We are elected to represent our constituents in parliament but in reality much of our work is in the local community dealing with local issues and individual people’s problems. 

When I was selected to fight the seat in 1986 I was the first woman (having been preceded by 6 Labour men in Deptford). In 1987 I was one of only 41 women (21 Labour) out of 650. Even today there are more men sitting in the Commons than all the women ever elected.

All my parliamentary life I have championed the cause of women and campaigned for more women to be selected, which is why I was delighted my constituency party opted for an all women shortlist and selected Vicky Foxcroft.

Over the years I have seen enormous changes in the constituency, much of it for the better. Schools have improved, hospitals and health services have improved and most of the major council housing estates have been rebuilt. The biggest improvements came under the last Labour government when for 13 years we made huge investment locally. Much of what we did has been rapidly undermined by the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition, and only a change of government will save society from further fracture and impoverishment.

For myself it’s been a roller coaster of a journey. I’ve seen five Prime Ministers come and four depart – only one to go! I’ve held 3 ministerial posts and spent active years as a backbencher both in government and opposition. I am most proud of introducing laws on fly tipping and on doorstep recycling through private members bills; for being minister for climate change; for providing direct help to thousands of constituents with a myriad of issues and for being part of the Save Lewisham Hospital campaign.

I am saddened by our failure to bring anyone to justice for the deaths of 14 young people in the New Cross fire of 1981, despite achieving a new police investigation and a new inquest.

I despair of the housing crisis in London that has blunted so many aspirations and bought misery to thousands of my constituents.

And I will never understand how governments find it acceptable to threaten to kill millions of people with nuclear weapons when all other weapons of mass destruction have been outlawed by international agreement.

But as I leave my greatest hope is to see Vicky Foxcroft elected to the Commons, Ed Miliband in Downing Street and a better life for people in Lewisham. 

In the weeks leading up to and after Holocaust Memorial Day thousands of commemorative events are being arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisation across the country to remember the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

I encourage all constituents to mark the day and to join members of the community in the fight against prejudice and intolerance.

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said:

"We are proud that Dame Joan is supporting Holocaust Memorial Day. As we mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust and the liberation of the concentration camps in 2015, it is vitally important that we both continue to remember and learn from the appalling events of the Holocaust - as well as ensuring that we continue to challenge antisemitism and all forms of bigotry".

The motion for the debate, moved by SNP MP Angus Robertson, was "That this House believes that Trident should not be renewed." In my speech I questioned whether spending up to £100 billion on weapons of mass destruction was the best way to defend the people of this country when we cannot raise millions out of poverty or fund our precious national health service. I also questioned the Cold War thinking still exhibited by nuclear-armed states and whether nuclear weapons even act as a deterrent against current terrorism.

As one of only nine nuclear-armed states in the world, the UK cannot escape its duty to progress disarmament talks. So why would we seek to upgrade Trident for another 50 years without exploring what might be done to bring forward multilateral nuclear disarmament?

You can read my speech (and the debate in full) here.

Unfortunately I was not able to stay for the vote at the end of the debate as I had a long-standing constituency engagement, but sadly it would have made little difference to the result: only 37 MPs voted in favour of the motion and 364 against.

Labour is proud of its record on international development. The last Labour government tripled the aid budget and dropped the debt, helping to lift three million people out of poverty each year and getting 40 million more children into school.

The Conservative manifesto committed to putting the 0.7% measure into law and this pledge also formed part of the Coalition Agreement. However, the Government has failed to bring forward a law. In November 2014 the Foreign Secretary (Phillip Hammond) said he did not see the need to write the commitment into legislation. Liberal Democrat MP Michael Moore has therefore taken the opportunity to introduce it as a Private Member’s Bill.

Critics tabled a host of lengthy amendments on Friday which were intended to ensure that the Commons ran out of time to debate and vote on the bill. However, MPs voted 146 (including 75 Labour – more than the Tories and Lib Dems put together) to 6 to allow the bill to proceed and the legislation later passed. The bill is now in the House of Lords.

The NHS has never been more vulnerable than under the present government. The Tories wasted £3billion on an unnecessary and damaging top-down reorganisation. The new rules allow hospitals to earn up to 49% of their income from private patients, which risks pushing NHS patients to the back of the queue. New competition rules also force doctors to open up services to competition from the private sector.

Clive’s bill would end the creep towards NHS privatisation, bureaucracy and red-tape and put patients back at the heart of the NHS. Labour has pledged to invest the millions of pounds saved by scrapping competition red-tape in ensuring people can get a GP appointment within 48 hours, or on the same day if they need it.

At the vote 241 MPs supported Clive’s bill and only 18 voted against. Unfortunately we have to expect that the Government will block it at the next stage. The only way we will repeal the measures in the Health and Social Care Act is by having a majority of MPs in the next parliament who are willing to do so.

As many of you know I am standing down in May 2015, but I very much hope my successor will be in a position to repeal the act.

On Friday 5th September Parliament debated and voted on the second reading of the Affordable Homes Bill, a Private Members' Bill put forward by Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George.

I have been contacted by many Lewisham Deptford residents who are struggling to cope with the hated bedroom tax, which was introduced by the Coalition Government. In London alone 48.989 people have been affected by this unfair policy. Unfortunately Mr George's bill would not abolish the tax, but if passed it would protect the most vulnerable people, such as those with disabilities and people for whom the local council in unable to find suitable alternative accommodation.

The Labour Party has been clear and consistent in its opposition to the bedroom tax from the outset. It is an unfair and unworkable policy that causes misery to thousands of people by forcing them out of their homes.

Up to now the Liberal Democrats had repeatedly backed the Tories over this policy, but on Friday many of them voted with Labour. I was in the House to vote for the bill and the results were as follows:

Closure Motion (to stop the bill being talked out on Friday):
Aye: 304
No: 237

Second Reading (to progress to the next stage):
Aye: 306
No: 231

In spit of Conservative attempts to talk the bill out or to derail parliamentary process, the bill will now proceed to the committee stage. Labour will now seek to amend and strengthen the bill and we remain committed to scrapping the bedroom tax entirely if we win next year's general election. 

There have been major advances in the fight against cancer over the last 40 years and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress. 2 in 4 people diagnosed with cancer in the UK today will survive for at least 10 years - compared to just 1 in 4 in the early 1970s - but survival rates continue to lag behind those of comparable countries.

Freya was one of over 100 Cancer Research UK Ambassadors who came to Westminster last week to meet with their MPs and highlight the importance of parliamentary support in accelerating progress in the fight against cancer.

Freya said: “I’m really excited to have taken part in Cancer Research UK’s day of action because I know that this is a great way to make a difference. I feel passionate about supporting the organisation’s work. So many people are diagnosed with cancer and it’s vital that we do all we can to help save more lives. 

“It was fantastic to meet Joan to discuss my reasons for becoming an Ambassador and why access to treatment matters for me personally. Cancer Research UK is making huge progress but we need the help and support of MPs like Joan to help more cancer patients survive.”

It was a pleasure to meet with Freya and to listen to her story. If we are to meet Cancer Research UK’s target it is imperative for both this government and the next to ensure that cancer remains on the political agenda. I have therefore written to Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Health, to ask him to back measures to improve access to radiotherapy treatment.

As you may know, clause 119 gives the Health Secretary sweeping powers to force hospital closures over the heads of local communities and I have vehemently opposed it from the beginning.

Before the last debate on the Care Bill took place, Heidi Alexander MP (Lewisham East), Jim Dowd MP (Lewisham West and Penge) and I wrote a letter to all MPs outlining our opposition and experiences of the Trust Special Administrator regime in Lewisham. During the debate on 16th December I raised my deep-seated concerns with both Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Health, and Andy Burnham MP, his opposite number on the Labour benches.

Yesterday we were all in the chamber once more to express our opposition to the clause. You can read our contributions in full here.

I would like to reassure my constituents that the Labour Party remained firmly opposed to this clause and voted against it last night, but we were defeated by 297 votes to 239. Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat MP who tabled amendment NC16, withdrew his amendment as he felt the government had proposed changes which addressed his concerns, but Labour’s Jamie Reed pressed it to a vote: 241 MPs voted in favour of NC16 and 288 against.

Although the government has pledged to consult local people and clinical commissioners, we continue to be concerned that these concessions do not go far enough. I am sorry not to be able to report a more positive result. 

The failure of the Government to win its appeal in the High Court is a triumph for local people, both hospital users and staff alike.  There can be no doubt that this has been a huge waste of public money and that the Secretary of State for Health should never have gone to appeal following what was a clear-cut decision by the High Court.

He is now seeking to introduce new powers to future Trust Special Administrators so that they will be able to destroy other local hospitals, as he had hoped to do with Lewisham.

This afternoon the Secretary of State made a statement to the House about healthcare services in London, giving Rt Hon Dame Joan Ruddock MP (Lewisham Deptford) the chance to make the following point:

“Let me remind the Secretary of State that the High Court ruled that his actions in trying to remove services from Lewisham hospital to save a separate failing trust were illegal. He then lost the appeal. Will he now stop throwing good public money after bad, leave Lewisham hospital alone, and learn to respect the views of the people who work in our hospital and those who use its services?”

Dame Joan said:

“Despite jumping up and down continuously during Prime Minister’s Questions today, the Speaker did not call me.

”I know it will be a huge disappointment to everyone that I was not able to make the Prime Minister aware of the appalling treatment his Health Secretary has meted out to Lewisham Hospital and to local people.”

Today I attended the launch of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer's pioneering new report, 'Age Is Just A Number'.

The report outlines new and urgent recommendations to combat the issues surrounding inequality in treatment, services and support available to older breast cancer patients.

The report's recommendations are being backed by the UK's leading breast cancer charities - Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Campaign - with support from broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006.

Some of the main recommendations outlined in the report are:

• Improvement of breast awareness in older women to aid early diagnosis.
• Further extension of the current breast cancer screening age extension trial, up to the age of 79.
• Development of an evidence-based tool to ensure older breast cancer patients are not judged by their age but by their individual fitness for treatment.
• Acknowledgement and consideration of the additional needs of older breast cancer patients at the time of diagnosis to ensure that the best-tailored support system is provided.

It is deeply concerning that older breast cancer patients are being denied access to full treatment and support options purely as a result of their age.  By learning from those at the heart of the issue we have gained a clear picture of these barriers and what must be done to eradicate them.