IN CARDIFF CENTRAL

JOMEC VISIT

Every year I meet with postgraduate students at Cardiff University’s
School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC).

This year I had the pleasure of spending time with print journalism
students and we did a mock press conference with a wide range of
interesting and challenging questions. I was able to tell students
that some of their predecessors who I met when I was first elected are
now, just a few years later, political correspondents on national
newspapers!  

CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

All year round I take every opportunity to celebrate the achievements
of trailblazing women, but especially so on International Women’s
Day. 

Betty Campbell, the first ever black headteacher in Wales, is one such
trailblazer. Under her leadership, Mount Stuart Primary School in
Butetown became a model for best practice in equality and
multicultural education in the whole of the UK.

We must all continue Betty's fight to build a society where everyone
is equal. 

Watch my International Women's Day message here
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NELSON TRUST VISIT

This month I met the team at the Nelson Trust who have recently opened
their first women’s centre in Cardiff Central. 

The Nelson Trust provides safe, supportive, and trauma-informed
support for over 1,200 women across the UK each year. I was also able
to speak to women who had benefited from the service.

The centre is a one-stop-shop for women who are experiencing multiple
disadvantage and complex needs. This can be anything from mental
health, domestic abuse, homelessness, finances, relationships,
education training and employment and more.

Click here to find help and support
[[link removed]]. 

OASIS IMPACT REPORT

For almost 14 years, Oasis Cardiff has offered a warm Welsh welcome to
those fleeing war and persecution. Whether it’s providing English
lessons or free legal advice, their work is genuinely life changing
for those seeking sanctuary in Cardiff Central and across our city.

Earlier this month, Oasis published its 2022 Impact Report. The
charity has adapted to the rising cost of living and a 20% increase in
demand for its services. Oasis has increased its number of casework
appointments, expanded its ESOL classes and provided greater numbers
of nutritious meals.

Oasis’ 39 members of staff and over 370 volunteers do valuable and
brilliant work. I have worked closely with them and will continue to
do so to ensure that Cardiff remains a welcoming city of sanctuary to
those who need our support.

You can read their 2022 Impact Report in full here
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LAUNCH OF CARDIFF UNIVERSITY'S INNOVATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES

It was great to join academics from Cardiff University at the Royal
Institution for the launch of five innovation and research institutes
that will lead the way in tackling some of the biggest challenges
facing the world, from climate change to the digital transformation.

The institutes represent a significant additional investment of
research funding of £5.4 million and are housed in some of Cardiff
University’s most cutting-edge facilities.

Find out more here
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ADVICE SURGERIES

My advice surgery dates for April are now confirmed. These are an
opportunity for anyone living in Cardiff Central to come and chat to
me about any issue you might need assistance with or, to ask any
question you have about my work in Parliament and here, on your
behalf.

You can see my full plan of surgeries dates online using the link
below – please call my office on 029 2132 9736 – or email me at
[email protected] to make an appointment.

• Friday 21st April – Plasnewydd & Roath

• Thursday 27th April – Cathays

• Friday 28th April - Penylan

My team and I can also help over email and telephone and you’re very
welcome to get in touch.

KEEP IN TOUCH

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IN PARLIAMENT

RAISING THE FLAG FOR ST DAVID'S DAY

On a very cold and fresh St David’s Day morning, I joined the House
of Commons Speaker, Welsh Parliamentary colleagues and pupils from
London Welsh Primary School for a ceremony to raise the Welsh flag
outside Parliament and sing the anthem. A very special occasion.

ST DAVID'S DAY DEBATE

To mark St David’s Day, the House of Commons held a debate on Welsh
Affairs which I responded to on behalf of the Labour Party.

The last 13 years of Tory mismanagement have left a lasting and
painful legacy across Wales. At the next General Election, people
across Wales will have the opportunity to give their verdict on those
13 years of sticking plaster Tory politics and elect a UK Labour
Government that will bring security, prosperity and respect to every
nation and region of the UK.

Watch clips from my speech here
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SUPPORTING OUR UNIVERSITIES' RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

At Welsh questions, I challenged the Tory Welsh Minister on his lack
of action to protect skilled research and innovation jobs in our Welsh
universities.

Despite Tory promises that Wales wouldn’t be a penny worse off
because of Brexit, EU Structural Funds that support nearly 1000
skilled research jobs across 60 innovation projects in our Welsh
universities are about to end with no replacement funding. Nearly a
thousand people’s livelihoods at risk and the projects abandoned.

Watch my question and the response here
[[link removed]]. 

PROJECT GIGABIT

The UK Tory Government pledged to deliver lightning-fast, reliable
broadband to every corner of Britain. Yet an update from their
‘Project Gigabit’, published this month shows that Wales has the
lowest coverage of any of the home nations. Wales has just 57%
coverage, compared to 73% in England and 89% in Northern Ireland.

Instead of blaming others, the Tories should take responsibility for
their failures and start delivering on their promise.

Watch my interaction with the Welsh Tory Minister here
[[link removed]].

BUDGET RESPONSE

Britain is in a cycle of managed decline. The recent budget was an
opportunity for the Tories to reverse these trends, bring down the
cost of living and invest in the jobs of the future.

Instead, the headline announcement was a £1 billion pound pensions
bung for the 1%. At a time when families across the country are still
facing rising bills, higher costs and frozen wages, this giveaway is
the wrong priority, at the wrong time, for the wrong people.

Labour voted against these plans and called on the Chancellor to think
again. 

Watch my response to the budget here
[[link removed]]. 

MAKING BRITAIN'S STREETS SAFER

Crime destroys lives. This has an impact on working people,
communities and local businesses, damaging social cohesion and local
economies.

Communities should be able to live free from fear and insecurity, and
people should feel safe whether it is around the local high street,
walking home at night, using the internet or even at home. Yet since
2010, the Tories have hollowed out neighbourhood policing and
undermined the vital criminal justice institutions that tackle crime
and stop criminals.

Labour believes that feeling secure is the bedrock on which
opportunities are built, communities can thrive, and local economies
can prosper. That’s why we have made it one of our missions to make
Britain’s streets safer.

Within a decade, we will:

• Halve the level of violence against women and girls.

• Halve the incidents of knife crime.

• Raise confidence in every police force to its highest levels.

• Reverse the collapse in the proportion of crimes solved

Each of these missions will be driven by clear, measurable objectives.
You can read more about how we will achieve these goals here
[[link removed]].

A BETTER BRITAIN FOR WOMEN

Labour is the party of women's equality. But we know there is still so
much more to do. That's why Labour has launched a review of the
gender pay gap, which will be led by the former General Secretary of
the Trade Unions Congress, Frances O’Grady. 

The review will work with Labour’s Shadow Cabinet to look at the
causes of the pay gap between women and men and the barriers in the
way of tackling them. We want to build on our existing policies to
increase the contribution of working women to the UK economy, tackle
that pay gap and help support working parents. 

Read more in my blog
[[link removed]].

AN ELECTRIC REVOLUTION

Britain could lead the electric car revolution. However, we are being
left behind under the Tories. 

Instead of shipping jobs overseas as we have done for decades, we
should be investing in the industries of the future and creating good
green jobs here in Britain.

The next UK Labour Government will invest in eight new battery plants
and accelerate the roll-out of charging points, to give motorists
confidence to make the switch.

SPORTS AID RECEPTION

I really enjoyed meeting Britain’s brightest sporting prospects
aspiring to be our next Team GB Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth and
World champions in Parliament this month.

The athletes were all supported by Sports Aid, a charity that has
helped many of the biggest household names during the early stages of
their careers. The charity offers advice from industry experts on
performance lifestyle management, mental wellbeing, practical
nutrition, restful sleep and access to sponsorship. 

THE ILLEGAL MIGRATION BILL

Under the Tories, the asylum system is in chaos and trafficking gangs
operate with impunity in the Channel. We need strong action to stop
the dangerous boat journeys that are filling the pockets of these
criminal gangs and putting hundreds of lives at risk.

The Illegal Migration Bill will likely make the problem worse as it
takes away support for trafficking victims. This isn’t a bill to
clamp down on abuse of the modern slavery system; it is a
Traffickers’ Charter

I voted against this unethical, unworkable and expensive legislation
and called on the Tories to think again.

Labour has set out an alternative five point plan to reform our broken
asylum system. A UK Labour Government would:

* Crackdown on criminal smuggler gangs with a new Cross-Border
Police Unit
* Clearing the backlog of asylum decisions
* Reform resettlement schemes
* Negotiate new return and family reunion agreements with European
partners
* Tackle humanitarian crises at the source

THE TORY SEWAGE SCANDAL

The last UK Labour Government left office with an environmental record
to be proud of. By 2010, Britain could boast that it had the cleanest
rivers, beaches, drinking water and air since before the industrial
revolution.

Instead of building on these remarkable achievements, the Tories have
trashed this record, giving water companies a free pass to dump raw
sewage into British rivers and seas.

We led the way before, and we will do so again. Labour has a
three-point plan to clean up this mess by:

* Introducing automatic fines and mandatory monitoring
* Imposing tough sanctions for failing water bosses
* Ending systematic discharges by 2030

DOWLAIS MALE VOICE CHOIR

It was wonderful to hear the incredible voices of Dowlais Male Choir
in Parliament.

A big thank you to Gerald Jones MP and Musical Director, Darya
Brill-Williams for inviting me along.

Watch a clip from their performance here
[[link removed]].

MEETING SEREN PUPILS

The Welsh Labour Government’s Seren Network is a dedicated
initiative to help the brightest state educated learners in Wales
achieve their full academic potential and support their pathway into
leading universities in Wales, the UK, and overseas.

It was great to meet with the current Seren students for a round table
discussion in Parliament. 

WELSH LABOUR CONFERENCE

It was an honour to again address Welsh Labour Conference delegates in
Llandudno this month as Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

As households in Wales face the longest pay squeeze in more than 150
years, it is our Welsh Labour Government and Welsh Labour Councils
putting money back into peoples’ pockets, showing the real
difference Labour in power can make.

The next general election will provide the country with a clear
choice. A Labour government on the side of working families, providing
certainty and stability or more of the chaos and short-term fixes we
have become accustomed over the last 13 years of Tory misrule.

Watch my speech in full here
[[link removed]]. 

WELSH LABOUR WOMEN'S EVENT

It was a privilege to join Lesya Zaburanna, Member of the Ukrainian
Parliament and Diane Green, Chair of Welsh Labour Women's committee to
discuss how we can tackle the global epidemic of violence against
women and girls.

In the early months of Russia’s illegal invasion, 90% of those
forced from their country, and 60% of those internally displaced were
women. Of those who remained, many women and girls suffered
unspeakable abuse at the hands of Russian forces.

Labour condemns these atrocities and continues to stand with Ukraine
and its people. Slava Ukraini.

INTRODUCING OUR NEW WELSH LABOUR GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATES

It was fantastic to introduce the first of our new Welsh Labour
Parliamentary candidates, Kanishka Narayan (Vale of Glamorgan),
Catherine Fookes (Monmouth), Andrew Ranger (Wrexham) and Ieuan Môn
Williams (Ynys Mon) to Welsh Labour Conference to share their hopes
for the future of Wales under a UK Labour Government.

I look forward to joining them campaigning in their communities in the
weeks and months to come.

A NEW DEAL FOR WORKING PEOPLE

It was great to join Trade Union friends and colleagues to discuss how
Labour will transform our rights at work with our New Deal for Working
People.

A UK Labour Government will bring forward an Employment Bill within
its first 100 days. We will:

* Strengthen rights at work, from day one on the job
* End fire and rehire
* Make work more family-friendly, and it easier to balance work with
home, community and family life.
* Ban zero-hours contracts.
* Strengthen trade union rights, raising pay and conditions
* Roll out Fair Pay Agreements to drive up pay and conditions

WRU GOVERNANCE CHANGES

I welcome news that Welsh Rugby Union member clubs have voted
overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution to improve the WRU’s
governance structures through significant changes to its Board and
senior executive team.

In light of the dreadful revelations exposed by BBC Wales, urgent
action is needed to ensure that the WRU is run properly, transparently
and that no misogyny or sex discrimination takes place.

These changes are much needed and will hopefully mark a new beginning
for the WRU, players and supporters. Rugby is a multi-million-pound
business in Wales and it is crucial that the people entrusted to run
the WRU have the right skills and experience to make it a success so
that Welsh rugby flourishes from the grassroots right up to our
national teams.

Read more about the changes here
[[link removed]]. 

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