Well, as 2022 draws to a close, where do I start on the politics of the past twelve months? Firstly though, thank you for being a regular reader of my monthly newsletters. I wish you, your families and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

This year, the Tory Party has ripped through 5 Tory Education Secretaries, 4 Tory Chancellors, 3 Tory Prime Ministers, 2 Tory leadership coups but not 1 general election for you to decide who should govern the country. What a catalogue of chaos. And across the country, people are paying the price for this incompetence, negligence and sleaze.

This week Rishi Sunak is claiming that it would cost £28bn to award public sector workers a pay rise that matches inflation costing every household “an extra £1000 a year” in tax. Yet the Tories cost the country £30bn in that disastrous mini-budget in September, with households given no choice whatsoever about having to pick up the bill.

That tells you everything about the UK Tory Government’s priorities. It’s time for change.

In Cardiff Central

HSBC Rhyd-y-penau

Branch Update

This month, I met with HSBC to discuss their proposed closure of the Rhyd-y-penau branch. The bank’s own figures about the Rhyd-y-penau branch show that 32% of its customers rely solely on branch banking. Despite this, HSBC were adamant in the meeting that their decision is final. The branch will close in August 2023.

I am very disappointed both in the decision and the manner in which HSBC reached it. I do not believe that they have taken local customers’ needs into consideration.

You can read more about my discussions with HSBC in my blog. 

NUS Cost of Living

Campaign

I was pleased to meet with representatives from NUS Wales to discuss how students are being affected by the cost of living crisis. I was deeply concerned to hear that almost a third left with just £50 a month after paying rent and bills. 

If you are a student facing difficulties, visit Student Space, which offers information on where to find extra funding to help with your living costs and budgeting tools. 

Protecting public services
and the most vulnerable

The Welsh Labour Government has published its draft 2023/24 Budget to help protect public services and the most vulnerable in the face of a perfect storm of financial pressures.

Difficult reprioritising decisions have had to be made to maximise support for public services and for people and businesses most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Facing a shortfall of over £1bn, the Welsh Government has committed:

·         £165m for NHS Wales to help protect frontline services

·         £227m to protect council services

·         £28m for the education budget

·         £40m to support public transport

·         £18.8m to protect people facing financial hardship

Find out more about the budget plans here. 

Show Racism the

Red Card

Congratulations to St Philip Evans R.C. Primary School pupil, Luchia Ellul-Alimikhena, whose fantastic poster features in educational charity Show Racism the Red Card's 2023 Calendar.

The calendar features young peoples’ artwork and poetry from their schools’ competition. The winners have produced inspiring and thought-provoking work which is both powerful and effective in spreading the anti-racism message.

You can get yours here.

The Cardiff Christmas

Dinner

It is heart-warming, but no surprise, to see the kindness of volunteers in Cardiff Central, working together to give care leavers a special Christmas Day.

The Cardiff Christmas Dinner Project provides care leavers in Cardiff with an opportunity to get together at Christmas. As well as a dinner, guests are given presents and treats.

I would like to thank everyone in Cardiff Central who is giving up their time to make Christmas special for others. Find out how to get involved here. 

Ukraine Project Cymru

Cardiff University has launched a new immigration advice service to help Ukrainians living in Wales.

Ukraine Project Cymru offers free one-off advice to help people understand their immigration status and progress their cases.

The scheme is offered in partnership with Asylum Justice, an independent legal service charity for asylum seekers and refugees in Wales with whom I have worked closely for many years, with funding from Welsh Government and is open to Ukrainians who wish to enter or remain in Wales.

Find out more here. 

Primary School

Admissions

Applications for primary school admissions for September 2023 are open until January 9. Regardless of which nursery school your child attends, you still need to apply for a primary school reception class place.

Every area of Cardiff is served by a Welsh-medium community primary school, an English-medium community primary school, a Church in Wales Primary School and a Catholic Primary School. You do not need to speak English or Welsh at home or practice a particular faith​ to apply for admission for any of these schools.

Parents and Guardians are encouraged to use all three preferences and visit schools before making an application. For more information, click here.

Advice Surgeries

My advice surgery dates for January 2023 are now confirmed. These are an opportunity for any resident 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 diary of surgery dates here – call my office on 029 2132 9736 – or email me at [email protected] to make an appointment.

·         Friday 13th January – Penylan

·         Friday 20th January – Pentwyn

·         Friday 27th January - Adamsdown

You don’t have to come to a surgery to get help and advice. You can telephone or email at any time and I and my team will do our very best to answer and resolve your enquiry. 

Awen Institute

I visited the Awen Institute at Swansea University this month to see and hear more about their work. Awen brings together leading academic researchers to work with people aged 50 and over and the creative industries, to co-produce products, services and environments for an increasing older population across the UK.

I took part in a virtual reality exercise designed to simulate the visual challenges faced by someone with dementia. Eye movement data is tracked and used to help design environments that make dealing with everyday tasks at home easier and safer for people living with dementia. The work of the Awen Institute is benefitting people in Cardiff Central and across Wales.

In Parliament

Online Safety Bill

I have long campaigned for stronger protections for children and the public online. As Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, I led on the issue in the lead up to the publication of the government’s draft online safety legislation and worked extensively with child protection charities making the case for proper, focussed, and effective legislation.

The Online Safety Bill was first proposed in 2019, by Theresa May. Three Prime Ministers later, the Tories continue to put party before the safety of people online. When the bill finally returned to the Commons this month, the Tories voted to water down the key components of the bill and delay it even further.

We cannot allow the government’s ineptitude and chaos kill off this Bill and leave the internet unregulated. We have longstanding regulation covering broadcast and print media and every sector of the economy has some regulation. Social media and website cannot be exempt from it.  If the Tories fail to take our concerns seriously, the next Labour government will introduce further regulation to make sure the online world is safe. 

Come clean about

VIP PPE

The Tories’ ‘VIP lane’ for PPE is a scandal of epic proportions that has allowed the shameful waste of taxpayers’ money and inexcusable profiteering, largely by Tory cronies.

Earlier this month, Labour forced a binding vote in Parliament to make the government come clean on the murky award of £203 million in taxpayers’ money to a shady company linked to Tory Peer, Baroness Mone. Not a single Tory MP bothered to vote.

As Chancellor, Rishi Sunak never lifted a finger to stop this money being thrown away, and in many cases, ignored direct warnings of the risks. The public is sick of being ripped off by the Tories. 

Nurses Strikes

Nurses are on strike for the first time in their history. They don’t want to strike but have been forced to take action as a last resort. The UK Government could have prevented the strikes happening. All Rishi Sunak had to do was to confirm that his ministers would meet with the healthcare unions and TALK about pay. Instead, the Prime Minister decided to play politics with people’s lives.

The Welsh Government continues to press the UK Government to pass on the full funding necessary for fair pay rises for public sector workers. They have also taken action to ensure that the lowest paid staff in the NHS see the biggest uplift in their pay, equivalent to a 10.8% pay rise, making the NHS in Wales the highest-paying UK nation for staff in the lowest pay bands.

This month, I voted to abolish non-dom tax status and instead use that money to train a new generation of nurses, midwives and doctors to treat patients, so the shortage of healthcare workers can be addressed. If the Tories won’t do it, they should stand aside for a government that will. 

Making Britain the best

 
place to start and grow a
 
business

This month, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, set out our ambition to make the UK the high growth, start-up hub of the world. As part of our plan, we will:

These are the kind of policies the country needs to avoid continuing the Tory path of economic decline and for us all to look towards a more dynamic future.

Take a look at our plan here.