In Cardiff Central

Visiting Barclays Community Banking Site in Penylan

I was very disappointed by the decision of Barclays to close their Wellfield Road branch in July 2023. During my discussions with Barclays, I reiterated the need for bespoke assistance for regular customers who do not use other types of banking, like online or mobile banking.
 
I visited the new Community Banking Site in Penylan Library that Barclays have now set up and met the staff there to see what services are available. Advisers are on hand Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 4.30pm to offer banking related support.

Cardiff Foodbank

I was pleased to meet with the Chief Executive of Cardiff Foodbank, Rachel Biggs in Parliament following the publication of the Trussell Trust's Impact Report for 2022 to 2023. 

We had a very useful discussion, not just about ensuring constituents who need help get it, but also about preventative measures that need to be in place so that foodbank use does not continue to rise.

Supporting emerging writers and directors

BBC Studios in Cardiff is the largest drama production centre in the UK outside of London, generating over £40 million each year and supporting thousands of jobs in Cardiff's Creative Industries.

 
Its great to see the studios investing in the talent our city has to offer with the launch of a new TalentWorks initiative. This will offer training and development opportunities for writers and directors on the BAFTA-winning BBC medical drama Casualty. 

 
Click here for more information

A new square in Cardiff City Centre

Exciting plans have been revealed for a new public square in the centre of Cardiff. The vacant Debenhams site will be transformed and with proposals to include a music venue and space to host Cardiff's growing street food scene.
 
A consultation is now open to hear your views on what the new square should look like. Click here to take part.

Celebrating Heart Unions Week

Unionised workplaces are safer, better paid and unlock a range of opportunities to enhance skills and training. During the annual “Heart Unions Week”, I celebrated the hard won rights at work that trades unions have secured and I also spread the word about Labour's commitment to go further with a New Deal for Working People. 
 
Hear why it’s a real benefit to be a trades union member in my video and, more importantly, if you’re not a union member, find out how you can join and which union is the right one to consider joining today.

Stay Strong for Ows Pre-Six Nations Lunch

I'm a proud supporter of Cardiff Rugby and a keen supporter of the Cardiff Rugby Community Foundation. It was a pleasure to attend their annual Stay Strong for Ows pre-Six Nations fundraising lunch.

Across Wales

Standing Up for Welsh Steel

The steel industry is the lifeblood of communities across Wales, but whilst other countries push ahead with investing in clean steel projects, the Tories are holding our industries back. 
 
We are now over halfway through TATA Steel's 45-day redundancy consultation period which could see up to 3000 steel jobs lost, almost all of them in Port Talbot. We cannot let this happen. Urgent action must be taken to secure jobs and protect our sovereign steel making capability for economic and national security reasons too.
 
No irreversible decisions should be taken before a general election. Working in lockstep with a Welsh Labour government, the next UK Labour government will invest £3billion to ensure that the transition to green steel comes with jobs in Wales.

Watch my recent speech here.

More Dither and Delay on Newport Wafer Fab

Newport Wafer Fab offers us a glimpse at the high-skilled jobs and economy of the future that the UK Government should be facilitating in Wales. Sadly, continued dither and delay from the Tory government has left investment on hold and placed jobs at risk. 

I have repeatedly called on Ministers to act to protect livelihoods and encourage investment in this strategically significant sector. 

Read my comments in full in the Western Mail and The Guardian.

Finally, yesterday, 1st March, the UK Government has listened.

Tory Welsh Secretary refuses to condemn racist language of Tory MP, Lee Anderson

Tackling Knife Crime

The Tories talk tough on knife crime, yet on their watch, it is rising at an alarming rate. It's no longer just an issue affecting inner cities, it is wreaking havoc on communities across Wales.
 
Urgent action is needed to keep our communities safe and to particularly protect young people. That's why I have called on the Tory Government to close the loopholes in their knife crime plans.
 
The next Labour government will get neighbourhood police back on our streets and deliver a serious preventative programme to tackle this violence once and for all.

Read my comments in full here or listen to my recent radio appearance here. 

In Parliament

St David's Day Debate

This week, I joined my Welsh Labour colleagues in the chamber of the House of Commons to celebrate St David's Day.

I used the opportunity to take a stand for Wales' steelmaking communities. Instead of having a proper industrial strategy, Conservative ministers have compounded the risk to livelihoods, forking out £500m in taxpayers’ money to see up to 3,000 people made redundant and forfeiting our ability to make virgin steel.

I again pressed the Secretary of State to save jobs and protect our national security. You can watch my speech in full here. 

Rishi's Recession

The Prime Minister can no longer credibly claim that his plan is working or that he has turned the corner on more than fourteen years of economic decline. 
 
The recent news that Britain has entered a recession confirms the reality for families here in Cardiff Central and up and down the country: prices are continuing to rise, pay packets are being stretched and GDP is now lower than when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister.
 
Working people deserve better. Labour's long-term plan will create new jobs, boost investment in our broken economy and bring down bills for good. 

Calling for a Immediate Humanitarian Ceasefire in Gaza

The appalling terrorist attack on Israel and the taking of hostages, followed by absolutely intolerable loss of life and a dire humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, is absolutely unacceptable. I have repeatedly said that the long-term solution to this conflict will involve an end to the fighting and a political process towards two states.
 
In line with this, Labour tabled a strong proposition setting out our position on the conflict which I put my name to and voted for. This addressed not only the need to stop the fighting now, but the pathway to stopping the fighting permanently.

 
You can read more about Labour's calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire here.

More By-election Victories for Labour

It was wonderful to welcome two more Labour by-election winners to Parliament this month. Voters in Wellingborough and Kingswood have sent a strong message that enough is enough. People deserve better than a Tory government which has presided over 14 years of failure and left our economy in tatters. It's time for change and Labour is ready to deliver it for all parts of the UK. 

Ministerial Severance Pay

Years of Tory chaos has resulted in taxpayers footing the bill for nearly a hundred severance packages for dismissed Tory ministers. Some of these ministers only served for a few weeks, whilst others returned after a brief stint on the backbenches. This reward for political chaos is completely unacceptable.
 
Labour sought to change the rules to stop the flagrant abuse of the system that we saw in 2022/23. But Rishi Sunak ordered Tory MPs to block our proposed reforms. No prizes for guessing why.
 
The next UK Labour Government will bring back this legislation and ensure the system is changed for good. 
 
Read more about Labour's proposals here.

Labour's Green Prosperity Plan

Keir Starmer has confirmed that Labour's Green Prosperity Plan will be a central part of our general election manifesto. This is a world-leading agenda which will invest in Britain's future, create good green jobs and bring energy bills down for good. 

• Switching on Great British Energy
• A National Wealth Fund
• A British Jobs Bonus
• A Warm Homes Plan
• A plan to Rewire Britain
• A plan to make the UK the green finance capital of the world

To deliver clean power 2030 requires investment and leadership. 

Read more about our Green Prosperity Plan here. 

Oddballs Testicular Cancer Drop In

St Philip Evans R.C Primary School  Visit Parliament

It was absolutely brilliant to meet pupils from St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School in Llanedeyrn during their recent visit to Parliament. They were fascinated by what they had seen and gave me an enthusiastic grilling with excellent questions. 

It was a pleasure to give them a mention at the dispatch box. They, like all children in Wales are our future and we all have a responsibility to give them the opportunities they deserve. 

You can watch my shout-out here.

Cardiff Labour Students Visit Parliament

Great to welcome so many members of Cardiff Labour Students to Parliament. They enjoyed a full tour of the parliamentary estate and met a number of other Labour Members of Parliament during their visit.

Meeting with the new Colombian Ambassador

It was an honour to meet with the new Colombian Ambassador, Mr Roy Barreras to discuss the current peace efforts in Colombia. I wish him all the best in his new role.

Wales Week

Each year, ahead of St David's Day, we celebrate Wales Week in London. A chance to celebrate and promote everything that is great about Wales. 

It was a real pleasure to speak at the Swiss Embassy’s St David’s Day reception about Wales and Switzerland’s growing partnership based on tourism, culture, cuisine and sport.