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. 

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. 

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.

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.  

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.

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

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. 

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.

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. 

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:

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

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.

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:

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:

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.

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. 

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:

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.