Refugee Week, Green Days and a Lush Event in Parliament
Report back from Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick
With West London Welcome during Refugee Week
June 19, 2026
Last weekend was busy with activity across the constituency. There were celebrations for the beginning of Refugee Week on Brook Green, and I met up with West London Welcome and the refugee team from LBHF who were taking part in the event. Refugee Week is an important event celebrating the contributions of refugees in our communities.
I also attended Green Days, opened by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, which was a wonderful start to the Bedford Park Festival. It was the 60 th anniversary of Green Days this year and there was a wonderful community atmosphere, as always. There were lots of stalls from Local businesses and organisations along with fun activities for kids to get involved in.
In the spirit of local events, on 12 July West London Chorus, formerly Chiswick Choir, will be performing at Cadogan Hall to celebrate their 50 th anniversary. Tickets can be purchased on the Cadogan Hall website.
Lush came to Parliament this week to hold an event against animal testing. I met with campaigners who explained the need for funding for a more modern approach to science that does not use animals as test subjects.
Andy Slaughter at the event against animal testing
In justice news I met with the Family Mediation Council at its parliamentary event this week. The event focussed on the importance of family mediation for family law problems, which is often a kinder, quicker and cheaper way to find a resolution. I also hosted the annual justice reception, organised by The Law Society and the Bar Council, and we were joined by Secretary of State for Justice, David Lammy.
The Family Mediation Council at its parliamentary event
In the House of Commons, I raised the need for implementing the recommendations from the public inquiry into contaminated blood, and the growing support for a national oversight mechanism to monitor and intervene when progress is not being made.
As Chair of the Justice Select Committee, I made a statement in the chamber on Thursday about the report the committee has published on the Courts and Tribunals Bill. The bill has been controversial as it limits the right to jury trial for certain cases and there has been some scepticism about how effective the measures would be in reducing the courts backlog. We do need to reform our criminal justice system, and I commend the Government for commissioning the Leveson review, but I hope they will also give serious consideration the recommendations within the JSC report.
Finally, the committee held its weekly evidence session with Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson. We questioned him on the progress to solve the prison crisis after two years in the jobBest wishes,
Andy
andy@andyslaughter.com
P.S. I send a regular email newsletter to residents about local and national issues. If you would like to receive it then please email me at andy@andyslaughter.com, click this link.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |