over the winter, reportedly because she is “ideologically opposed” to the idea. Being ‘ideologically opposed’ to information is a strange position, even from our Prime Minister, who has demonstrated some very strange thinking in recent weeks.
Policy must recognise that poor mental health in carers is not down to chance – LabourList
Quite rightly, we have seen a movement in the UK that has focused on ensuring people know that poor mental health is something that can affect anyone. While I have always welcomed this, now, in my role as a county councillor I am constantly seeing people whose circumstances are leaving them on the brink.
For the sake of children’s mental health, we must reform our school system – LabourList
We are letting our children down in every classroom in this country. Rather than childhood being an idyllic, carefree time, for many of Britain’s young people it is a time defined by emotional and mental health struggle. Let’s be clear, we are not talking about traditional childhood tantrums or teenage angst. We are talking about real levels of suffering.
Why do we expect special needs parents to be grateful for what they get? – LabourList
As a parent, my expectations of the state are that my children are provided with an education meeting their needs. As much as I might have concerns about the nature of our education system (which I won’t go into now), navigating the system is not something I find stressful or frightening. I don’t find myself having to continually make the case for what my children need, or feeling as if I should be ‘grateful’ for everything they receive.
Mums in politics: pulled in all directions, judged and damned whatever we do – LabourList
Stella Creasy revealed last week that she had received a letter from the Chair of Ways and Means stating that, in taking baby Pip into Westminster Hall with her, she was in breach of the “recently published Rules and Courtesies In The House of Commons”. Since then, Stella’s failure to quietly accept this has prompted the Speaker to agree to look at the issue and a debate has followed.
Covid made a growing backlog of court cases worse – but austerity created it – LabourList
In the 18 years I spent as a probation officer, things changed a lot. Like most people joining the profession in 2002, I was initially motivated by the idea of rehabilitation, but court work was an essential part of the job. Each week, my colleagues and I would spend around two hours interviewing those recently convicted.
Sajid Javid’s ‘keep it in the family’ advice on health and care is dangerous – LabourList
Every day as a councillor, I receive emails from families in peril. These people are exhausted after finding themselves caring for relatives for a variety of reasons, seeking help from the state – and finding that help is not there for them. Seeking help to care for someone you love – whether that be a child, a partner or an older relative – is often a deeply painful experience for people.
Violence against women, and its prevention, is not being taken seriously – LabourList
As more details about the horrific kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard were revealed yesterday, a kind of collective horror struck women across the country. Since learning that her murderer was a serving police officer at the time he killed Sarah, we had been expecting to hear how he used his position to commit the crime. Reading the details was chilling and distressing. Couzens used handcuffs and his Metropolitan Police warrant card to snatch Sarah as she walked home from a friend’s house.
Brighton should be a springboard for Labour’s bid to win the next election – LabourList
Labour conference 2019 may only have been two years ago, but in many ways it feels like it happened in another era or universe. When we last met as a party in person, the main word on everyone’s lips was ‘Brexit’. Jeremy Corbyn and Tom Watson were leader and deputy leader. None of us knew we were mere months away from a horrific election defeat, a complete leadership change and a global pandemic.
Unpaid carers have been forgotten – but Labour councillors like me can help – LabourList
The failure of Boris Johnson to act on his promise to reform adult social care is hitting the headlines – and rightly so. We cannot allow the crisis-hit system to continue in this way. We also need to focus on the fact that the people who actually provide 90% of care in the UK have been completely disregarded and forgotten by government policy. Unpaid carers provide support to a family member or friend who, due to being disabled, cannot manage daily without their support.
Labour members: some complain, others campaign – LabourList
It’s a hard life being a Labour activist these days. After four lost general elections, it sometimes feels like self-flagellation. But Thursday showed how good it can be. From the second I woke up until the last time I checked my phone before going to bed, my Twitter feed was full of my friends from across the country out in Batley and Spen. Some had taken a day’s leave from work, some had spent a lot of money on travelling, some had made childcare arrangements and all had got up early.
As long as stereotypes of wicked women persist, we can never be safe – LabourList
‘Cry rape’. A phrase that exists purely to speculate that women – and let’s not pretend this is a gender neutral term – make up having experienced a sexual assault for attention, revenge or some other reason that makes no sense. Given the appalling lack of convictions for rape in this country, it seems bizarre that some people hold the view that the country is full of devious women just waiting to trick an innocent man into a situation where he unfairly serves a prison sentence.
Don’t ask women to change behaviour, ask how society can keep us safe – LabourList
The thing about privilege is that you often don’t realise you have it until you are forced to see how others live. In a very difficult week, one of the strange realisations has been that many men had no idea about the precautions taken by women every time we leave the house. Worrying about our safety is an integral part of our existence as women.
Why we should take comfort in the community response to coronavirus – LabourList
While the government response to the pandemic could best be described as lacklustre in some places and disastrous in others, the same cannot be said for the community response. Way back in March, the government struggled to get to grips with the scale of the task; supermarkets shelves became empty and people found themselves unable to travel to their usual support networks.
The sisterhood has adapted to stay connected. Long may this continue – LabourList
Networking and increased participation are the unsung successes of the changes made during the coronavirus pandemic, particularly for women on the left. Political networking has always been difficult for women because it requires so much in-person effort and more often than not has been London-centric, excluding people with caring responsibilities and anyone with an inability to travel, due to finances, medical issues or other circumstances.
The post-16 Covid experience needs our attention. Year 13s are being failed – LabourList
It’s now 22 years since I took my A-Level exams, and yet I still often have nightmares where I miss the exam by going to the wrong room, or have revised for the wrong subject. During lockdown, I bizarrely started dreaming I had to sit my exams having had no teaching all year. The fact that these dreams persist more than two decades after I took my A-Levels perhaps suggest that the stress I was under has lodged itself in my psyche, never to leave.
Angela Rayner just goes to show – our democracy needs more women – LabourList
The International Day of Democracy took place earlier this week, described by the UN as “providing an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world”.
Mo Mowlam would have been the ideal leader for a drug reform movement – LabourList
Kelly Grehan wrote movingly about the importance of not forgetting Mo Mowlam’s extraordinary contribution to the peace in Northern Ireland on the 15th anniversary of her death. I had the good fortune to have briefly dealt with her in another area where, if she had lived, I believe she might have also made a real difference – drug reform. Whilst serving as a minister in the Cabinet Office from 1999 to 2001, her main responsibility was coordinating the government’s drugs policy.
15 years after her death, Mo Mowlam remains a figure held in high esteem – LabourList
Today is the 15th anniversary of Mo Mowlam’s death. Mo was surely the best Northern Ireland Secretary this country has ever had, and one of the finest ministers to ever grace the Labour Party benches, and yet somehow she is increasingly erased from the narrative. When Mo was appointed as Northern Ireland secretary in 1997, the job was thought to be a ‘poisoned chalice’. But Mo approached it as she did everything in life – with a human touch.
The Cummings debate. Let's talk about childcare
Dominic Cummings told us about what he clearly felt was an exceptional set of circumstances when he delivered a statement on Monday. He found that if all the adults at home were unwell, there would have been nobody to provide childcare. For mums of young children around the country, this sounds like pretty standard stuff.
Now is exactly the right time to argue for radical change – LabourList
Life has changed beyond recognition. We keep being told that soon we will enter a ‘new normal’, but what that means is never really discussed. Having lived through this extremely rapid period of lifestyle change we need to talk about what the new normal could and should be. But already, there are attempts to stop the debate – those expressing ideas about treating essential workers better are accused of politicising the argument, or told that now is not the time.
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