Dame Joan Ruddock 
Former MP for Lewisham Deptford
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Final Speech to Parliament

27/3/2015

 
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On Thursday 26th March 2015 I gave my final speech to Parliament:

"This place has shaped my life for the past 28 years, but before that I remember my late father Ken and my mother Eileen, who instilled in me my values, and my late husband Keith, who introduced me to socialism and was a great support for 30 years.

"I hope that I have remained true to those values. First and foremost, I have been a woman Member of Parliament who did not want to play the boys’ games—probably to my detriment at times. I am proud to have been the first full-time Minister for Women, even though my efforts got me sacked a year later.

"I have had many opportunities as a Back Bencher, particularly in private Members’ Bills. My first was a Bill to tackle fly-tipping. My second was to place a duty on local authorities to introduce doorstep recycling. Both passed. I always hoped to win a third place in the ballot so that I could introduce a Bill to permit assisted dying, in which I believe passionately.


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Urgent Question on Police Surveillance of MPs

26/3/2015

 
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On Wednesday 25th March I was made aware of reports by a former Special Branch officer that ten Labour MPs, including myself, were kept under surveillance by Scotland Yard during the 1990s.

On Thursday 26th March my colleague Peter Hain was granted an urgent question to ask the Secretary of State 
for Home Affairs (Theresa May) "if she will make a statement on whether the public inquiry into undercover policing will examine files held by the special branch on Members of Parliament." You can read the Home Office response in full here.

I was also in the House and made the following contribution:

Dame Joan Ruddock (Lewisham, Deptford) (Lab): "In 1981, I was elected as chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Two years later, an MI5 agent, Cathy Massiter, blew the whistle on the surveillance, the phone taps and the collection of special branch reports on me. She cited political interference in the service and said that what had happened was illegal, and she resigned. In 1987, I became a Member of this House and took the loyal oath. In 1997, I became a Minister, and I subsequently signed the Official Secrets Act. How is it that surveillance was carried out on me for all that time? I want to know and to get the Minister to understand: who authorised that surveillance, and on what grounds was it authorised? He needs to answer those questions, because this is a political issue. It is his—the Home Office’s and the Home Secretary’s—responsibility.

"I am leaving this House, and I can do no more than make these points, put in a freedom of information request to the commissioner and write to the Home Secretary, but, frankly, this affects all MPs. Even though I am leaving the House, the Minister needs to do something. The future Government needs to ensure that there is a proper investigation. This should never, ever have happened to Members of this House."

See here for the BBC News article.

Important Notice

3/3/2015

 
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As many of you are already aware, I am standing down at the May 7th general election and will cease to be an MP when Parliament closes on Monday 30th March.

From that date I will not be able to make representations to Parliament, ministers or other authorities on behalf of constituents. 

Any outstanding correspondence received between 30th March and 7th May will be sent on as normal, but no new correspondence can be entered into.

Big Lottery Fund Grants

2/3/2015

 
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I was delighted to learn that over the last five months 17 organisations which are either based in or carry out work in Lewisham Deptford have been awarded Big Lottery Fund grants. 

Many congratulations to all of the recipients!

The full list of organisations is as follows:
  • NXG Trust
  • Abike Ade Foundation
  • Ackroyd Children and Families
  • Break-Thru Productions
  • Contact A Family
  • Dalmain Pen
  • Frameless Arts C.I.C.
  • LRMN
  • MakeBelieve Arts
  • Myatt Garden Primary School
  • Prendergast-Hilly Fields College
  • Princes Initiative for Mature Enterprise
  • St James' Hatcham Church of England Primary School
  • St Mary's Lewisham Church of England Primary School
  • The Jimmy Mizen Foundation
  • The Mental Health Foundation
  • Pink Peppers
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    Petition by iPetitions
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This website was established while I was the Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford. 

All parliamentary copyright images reproduced with the permission of Parliament.