News Archive

My week began as a member of the Delegated Legislation Committee that met to discuss the Draft Statutory Instrument entitled “The Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (Amendment to Schedule 3) (England) Order 2021” which sought to extend the scope of the Primary Authority scheme that provides a statutory framework for a business to form a partnership with a local … [Read more...]

As a member of the Petitions Committee I attended our third oral evidence session as part of the Committee’s inquiry into Tackling Online Abuse. We heard from expert witnesses representing the Law Commission and … [Read more...]

On Monday evening, as a member of the Petitions Committee, I was honoured and privileged to lead a petitions debate in Westminster Hall on road traffic offences for fatal collisions. I … [Read more...]

On Monday, the UK Conservative Government refused to endorse an anti-sleaze report by Lord Evans of Weardale, chair of the Committee on Standards of Public Life. In hindsight, this was an early indication of the Prime Minister’s stance that he would take on Wednesday when he opposed the Standards Committee’s report into the conduct of Owen Paterson MP. The report stated that Mr … [Read more...]

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...]