Vote for Emma Wools

Successive Conservative governments have hollowed out neighbourhood policing leading to more crime, fewer crimes prosecuted and victims not receiving the justice they deserve.

It's time for change, but the Tories can't be the ones to deliver it. 

Today, Thursday 2nd May, you'll have the chance to make your voice heard on policing and crime issues in Cardiff Central. Welsh Labour's South Wales Police & Crime Commissioner Candidate, Emma Wools will ensure that the force is visible, connected and responsive to our local communities. 

Vote Labour for Safer Streets. Don’t forget you need photographic ID to vote in this election. Polls are open from 7am to 10pm.

Across Cardiff Central

YMCA Bedford Street Development

A big thank you to YMCA Cardiff Group Chief Executive, Andrew Templeton for giving me a preview of their groundbreaking project on Bedford Place.

The new 18 apartment complex will be dedicated to providing safe and secure accommodation for single young people at risk of homelessness in Cardiff Central. It is utilising contemporary methods of construction to ensure the apartments reach the highest energy efficiency standards to reduce bills for residents.

I look forward to returning to the project and meeting the new residents when the project is completed in early 2025.

Read more about the project here.

Congratulations Rubicon Dance

Tesco's Stronger Starts has helped to give thousands of children a healthier, more active start in life, with over £100 awarded to more than 50,000 community projects since 2015. 

I'm really pleased to hear that Rubicon Dance in Adamsdown has received Tesco's £5,000 Golden Grant which will support three weekly dance sessions for disabled children and young people.

Thank you to all the residents of Cardiff Central who gave their support.

Wellfield Road Bakery Named One of the Best in Britain

The Telegraph has announced their list of Britain's 13 best bakeries 'worth queuing up for'. It comes as no surprise that the wonderful 'Tŷ Melin Bakery' on Wellfield Road has made it onto the list.

Congratulations to Angharad Conway and Lance Gardner, who have built Ty Melin from the ground up, on this remarkable achievement.

Pentwyn Leisure Centre Plans Take Another Step Forward

Plans to reopen Pentwyn Leisure Centre have taken a further step forward this month following a two-day Cardiff Council drop-in session with local residents.

At the sessions, it was revealed that parts of the centre will re-open in mid-June with work on the pool beginning at around the same time, with its completion expected by next year.

Among the new facilities planned are:

•  A 25m pool with an adaptable moving floor which allows for the depth of the water to be varied, enabling it to be used for a wide range of activities as well as reducing the costs of heating the pool. The pool slide will also be retained
• Retaining the existing sports hall and outdoor mini-3G pitch
• Re-opening the studio and gym facilities and refurbishing the changing rooms
• Investing in roof-mounted solar panels and an air source heat pump to heat the pool

Pentwyn Labour Councillor Jess Moultrie has successfully advocated on behalf of many local residents for the new facilities.

Read more here

Adamsdown Primary Goes Green

I had a brilliant morning at Adamsdown Primary School with children from Years 5 and 6 learning about different types of renewable energy in a special class led by Bute Energy. They are encouraging children to think about a career in Wales' quickly expanding green technology sector.

We were all treated to a fantastic interactive lesson which included putting together our own wind turbines and taking part in a quiz on renewable energy which got very competitive. Lots of fun and enthusiasm from the next generation of green engineers.

Women in Public Affairs

It was an honour to welcome so many women from the public affairs sector in Wales to Cardiff to discuss how we can elevate women's voices in public life, business, academia and the third sector.

It was a relaxed, informal discussion covering a range wide of topics, including my legal career, my subsequent journey into politics and how a UK Labour Government will work to promote women's voices if it wins the next General Election. A brilliant night of discussion with many inspirational women.

Visiting Cardiff Port

We have a golden opportunity to become a world leader in floating offshore wind, delivering cheaper bills for everyone, energy security and the jobs of the future.

This month, I joined the senior team from Allied British Ports (ABP) in Cardiff to hear about their plans for how our ports in Cardiff, Newport, Barry, Port Talbot and Swansea will help decarbonise our energy, manufacturing and logistics, creating new jobs across South Wales.

Dwr Cymru Visit

Water quality and the performance of water companies across the UK is rightly a cause for concern. Last year, sewage flowed into Welsh rivers and seas for 916,000 hours. This is absolutely unacceptable.

This month I visited Dwr Cymru’s headquarters in St Mellons to discuss the company’s performance, what they are doing to address and improve it and understand more about the sewage overflows that are polluting our waterways. I also wanted to understand more about how they help customers who are struggling with their water bills because of the cost-of-living crisis.

I welcome their proposed £2.5 billion investment in environmental services, but they must deliver on their promises. I will be watching this very carefully.

Welsh National Opera

This month, I met with the senior management at Welsh National Opera as I wanted to understand the rationale behind their decisions to make changes to the WNO Orchestra and to touring productions. WNO, like many organisations, are having to adapt to funding pressures.

The WNO is one of only two culture organisations in Wales that receive funding from both Arts Council Wales and Arts Council England, but this year there are significant cuts to their budget.

Despite the challenges, I am pleased to hear that there will be no compromise on their high artistic standards and that they are determined to continue providing a stimulating programme of performances and community engagement activities throughout the year.

Across Wales

Fighting for Welsh Steelworkers

Almost 3,000 workers at Port Talbot and at downstream facilities at Llanwern, Trostre and Shotton are facing the prospect of redundancies because the Tories don't have an industrial strategy or a proper plan for the UK steel industry. Thousands more jobs in the supply chain are also at risk if both the Blast Furnaces at Port Talbot are closed by the end of this year.

Labour is pressing Tata not to take any irreversible decisions before the General Election. Our £3bn green steel fund is there to help transition to clean steel avoiding the cliff edge of mass redundancies.

The Tory Welsh Secretary of State says no one will be left behind if they lose their job. I will be holding him to account every step of the way.

This month, I took the Guardian to the plant at Port Talbot to explain Labour’s plan, to talk to steelworkers and their unions and to Tata management.

You can read more about it here.

And listen to my Guardian podcast interview here 

And you can watch my urgent question in the Commons to the Welsh Secretary here.

Thales Visit

South Wales has huge potential in cyber security. Earlier this month, I joined Blaenau Gwent Labour MP, Nick Smith at Thales’ Global Centre of Excellence for Operational Technology to hear how their Cyber College Cymru project is preparing the next generation for future jobs in cyber security.

Understanding how the everyday technology we use such as mobile phones, electric cars, ring doorbells, to name a few, can be the target of destructive hackers. Identity fraud is a growing problem and it was fascinating (and frightening) to hear about the increasingly sophisticated ways in which individuals and businesses are targeted.

Welcome to Wrexham

What a special day it was to be at the Racecourse in Wrexham to see a win and a double promotion.

It’s a brilliant achievement for Wrexham AFC, their players and supporters. Rob McElhenny and Ryan Reynolds have put Wrexham on the world stage which is great for the whole of Welsh football. The club has certainly changed since I last saw a game there in the 1980’s!

In Parliament

The Rwanda Gimmick

The Rwanda law is an extortionately expensive gimmick, rather than a serious plan to tackle people trafficking and dangerous boat crossings.

Now the Bill has become law, the Conservatives will immediately sign another £50 million cheque to Rwanda on top of the £200 million sent so far.

The Tories should drop this eye-wateringly expensive election stunt and adopt Labour’s five point plan to reform the asylum system.

Read Labour's plan to stop the criminal gangs from people trafficking and reforms to the asylum system here.

Your Pension is not Safe with the Tories

The Tories have promised to abolish National Insurance at a cost of £46billion, without saying how they are going to pay for it.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly refused to rule out cuts to the state pension or the NHS to pay for it. This week he even refused the deny the Tory Peer Lord Frost’s suggestion that the state pension age should be raised to 75.

The Prime Minister must come clean with the public over how he plans to pay for his pledge. £46billion is more than the amount of unfunded tax cuts that Liz Truss disastrously included in the mini budget that led to the economy crashing. Rishi Sunak hasn’t learned the lessons of his Tory predecessor’s catastrophic mismanagement of the economy.

Read more in my recent blog.

Commemorating Workers' Memorial Day

Last year, 135 people lost their lives and over 60,000 were injured in accidents in workplaces across the UK.

On Workers' Memorial Day, I joined people around the world to remember those who have died and the countless families that have had their lives turned upside down.

Watch my tribute here.

Digital Markets Bill

Consumer protections are essential for making sure the public aren’t ripped off. Yet the Tories have dragged their feet for more than two years as technology advances and thousands are left refreshing ticket resale websites, only to pay through the nose to see a band or an artist they love. This is frustrating and unfair.

We need to ensure that large tech companies are properly regulated to ensure competition in these markets. Labour won’t allow the Tories to water down this much needed new law. We will also go further with a cap on resale prices and we’ll ban ticket hoarding.

Culture should be for fans, not excessive profits.

Tobacco & Vapes Bill

Smoking is now responsible for more than 80,000 deaths each year in the UK and is responsible for over 70% of lung cancer cases.

Whilst vaping is a less harmful alternative, it is not risk free, especially with a concerningly high number of illicit products, exposing children to harmful substances.

I voted for the Tobacco & Vapes Bill to prohibit cigarette sales to the next generation and curb the marketing of vapes that appeal to children. 

Read more here.

Rishi Sunak's Non-Dom Loophole

The Tories promised to abolish the UK's non-dom tax rules and replace them with a resident-based approach to taxation of foreign income and gains. But transitional rules will give non-doms a year to structure their finances to permanently avoid paying inheritance tax on their estates.

The Tories need to come clean about this gaping loophole in their non-dom plan and guarantee to the public that people who make their home here, pay their taxes here too. Labour’s plan to abolish non-dom status will do exactly that.

Read more here.

Football Governance Bill

Football clubs are more than businesses, they provide a sense of community and pride in our local areas. In Cardiff we know only two well what happens when there are governance failures and owners ignore the fans.

In my previous role as Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, I called for football to be put on a stable footing, with an independent regulator and a proper say for fans. It’s something I have campaigned for ever since I was elected and so I was glad to vote in favour of the Football Governance Bill to push these reforms forward.

Read more here.

Contaminated Blood

The contaminated blood scandal is the biggest disaster in NHS history. After decades of injustice for so many families, there has finally been some progress on establishing a compensation scheme for those affected including families in Cardiff Central.

More than 30,000 patients were given contaminated blood products in the 1970’s and 1980’s, more than 3000 people have died after contracting HIV or Hepatitis C as a result and it has been estimated that one person infected by the contaminated products dies every four days.

The UK Government has now been forced, as a result of a Labour amendment to the Victims Bill, to put a final compensation system in place within 3 months of the Bill becoming law.

Those affected by this appalling injustice have had to wait far too long.  

Nuclear Energy Event

Nuclear energy is a key part of our energy mis to transition to net zero. I joined the Nuclear Industry Association, GB Nuclear and Trade Unionists for Safe Nuclear Energy (TUNSE) in Parliament this month to share Labour’s plan to push forward on nuclear energy as part of that transition in the UK.

Our Green Prosperity Plan will help get existing projects like Hinckley and Sizewell over the line and identify other opportunities for new nuclear, in places like Wylfa on Anglesey. This will help to boost Britain’s energy security and reduce prices for consumers and businesses across Wales.