News Archive

The big news this week was, of course, the Chancellor’s Budget, a weak and treacherous response to the sacrifices made by ordinary, working people during the pandemic. He has hit working people with the highest sustained tax burden in peacetime and yet has given a tax cut to bankers taking short haul flights to meetings. After a decade of austerity, our public services have … [Read more...]

I was working in my Neath office last Friday lunchtime when the news broke that Sir David Amess had been stabbed at his constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea. I couldn’t believe that it had happened to another MP, following the attack on Stephen Timms in 2010 and on Jo Cox six years ago. Stephen survived, but Jo died. As the afternoon unfolded, it looked as if David would not … [Read more...]

In the House of Commons Chamber on Monday evening the UK Government proposed an “Instruction Motion” to amend the Elections Bill which is at its Committee Stage of the House of Commons. The amendment would broaden the scope of the Elections Bill to include provision for a simple majority voting system for the following elections: the Mayor of London; an elected Mayor in England … [Read more...]

Christina Rees, MP for Neath, has backed the Labour Party’s safer communities summer campaign as the Party pledges to crack down on anti-social behaviour and end violence against women and girls. The Tories have cut police to the lowest level in a generation and cut funding for services that prevent crime from happening, leading to the loss of thousands of officers on the … [Read more...]

We are seeing restrictions on Covid loosen as the sun has come out. Although pubs and restaurants have opened and we have a great deal more freedom than last summer, it still is not “business as usual”. We must continue to be careful and to behave responsibly to ensure that Covid does not spread and that we protect ourselves and our loved ones from both Covid and Long Covid. … [Read more...]

This week I attended a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs). I was elected vice chair of the APPG for Flood Prevention at its AGM on Tuesday, with Rachael Maskell MP re-elected as chair. We discussed the work programme for this session, and will prioritise conducting enquiries into: flood consideration in the planning system; and Ofwat 2024 review. Later that … [Read more...]

Christina Rees, MP for Neath, has pressed the COP26 President for information on what proportion of the billions of pounds of private sector investment will go to Wales.  She also asked how many of the proposed 250,000 highly skilled green jobs floated by the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Green Industrial Plan will go to Wales. The COP26 President, Alok Sharma MP, failed to give … [Read more...]

On Monday, as part of my duties as a member of the Panel of Chairs, I chaired the Second Delegated Legislation Committee in respect of the draft Market Surveillance (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021. The instrument amends the EU Market and Compliance Regulation which, under the … [Read more...]

Christina Rees, MP for Neath, condemns the UK Government for voting against the creation of a law that would offer better protections for retail staff as violence, threats and abuse directed towards workers has skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic. The Labour Party tabled amendments to the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill that would create a specific offence of … [Read more...]

On Tuesday afternoon I welcomed Alun Michael, South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, to Neath as part of his South Wales Community Walkabout tour. We were accompanied by Inspector Matt Otteson, Cllr Leanne Jones, Sergeant Carys Lewis, Cllr Dean Cawsey and Sarah Mahon, Engagement Officer SWP, as we walked around Neath town centre. In the short time available to us, with … [Read more...]