Simon Shaw finds hard-working local MP Uma Kumaran full of surprises

Parliamentary portrait of Straford and Bow MP Uma Kumaran — Uma Kumaran MP (Credit – parliament.uk)

The omens for this interview were not good – an old leftie reporter confronting a government MP.

There were so many tricky questions – a government with a huge majority that had apparently achieved so little, and seems to be in a death spiral, bleeding support to both the right and left and which appears to be driven by fear of upsetting big business and losing support to Farage’s Reform UK – rather than governing in the interests of people in areas like Newham.

But there is always room for surprises and I came away from the interview with Uma Kumaran, MP for Stratford and Bow, convinced she will do her best to champion our area: “A lovely constituency, the best,” she said.

She is passionate about our history – name checking the likes of Keir Hardie and the East London Federation of Suffragettes on her website. She has also lived and studied in the area (at Queen Mary University) and professes to be “A Hammer till I die” – with legitimate concerns about relegation: “It doesn’t look great does it?”

Uma is clearly a grafter. We spoke the day after the November budget when she sat in the Commons for six hours until she got her chance to speak about its impact on Newham. And she had just returned from the COP climate talks in Brazil (she has a background in
climate advocacy). On the day we met she said she was exhausted as a result of already putting in a 90-hour shift.

Uma also clearly cares; at our meeting in Unit 6 in Stratford Centre her departure was delayed as the waiter wanted to talk to her about the exorbitant cost of his car insurance.

But there were some spikey exchanges. Newham Voices challenged her on the proscription of Palestine Action; would her hero Sylvia Pankhurst have approved? And what about the proposed legislation on immigration – what would have happened if this plan was in place when her parents fled pogroms in Sri Lanka?

She was patient. “Look Simon,” she said, “these are nefarious times, there are forces trying to tear us apart. The social contract Britain has, has not been upheld in the last 14 years. Society has turned its back on our very poorest, our asylum seekers and refugees, we need to rebuild that trust to get the British public to a place where there is trust on both sides”.

On the banning of Palestine Action, there are plenty of ways to protest, but “this is not the way” she says. She tells me that the Home Secretary is privy to more information than either of us. She has spoken to members of the Knesset and the Palestine Authority and the priority is to get aid into Gaza. “My immediate concern is to get aid to the children,” she says.

In Uma’s constituency, the election turnout was the below the national average and her share of the vote was 44 percent – which according to the UK Parliament website represents a 26.4 percent drop. Like many Labour backbenchers, Uma might be concerned
whether she will retain her seat.

She has a further challenge, in a constituency that straddles two boroughs, she works with two different elected mayors, two police commanders, and around 150 councillors. The area faces major crime and housing problems.

She had just got back from a ‘drive through’ with Forest Gate police. She relishes a challenge and there are plenty – Newham has the longest social house waiting list in the country at 42,000, high levels of child deprivation and a council that is broke. She talks about
the moral shame of homelessness, but when pushed on the emptiness of the Carpenters Estate, she says that we cannot put people into unsafe housing.

I rewind to our mutual interest in local history and the fact that her parents fled pogroms in Sri Lanka and found sanctuary in East London. Uma’s Labour colleague in the House of Lords, Alf Dubs (who arrived in the Kindertransport fleeing persecution in Germany) has said government proposals on immigration are “performatively cruel,” arguing they will increase tensions, rather than showing compassion for vulnerable people fleeing danger.

Uma notes that we are meeting on Maaveerar Naal, an annual day of remembrance observed in the Tamil diaspora to honour those who died fighting in the Sri Lankan civil war. Given her family history she says she is well placed to advocate for refugees.

She bridles over the suggestion that the state will have the legal authority to take the jewellery from those seeking sanctuary in the UK to cover their costs: “It’s not happening, jewellery is not going to be taken off of people – we will bring in legal safe routes”, she insists.

“I am a Labour MP, but I have my own moral compass, having been stress tested these proposals will allow us to be a country that welcomes refugees. But they must buy into British values. We have massive waiting lists, but we need to know who is coming in and out of our country.”

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