Dear Constituents,
Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for reading my first newsletter of the year. It’s been a very busy month standing up for my constituents in Parliament, such as for parents of children who were horrifically abused at a local nursery, British Iranians who have family stuck in Iran, and local businesses being turfed out of their cafés. As usual, this month I have met with many constituents to discuss their casework and pressing policy concerns.
If you haven’t already, please contribute to my community survey. As your MP, I want to hear about your concerns, what’s important to you and your family and how I can make our area a better and safer place to live and work. You can complete it here: Tulip Siddiq‘s Community Survey
Do read below to find out what I have been doing in Parliament and the constituency to represent you. Don’t forget to check out my January casework report to find out how I can help you as your MP, and the community bulletin at the bottom of this email for any helpful notices.
Best wishes,
Tulip Siddiq
MP for Hampstead and Highgate
Standing Up For Local Parents
For 7 years, Vincent Chan committed the most horrific crimes against vulnerable children in a nursery in my constituency. I am working with a local group of 200 affected parents, who are truly inspirational given everything they’ve been through. The parents are calling on the Government to require nurseries to operate CCTV in all rooms in nurseries, with secure local monitoring and restricted remote access for parents. The removal of this system at the nursery in question removed an important safeguarding tool and deterrent. I have raised this with the Prime Minister who has agreed to meet the parents in the next few weeks to hear their accounts first hand.
I’m grateful to see the media covering our campaign, and thank you to all my constituents who have shown such bravery and strength throughout this ordeal.
Standing up for British Iranians
I am proud to represent a large Iranian community in Hampstead and Highgate. I have heard from many British Iranians in recent weeks who are fearful for their friends and family who remain in the country. I know from dealing with the Iranian authorities in my fight to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe that this is a very difficult situation to navigate for the British Government in order to protect dual nationals.
Ahead of speaking in Parliament about this issue, I reached out to members of the Iranian community, to find out what they wanted me to ask the Foreign Secretary. Following these conversations, I asked the Minister what the Government is doing to set up an official registration service for dual nationals currently stuck in Iran, so that they can eventually be evacuated.
The Foreign Secretary told me that the FCDO is working tirelessly to ensure the safety of British nationals in Iran. She is in close communication with the UK’s ambassador in Tehran about the vital work that he and the team are doing on the ground as well as with the relevant Iranian authorities regarding detained British nationals.
Holocaust Memorial Day
It was very moving to attend the Holocaust Memorial Day service at JW3 in my constituency – in particular hearing from the grandchildren of survivors. Thank you for asking me to light a candle with my friend and holocaust survivor, Tibor.
Finally, I was also delighted to give a reading at Heath Street Baptist Church. With so much darkness and despair in our world, let’s come together this Christmas and spread love with family, friends and strangers.
Pushing for Leasehold Reform
Like many of my constituents, over 50 leaseholders on the Hillcrest Estate in Highgate want to know when the Government’s leasehold reforms will come into effect. Scrapping marriage value and increasing the standard lease extension term to 990 years will be a huge saving to my constituents, but they need to find out soon. In Parliament, I asked the Government to provide an urgent update on these reforms.
I’m also very proud that our Labour Government has brought in a policy that means millions of leaseholders are set to benefit from a major saving. Ground rents are set to be capped at £250 a year, changing to a peppercorn cap after 40 years. That means if you are a leaseholder, and your ground rent is more than £250, you’ll be paying less. I’ve spoken to so many people who say this will make a difference to them of hundreds of pounds. You can read more about the reforms here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-were-capping-ground-rents-at-250
Tackling Children’s Access to Social Media
This month I met with Liz Kendall (Secretary of State for Science, Innovation & Technology) to discuss banning social media for under 16s. I know this is an important issue for constituents and, as always, I will be your voice in Westminster to ensure your views are fully represented.
The Government will be launching a consultation on children’s use of technology, which will seek the views of parents, children, young people, and civil society. The consultation will be backed up by a national conversation on the topic. The consultation will look at options including raising the digital age of consent, implementing phone curfews to avoid excessive use, and restricting potentially addictive design features such as ‘streaks’ and ‘infinite scrolling’. Evidence from around the world will be examined on a wide range of suggested proposals, including looking at if a ban was introduced, how it would be best implemented. The Government will respond to the results of the consultation in summer.
I have also been sad to see a steep decline in children reading for pleasure. I raised this issue in Parliament a few months ago with the Minister for School Standards, and I am proud to see the Government’s new ‘Go All In’ campaign. We are investing £5 million for secondary schools to purchase books to support and encourage reading amongst their pupils. This comes alongside a £10 million investment to ensure every primary school in England has a library by the end of this Parliament.
Standing up for Cafés on the Heath
My constituents have made their feelings clear; our beloved local cafes must stay. It is vital that the cafes and the Heath remain accessible and affordable for all. Those who use the Heath daily need to have a strong voice in the decisions that are made about its running. I am fully behind the campaign to keep our cafés open. I wrote again to the City of London Corporation asking them to review their decision and to publish the documents justifying it, and I raised this in Parliament earlier this month. You can read more about this story in the CNJ, here.
Pushing for Closer EU Relations
My constituency voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Those with long memories might remember that around this time 7 years ago, I delayed the birth of my son to vote against Brexit. I’m still determined to push for closer alignment with the EU single market and to ensure that my constituent’s concerns are heard in any Brexit negotiations. With that in mind, I know how important animal welfare is to my constituents. As we negotiate with the EU on food and agriculture, I called on the Government in Parliament to put animal welfare at the heart of these discussions.
Furthermore, I am proud to represent thousands of EU nationals in Hampstead and Highgate. The Indefinite Leave to Remain proposals have caused anxiety for working parents who will not reach the salary threshold because of childcare commitments. Earlier this month in Parliament, I asked the Government to consider childcare in its reforms to ILR eligibility.
January Casework Wins
Helping constituents will always be my number one priority. My team and I handled over 268 cases this month.
A constituent had been writing to me about the removal of scaffolding that was put up to complete works in April 2024. She first contacted me about the issue in Jan 2025. Despite multiple follow ups with the local authorities and promises that it would be removed, the action was not taken. After I contacted the head of repairs, the scaffolding has finally been removed – nearly 18 months after the work was finished. I received a lovely note from my constituent shortly after: “I would like to thank you and your team for helping with this as you have shown true care and understanding.”
Hampstead and Highgate has a proud history of taking in the world’s most vulnerable people from war-torn countries, it has helped to make our community what it is. Recently, an asylum seeker with serious PTSD and mental health issues told me that he was struggling being in a shared room in his accommodation. I wrote to the Home Office and shared his medical evidence. I am pleased that he will now be moved to a single room.
Thirdly, a constituent told me that her private videos were uploaded on to TikTok with sexual comments and allegations about her. They reported it via the app but did not receive a response. Following my intervention to TikTok directly, the account was banned for violating Community Guidelines.
Finally, a constituent raised health and safety concerns with me about the handrail outside the Royal Free Hospital which staff were also concerned with. After I wrote to the hospital and made the case for my constituent’s safety, I am pleased to say that the hospital acted quickly and upgraded the rail to a safer version.
Maria Montessori School Visit
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting Maria Montessori School in Hampstead. I spent the morning meeting students from ages 2 to 16! It was wonderful to hear the children’s engaged questions about the local area to national politics – from housing, the environment, to electric vehicles and public transport.
Community Bulletin
Use the NHS App
The NHS is moving from analogue to digital! With the NHS App you can request repeat prescriptions, view your GP record, receive appointment reminders, and see test results sooner – all in one place.
Discover how it could help you: www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/
Support from Age UK
As it gets colder, I know that some of my older constituents may be worried about paying their energy bills and staying warm. Knowing what financial help is available can ease some of the worry. This guide from Age UK has more information: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/debt-savings/energy/cost-of-living-payments/
Age UK also have some great energy saving tips, which you can check out here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/debt-savings/energy/energy-saving-tips/
New Post Office in Highgate!
I am pleased to share that a new Post Office will be opening at Highgate Stationer and General Store, 7 Highgate High Street, London, N6 5JR on Thursday 20 November 2025. This service will be a Drop & Collect branch, which is a lighter, flexible branch format.
This will offer Post Office services from a handheld device, providing convenient access for customers to bill payments and prepaid parcel collections and returns. To maximise accessibility to these services that our customers are increasingly seeking, more complex services like personal and business banking will not be available at this branch.
A wider range of Post Office services are available from the nearby branches at Highgate Post Office, 361 Archway Road, N6 4EJ and Upper Holloway Post Office, 55-57 Junction Road, Archway, N19 5QU.
Swiss Cottage Post Office Re-Opens!
As regular readers will know, I have been engaging with the Post Office and the Government on the importance of keeping Post Office branches open in my constituency open. Having recently campaigned to protect our Hampstead Post Office, I am pleased that the Swiss Cottage Post Office has reopened! My constituents will be able to access important services such as banking at this branch, which I know is particularly important for older people and local businesses.
Their new address is 7 Northways Parade, South Hampstead, London, NW3 5EN.