June Political Intelligence

June was a success for fashion in the House of Commons; Dr Lisa Cameron, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Textiles and Fashion (for which Fashion Roundtable provide the secretariat) mentioned the industry on two separate occasions. Mary Creagh MP, chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, which questioned retailers and government officials for the Committee’s sustainability of the fashion industry inquiry, brought up the disappointing (but again, expected) news that government rejected all of the recommendations made in the final report.

February Political Intelligence

In a bold act of rebellion, seven Labour MPs broke away from the Party and united as the Independent Party. Declaring their loss of faith and disappointment in a Party that no longer represents their values, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Chuka Umunna summoned a press conference to announce their resignation and intention to sit in Parliament as a “new, Independent Group of MPs.”

January Political Intelligence

Low-Level Letter Boxes – It is indicative of our peculiar Westminster system, that in a period dominated by uncertainty around Brexit and when Parliamentary time is so precious, that debating time was allocated to a discussion about changing the height of letter boxes. Fashion Roundtable has always tried to argue that Parliament will listen to fashion, as long as they shout loudly enough, and in the right direction. So if you’re reading this and you are frustrated, write to your MP with our help, and your message will be delivered (albeit it in a higher than usual letter box).

November and December Political Intelligence

Approaching the end of November, we were posed with a difficult question: do we try and take the shocking events of that month and leave several unanswered questions going into December? Or do we batten down the hatches and review the end of year once the Christmas festivities have died down?

Furthermore, as we are well through the ‘100 days to go’ point, there are three self-perpetuating challenges that face the UK Parliament: there is no Parliamentary majority for the deal negotiated by the Government, there is no time or European appetite to renegotiate, Parliament has passed the bill to leave but hasn’t passed the bill that tells us how.