LONDON: The UK’s first MP of Palestinian descent has described in detail her struggle with obesity and depression.
Layla Moran, 37, the child of a Palestinian mother and English father, told The Sunday Times that she was put on a diet at the age of one after a doctor told her mother that she was “on the chubbier side.”
The former maths teacher, who is in a race to lead the Liberal Democrats, said the doctor advised her mother to monitor what she ate to ensure she did not become overweight.
“And all the way through, I don’t think there was ever a year where I wasn’t on a diet,” Moran told the British newspaper.
“I was going to sports clubs, I was encouraged to go cycling . . . it wasn’t that there wasn’t the opportunity; it was just really hard for me to lose weight.”
Moran was banned from desserts but still failed to control her weight, she added.
It was only after she broke her leg aged 23 working as a semi-professional cellist in an orchestra that she had surgery.
She jumped off a stage during rehearsals, broke her leg and became wheelchair bound for three months.
During this time, her weight ballooned and her doctor told her that the break would not have been so bad if she had been lighter.
“Because my body mass index [BMI] was above 40 at that point, the doctor asked if I had ever considered bariatric surgery,” Moran continued.
She decided to go ahead with the surgery and had a sleeve gastrectomy.
“Basically, my stomach was made smaller. And it worked. That first year I lost about half my body weight,” Moran said.
The first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background has also battled with depression and said she was diagnosed during her second year of university at Imperial College London where she studied physics.
Moran said she received help and took antidepressants but ended up getting a third-class degree.
The MP for Oxford West and Abingdon is now a “happy size 12.”
She hopes to become the next leader of the Liberal Democrats in a contest expected to finish at the end of August.
While she has spoken previously about her Arab roots and the current Palestinian situation, her interview did not mention Israeli’s threat to annex parts of the occupied West Bank this week.
In an interview with Arab News in 2018, she said the international community must be involved in the Palestinian-Israel peace process.
“As long as Palestinians are not equals in that partnership, it is not fair to put the onus of negotiation just on those two countries. The international community has to be involved,” she said.
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UK’s first MP of Palestinian descent describes struggles with obesity and depression
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UK’s first MP of Palestinian descent describes struggles with obesity and depression
- Layla Moran, 37, the child of a Palestinian mother and English father, was put on a diet at the age of one
- The first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background has also battled with depression
Venezuela to debate historic amnesty bill for political prisoners
- Venezuela could pass a landmark bill on Thursday granting amnesty to political prisoners, marking an early milestone in the transition from the rule of toppled leader Nicolas Maduro
CARACAS:Venezuela could pass a landmark bill on Thursday granting amnesty to political prisoners, marking an early milestone in the transition from the rule of toppled leader Nicolas Maduro.
The legislation, which covers charges used to lock up dissidents under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, aims to turn the page on nearly three decades of state repression.
It was spearheaded by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who replaced Maduro after he was captured by US forces in Caracas last month and flown to New York to face trial.
Rodriguez took Maduro’s place with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided she does Washington’s bidding on access to Venezuelan oil and expanding democratic freedoms.
She has already started releasing political prisoners ahead of the pending amnesty. More than 400 people have been released so far, according to rights group Foro Penal, but many more are still behind bars.
Rodriguez also ordered the closure of the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas, which has been denounced as a torture center by the opposition and activists.
Lawmakers voted last week in favor of the amnesty bill in the first of two debates.
The second debate on Thursday coincides with Youth Day in Venezuela, which is traditionally marked by protests.
Students from the Central University of Venezuela, one of the country’s largest schools and home to criticism of Chavismo, called for a rally on campus.
Venezuela’s ruling party also announced a march in the capital Caracas.
’We deserve peace’
Venezuela’s attorney general said Wednesday that the amnesty — which is meant to clear the rap sheets of hundreds of people jailed for challenging the Maduro regime — must apply to both opposition and government figures.
He urged the United States to release Maduro and his wife, both in detention in New York.
“We deserve peace, and everything should be debated through dialogue,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab told AFP in an interview.
Delcy Rodriguez’s brother Jorge Rodriguez, who presides over the National Assembly, said last week that the law’s approval would trigger the release of all political prisoners.
“Once this law is approved, they will all be released the very same day,” he told prisoners’ families outside the notorious Zona 7 detention center in Caracas.
’We are all afraid’
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was one of the detainees granted early release.
But he was re-arrested less than 12 hours later and put under house arrest.
Authorities accused him of violating his parole after calling for elections during a visit to Helicoide prison, where he joined a demonstration with the families of political prisoners.
Guanipa is a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was in hiding for over a year before she fled the country to travel to Oslo to receive the award.
“We are all afraid, but we have to keep fighting so we can speak and live in peace,” Guanipa’s son told reporters outside his home in Maracaibo.
The legislation, which covers charges used to lock up dissidents under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, aims to turn the page on nearly three decades of state repression.
It was spearheaded by interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who replaced Maduro after he was captured by US forces in Caracas last month and flown to New York to face trial.
Rodriguez took Maduro’s place with the consent of US President Donald Trump, provided she does Washington’s bidding on access to Venezuelan oil and expanding democratic freedoms.
She has already started releasing political prisoners ahead of the pending amnesty. More than 400 people have been released so far, according to rights group Foro Penal, but many more are still behind bars.
Rodriguez also ordered the closure of the notorious Helicoide prison in Caracas, which has been denounced as a torture center by the opposition and activists.
Lawmakers voted last week in favor of the amnesty bill in the first of two debates.
The second debate on Thursday coincides with Youth Day in Venezuela, which is traditionally marked by protests.
Students from the Central University of Venezuela, one of the country’s largest schools and home to criticism of Chavismo, called for a rally on campus.
Venezuela’s ruling party also announced a march in the capital Caracas.
’We deserve peace’
Venezuela’s attorney general said Wednesday that the amnesty — which is meant to clear the rap sheets of hundreds of people jailed for challenging the Maduro regime — must apply to both opposition and government figures.
He urged the United States to release Maduro and his wife, both in detention in New York.
“We deserve peace, and everything should be debated through dialogue,” Attorney General Tarek William Saab told AFP in an interview.
Delcy Rodriguez’s brother Jorge Rodriguez, who presides over the National Assembly, said last week that the law’s approval would trigger the release of all political prisoners.
“Once this law is approved, they will all be released the very same day,” he told prisoners’ families outside the notorious Zona 7 detention center in Caracas.
’We are all afraid’
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was one of the detainees granted early release.
But he was re-arrested less than 12 hours later and put under house arrest.
Authorities accused him of violating his parole after calling for elections during a visit to Helicoide prison, where he joined a demonstration with the families of political prisoners.
Guanipa is a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was in hiding for over a year before she fled the country to travel to Oslo to receive the award.
“We are all afraid, but we have to keep fighting so we can speak and live in peace,” Guanipa’s son told reporters outside his home in Maracaibo.
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