On the 22nd May, International Biodiversity Day, I attended a joint meeting of the International Conservation APPG and the Climate Change APPG, organised and chaired by Barry Gardiner MP who is chair of the former. The topic for discussion was “Biomass: Bad for Biodiversity and Bad for Climate Change”, which provided a timely opportunity to talk about all the biodiversity issues surrounding biomass and BECC, especially with the UK Government’s biomass strategy expected to be published in the near future. The speakers included: Matt Williams, senior advocate Forest Protection Nature Program, NRDC; Prof Mike Norton, Environment Programme Director at the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC); Eamonn Ives, former special advisor to UK COP President Alok Sharma, Head of Research, The Entrepreneurs; Duncan Brac, Environmental Policy analyst and advisor, former SpAd at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
The main business in the Chamber was the return of the Strikes (Minimum Service Level) Bill from the Lords, who had made 7 amendments and we voted on Amendments 1,2,4, and 5 (because 6&7 are consequential on 5) at the end of the debate. The procedure is that each Lords Amendment must be accepted, altered, replaced, or rejected by MPs. The UK Government were opposed to all Lords Amendments, and voted to reject them. Amendment 1 would insert new subsections to Clause 4 to restrict its application to only England. The Government won by 288-227 votes. Amendment 2 would require consultation and review by a committee of each House takes place before the Secretary of State makes new regulations under s234B to specify minimum service levels. The UK Government won by 286-231. Amendment 4 would insert a new section 234CA to require a copy of a work notice to be given to a person who will be subject to it, employers must prove they’ve done this, and failure to comply with the work notice is not a breach of contract of employment, so the person cannot be dismissed or suffer detriment as a result. The Government won by 286-232 votes. Amendment 5 would remove s234E (no protection if trade union fails to take reasonable steps) to ensure that trade unions do not have any responsibility or obligation to ensure their members comply with a work notice. The Government won by 287-232 votes, and therefore, Amendments 6/7 were not voted on. The Bill has gone back to the Lords for them to consider whether to insist on any of their original Amendments or offer alternatives, and send them back to the Commons, known as “ping-pong”.
I was elected a vice chair at the AGM of APPG for Ukraine, and Bob Seely MP and Alex Sobel MP were re-elected co-chairs. We received a confidential briefing about the current state of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and we all agreed that NATO should vote to proscribe the Wagner Group.
I attended the Dignity in Dying reception organised by its patron Dame Prue Leith to pledge my ongoing support for the campaign for a national conversation on assisted dying which is currently happening in Scotland, Jersey, Isle of Man, Ireland and France. Prue has called on Party leaders to listen to the voices of dying people and the public at large who are overwhelmingly supportive of a change in the law.
I was honoured to be re-elected chair at the AGM of the APPG for Sepsis, and I look forward to continuing to work with the UK Sepsis Trust to help to improve lives of people and families who have been affected by sepsis.
As chair of the APPG for Vegetarianism and Veganism, I attended the launch of the Vegetarian for Life report “Diet and Identity in Care Settings: A Systematic Literature Review”. Anna Boardman, lead researcher for the report, presented its aims and objectives. Food is often a meaningful activity in our lives. For those who follow a religion, food can be an extension of their faith, or a means by which to exercise one’s ethical, political, or philosophical beliefs, regarding the environment, animal welfare, or animal rights. Food can play a symbolic role in the way we view ourselves, as part of families, and members of society. The changes in aging can mean choices become limited, restricted, or superseded. Mealtimes can be the highlight of residents’ days, but often the meals served do not reflect the diversity in the resident’s needs. There are examples of vegans and vegetarians being served meat. The report aimed to explore existing research and identify the gaps in knowledge. Barriers to food provision came through knowledge and education, carers made nutrition choices, rather than beliefs and preferences, residents were not good self-advocates, temporary untrained food assistants, medicines without animal products. The research focused on care homes and the older demographic, but indicates it is pertinent where people have reduced autonomy.
I am supporting Anna Firth MP who introduced the first reading of her 10-Minute Rule Bill “Animal Welfare (Responsibility for Dog Attacks)” in the chamber this week. The Bill will seek to criminalise fatal dog-on-dog attacks because currently dog owners are not liable when their dog fatally attacks another dog. Anna has called her Bill ‘Emilie’s Law’ after her constituent Michael’s bichon fris called Emilie was tragically killed in a dog attack in 2021.
I attended the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) Parliamentary Reception for Welsh MPs and Peers to meet the chair, board members, and senior management team. Speakers included: Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens MP; Plaid Cymru Justice Spokesperson, Liz Saville-Roberts MP; and Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies MP. The SRA is the largest regulator of legal services in England and Wales, covering 90% of the legal market. In Wales, the SRA oversees 4000 solicitors, and more than 400 law firms who have their head offices based in Wales. The SRA works to set and maintain high professional standards, protect members of the public and support the rule of law and administration of justice. The SRA recently set out a commitment to develop its presence in Wales, and take full account of Wales throughout its work, in particular, taking account of Welsh Law in the new Solicitor’s Qualifying Exa, and developing opportunities for aspiring solicitors to sit this exam through the medium of Welsh. In 2021, the SRA recruited its first Head of Welsh Affairs, and opened an office in Cardiff. I hope to visit the new office in the near future.
The business in the Chamber was the Official Opposition Day, and there were two debates: Leasehold Reform (England only); Safety of School Buildings (Education is devolved to Wales and to Scotland). At the end of each debate there was a vote. The UK Government instructed their Conservative MPs not to take part in the Leasehold Reform vote, which the official opposition and other parties won 174-0. The vote on the second debate was lost by 171-296 votes.
I was re-elected a vice chair at the AGM of the APPG for Flooding, my friend Rachael Maskell MP was re-elected chair. The business for the forthcoming year will include Flood Defence Grant in Aid Scheme (FDGIA), Levelling Up, Planning, Property Flood Resilience, Frequently Flooded Communities, and Riparian Ownership. At this meeting we had an update from the frequently flooded area, Shrewsbury Flood Action Group, which stated that it had flooded 18 times since 1977, but they don’t qualify for the criteria under the FDGIA, and these criteria need to be changed. The mental health of frequently flooded people is being seriously affected, as well as the costs of repairing houses and replacing contents. It’s also difficult to obtain house and contents insurance under these circumstances. Peter Grant, Funding Manager at the Environment Agency, explained that the FDGIA is based on a partnership funding model, the more a scheme costs the more grant is available, it’s a big town model, so it’s more complicated for dispersed houses that don’t reach the criteria which DEFRA sets. Some schemes cost more than the grant available. I stated that the criteria should be updated to include inflation and building oncosts, so that the grants are increased to reflect actual flooding costs.
I was pleased to support the #KnowYourSkin Melanoma Awareness Month drop-in event in Parliament, organised by the charity Melanoma Focus, and hosted by Sir Chris Bryant MP. We were encouraged to check our skin and contact our GP if there’s a new change in moles/lesions and protect our skin with SPF30+ sunscreen. The charity has found that 86% of melanoma skin cancer is preventable, which is increasing to over 16,000 new cases per annum, in 15-44 age group melanoma is the second most common cancer in males and the third most common in females, and it is the deadliest cancer. Several cancer charities are campaigning for high factor protective creams to be VAT exempt, which is now at 20%, because the cost-of-living crisis has caused many people and families to struggle to buy these essential items, and could be contributing to the rise in cancer in the UK.
As vice chair of the APPG for Restorative Justice (RJ), I attended our regular monthly meeting to listen to an update from our 2023 Workstreams which were set up to progress the recommendations made in our report “Restorative Practices 2021/22”, following an enquiry bringing 50 leading practitioners together to take evidence. At this meeting we heard from the Devolved Administration Group; Internal Management Group; and External Management Group. We also discussed the forthcoming “Victims and Prisoners Bill” which does not mention RJ and the possibility of APPG members tabling an RJ amendment to the Committee Stage of the Bill.
I supported the launch of the Baton of Hope Workplace Charter. The founder John McCarthy believes that “suicides are preventable, and everyone can play a part in supporting a move towards a zero suicide society”. In the UK there are still 17 suicides a day, despite numerous initiatives. The six principles of the charter are: make suicide awareness, support, and prevention a workplace priority; use clear and consistent messaging about suicide for internal communication and induction training; implement suicide prevention, early detection, prevention and supportive services; embrace those with lived experience; promote crisis services, suicide prevention advice, counselling, training and support; and promote the charter to increase awareness. Employers have a crucial role to play in suicide prevention.
I have been a supporter of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) for many years, and was pleased to attend their event to highlight that hunting with dogs has continued in England and Wales because of the weaknesses in the Hunting Act, and the use of “trail” hunting as a smokescreen for illegal hunting. There are nine exemptions and a loophole that allows hunts to claim that chasing and killing an animal was accidental, so the law fails to protect animals from cruelty. During the 2022-23 hunting season, the LACS compiled 1367 incidents of fox hunts wreaking havoc and involved or suspected of illegal hunting, drawn from the LACS Crimewatch service and hunt monitors. 841 cases of hunt havoc such as railway trespass, chasing pets, and 526 reports of illegal hunting, including 400 cases of a hunt been seen chasing a fox, involving 122 hunts, across 50 counties in the UK. The UK Government has refused to strengthen the law, but police cannot enforce it because it is not fit for purpose. The UK Government allows hunting on its Ministry of Defence land, granting 22 licences for “trail” hunting in 2022. In January 2023, the Scottish Government passed Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act to close loopholes in the law exploited by Scottish hunts, and bans “trail” hunting. Calculus Polling in 2022 found 78% of British voters support strengthening the hunting ban, 71% in rural constituencies, of which 87% are Labour voters, 81% Liberal Democrat voters, 71% Conservative voters. The LACS is calling for the Hunting Act to be strengthened by removing exemptions, banning “trail” hunting, and introducing custodial sentences.
I joined representatives from the Youth Sport Trust to support National Schools Sports Week, which will take place from 19-25th June. National Schools Sports Week aims to address the fact that less than half (47%) of all young people across the UK are active for at least 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day as recommended by the Chief Medical Officers. The campaign will see activities take place across the UK to “play for fun-play for 60” which is so important when children’s wellbeing is in decline, obesity and type 2 diabetes cases are rising. The schools in Neath that have already signed up to support this very worthwhile initiative are Cwmnedd Primary and Llangatwg Community School, but I am proud to support this fantastic campaign that helps young people experience the benefit of PE, Sports, and play, and I’m looking forward to working with schools and parents in my Neath constituency to take part and reach their full potential. As a former Welsh Squash International and former Development Officer and National Coach for Squash Wales I realise the importance of taking part in sport to improve physical and mental wellbeing.
The APPG for Sport held a Community and Social Sport event to promote the Annual Report for the Sport for Development Coalition 2022-23 #OpenGoal. The room was packed full of sport and community representatives, including some from Wales. The chair of the Coalition Andy Reed OBE, appointed in 2020, introduced the report, emphasising that sport and physical activity have a big part to play in building a fairer, more equitable, and sustainable future, and there is a generational crisis involving substantial health, economic, and societal impacts. The report aims to demonstrate the value of targeted sport-based interventions being delivered within communities in the greatest need of levelling up. As a former Welsh Squash International and former Squash Wales National coach, I pledged my support to the very commendable aims of the Coalition to use sport to make a positive difference to people’s lives.
The main business in the Chamber on the penultimate day before recess was the Lords sending their Amendments back to the Commons after the MPs had previously disagreed with their Amendments to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill known as “ping-pong”. We voted on 4 Amendments that the Lords sent back and the UK Government won all the votes again, after instructing Conservative MPs to disagree. Lords Amendment 1 was about Joint Committee scrutiny of the sunset schedule, and the UK Government won by 298-216 votes. Lords Amendment 6 to which the Commons previously disagreed because the retention of anything which is retained by EU law by virtue of section 4 of the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018 would be inconsistent with the principle of supremacy of EU law, was defeated again by 296-215 votes. Lords Amendment 15 to which the Commons previously disagreed because the Commons do not consider this amendment necessary in order to maintain environmental protection or food standards was defeated again by 294-217 votes. And Lords Amendment 42 to which the Commons previously disagreed because the Commons consider the scrutiny procedure imposed by the Lords Amendment to be inappropriate was defeated again by 294-217 votes. The Bill has been “ping-ponged” to the Lords again for their consideration after recess on Tuesday 6th June.
Back in Neath, at the end of my week, I called into St David’s Church to support the volunteers at the Saturday morning shop, and watched our highly skilled flower arranger Rosemary preparing the church for up and coming services. I also called into St Thomas’s Church to see the fantastic exhibition of weddings past and present organised by Neath Mothers’ Union (NMU). Many members of NMU and church had lent their wedding gowns, memorabilia, photographs/albums, and the Parish Marriage Records were on display.