Dear John,

THANK YOU FOR READING MY NEWSLETTER. 

 LOCAL ELECTIONS – MAY 5TH 

On 5TH MAY, you decide who represents you on Cardiff Council. I hope
you will use all your votes and vote for Welsh Labour candidates
across Cardiff Central. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been
out across Cardiff Central with our Welsh Labour candidates and
existing Councillors who are seeking re-election, listening to
residents, taking up issues and getting them resolved.

Our Cardiff Central Labour Councillors have worked extremely hard for
their communities over the last 5 years – and our Labour Council
working with our Welsh Labour Government and Welsh Labour MPs across
our city worked as a team to get Cardiff through the pandemic. Our
Labour Council has also begun the transition to net-zero, transformed
our schools and ensured Cardiff is building council homes once again.

Please give ALL your votes on 5th May to your hardworking local Welsh
Labour candidates. 

 MAKE A PLAN TO VOTE 

POLLING DAY IS THURSDAY MAY 5TH. If you vote by post and you haven’t
yet received your postal vote, it should be on its way to you very
soon. Here’s a few things to remember:

·       You can return your postal vote in person at any
polling station in Cardiff up until 10pm on Thursday 5th May.

·       You can request an emergency proxy vote up until 5pm on
polling day if you’re self-isolating with COVID-19, away with work
at the last minute or if there’s a medical emergency. More
information about emergency proxy votes can be found here:
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·       YOU DON’T NEED A POLLING CARD TO VOTE- and you can
find your polling station online here: [link removed]
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·       Polls are open from 7am – 10pm. If you’re in a
queue at 10pm, you can still vote.

 CARDIFF LABOUR MANIFESTO 

Our Cardiff Labour Manifesto was officially launched at the Maelfa,
Llanedeyrn. It’s a really bold plan for an even stronger, fairer and
greener capital city – including new train stations, £1 bus fares
and plans for 1,500 new council homes. Our 5 key pledges are above,
you can read the manifesto in full here: 
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 IN PARLIAMENT 

 BORIS JOHNSON'S LAW BREAKING AND   LYING 

It’s disgraceful that Boris Johnson is the first Prime Minister in
British history to receive a criminal sanction and the first to have
been referred by the House of Commons for investigation into whether
his lying to Parliament was deliberate or unintentional.

Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak broke laws they
made and told the public to comply with, to help save lives and
protect the NHS. The police are still investigating another eleven
events and Downing Street is already the biggest law-breaking
workplace in the UK. Already, 50 fines have been issued and many more
are expected.

When I think back to those daily press conferences during the pandemic
with the PM and Chancellor standing there telling everyone to follow
the law and I think of the severe hardship people suffered and the
impossible decisions people made in order to comply with the law -
when all the time Johnson and Sunak both knew they had broken the law.
THEIR HYPOCRISY AND LACK OF INTEGRITY IS APPALLING. THEY ARE NOT FIT
TO GOVERN AND SHOULD RESIGN.

[My video] [[link removed]]

I SPOKE TO BBC WALES ABOUT OUR DECISION IN PARLIAMENT TO REFER THE
PRIME MINISTER FOR INVESTIGATION INTO HIS LYING – YOU CAN WATCH THAT
IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.

 TORY COST OF LIVING CRISIS & SPRING   STATEMENT 

Households across the country are seeing the numbers on their bills
going up and the numbers on their payslips going down.

The Conservative Government has decided to raise taxes and make a
real-terms cut to the state pension and social security whilst
presiding over record inflation and the largest fall to disposable
income for 70 years. Households, pensioners, students and families
across Wales are having to make impossibly difficult choices.

I really don't think the Chancellor has grasped the level of fear most
households have at the cost-of-living crisis they are facing. Gas,
electricity and oil bills have gone through the roof and will rise
again in October.

Labour’s plan is to impose a windfall tax on oil and gas producers
who have made unexpected and enormous profits which would mean up to
£600 for every household, now. A boss at BP said the company has
“more cash than it knows what to do with” but the Chancellor
instead decided to go ahead with a rise in national insurance
contributions putting even more pressure on people.

I spoke to BBC Wales Live about Rishi Sunak's threadbare Spring
Statement - and how measures like  Labour’s plan for a windfall tax
on oil companies with record profits would provide immediate help.

Wales Live clip: [link removed]
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BBC Wales Today RE: Windfall tax: [link removed]
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 P&O FERRIES SCANDAL 

It has emerged that the UK Government had advance warning of 800
British workers being sacked via pre-recorded video message. A memo
was sent to the Prime Minister - but he did not lift a finger to stop
it. It’s yet more incompetence and laziness from him and his
Government.

We forced an emergency vote in parliament to demand the government
takes action to outlaw fire and rehire of workers. The UK Government
halted a previous Labour bill to outlaw fire and rehire. This time,
THE TORIES DIDN’T EVEN TURN UP TO VOTE.

Whilst Tory Ministers and Tory MPs focus all their efforts on
defending indefensible behaviour by the Prime Minister and his
Chancellor, they dismiss and ignore the real issues that people are
facing. It’s clear where the priorities of this Tory Government lie.

 TORIES PUSH AHEAD WITH PLANS TO   PRIVATISE CHANNEL 4 

Channel 4 is a hugely successful and important national public service
broadcaster that belongs to us all. It has helped sustain and grow our
renowned creative industries, especially the independent production
sector - and the hundreds of thousands of skilled jobs that rely on
them.

For the Tories to push ahead with this unnecessary privatisation,
purely out of ideology and spite, is totally wrong and Labour will
oppose it.

 HELP FOR UKRAINE 

Substantial parliamentary time in recent weeks has been rightfully
dedicated to the continuing human and democratic catastrophe in
Ukraine as Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war continues.

For weeks, the UK Government lagged far behind the US and the EU on
the number of oligarchs and entities sanctioned. It should not have
taken ministers 16 days to catch up with Europe on sanctioning members
of the Russian parliament. We’ve already heard stories of
‘sanctioned’ oligarchs boasting of how they had time to rearrange
their affairs to escape.

We also continue to press the UK Government to get a grip on the
scheme to help Ukrainian refugees come to Britain. The progress is
shamefully slow.

So many people across Cardiff Central have contacted me expressing
outrage at Putin’s appalling attack on Ukraine and their deep
concern for the Ukrainian people.

I wrote this message from us in the UK Parliament book of solidarity
which will be sent to the Ukrainian Parliament - I hope it
encapsulates what you told me.

 SHADOW WALES UPDATE 

 WALES QUESTIONS 

At Welsh Questions I took the Welsh Secretary to task on the UK
Government’s shameful lack of support for people during the
cost-of-living crisis.

69% of the Welsh public say the UK Government’s buy now pay later
energy support package is not enough to help them - and 67% support
Labour’s windfall tax plan to reduce bills by up to £600 this year.

I asked the Welsh Secretary why he was on the side of oil and gas
companies making enormous and unexpected profits - and not families
across Wales in desperate need of help.

His answer seemed to suggest some help was on the way in the
Chancellor’s Spring Statement, but as we all saw, he did almost
nothing to help.

You can see my questions, and the responses here: 

[My video] [[link removed]]

 VISITING ROATH PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL 

I enjoyed a great visit to Roath Park Primary School – during their
Roath COP26 - a whole school event to look at a range of
environmental, sustainability and future generation topics.

I spoke to Year 6, who are focusing on ‘Our Future World’ and Year
5, who are looking at Renewable Energy. Both classes asked excellent
questions and had creative ideas for tackling the climate crisis.

Pupils from Roath Park will soon be leading a virtual climate summit
event with over 400 year 6 pupils across Wales!

Thank you to Mr Keohane, the brilliant staff and pupils for a great
visit.

 VISITING THE DEMENTIA   RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT   CARDIFF
UNIVERSITY 

I made a fascinating visit the UK Dementia Research Institute based at
Cardiff University.

Led by Professor Julie Williams, the Institute in Cardiff forms 1 of 6
research centres across the UK - and the work here focuses on helping
to find new ways to diagnose, treat, prevent and care for people with
dementia.

Already, the UK DRI has played a pivotal role in the discovery of more
than 40 genes which contribute to the risk of Alzheimer’s - the fact
that this ground-breaking work is taking place right here in Cardiff
Central is something we can all be proud of.

Thank you to Professor Julie Williams, Olivia Marshall and Ed Bridges
for showing me around.

 CELEBRATING 51 YEARS OF   BANGLADESH   INDEPENDENCE 

I joined the Bangladeshi Association Cardiff and Bangladeshi Women’s
Association at Cardiff Castle for the flag raising ceremony to mark
the 51st anniversary of independence in Bangladesh.

It was also an opportunity to catch up with many old friends and new
in the spring Cardiff sunshine.

 ROATH REC FOOTPATH   CONSULTATION 

Plasnewydd's Labour Councillors have campaigned for several years for
improvements to the path around the Rec and have secured the
investment to make them happen!

Have your say on Roath Rec footpath improvements and new cycle lane in
the consultation here: 

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Share your views: [link removed]
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 ADVICE SURGERIES 

Now COVID-19 restrictions have concluded in Wales – I have resumed
my face to face advice surgeries across Cardiff Central for the weeks
and months ahead.

They’ll be spread across each ward of the constituency – and are
now required to be run on an appointment basis.

If you’d like an appointment, please contact me using
[email protected] or by calling my office on 02921 3329736.

You can see a list of my future advice surgery dates on my website
here: [link removed]
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 FREE RAIL TRAVEL FOR  REFUGEES IN WALES 

Refugees in Wales will now able to travel on Transport for Wales
services for free for 6 months.

Ukrainian nationals can also claim free travel by showing a passport
to conductors or station staff.

The six-month scheme, for all Transport for Wales rail services, is to
help refugees while they are settling in. Thank you Transport for
Wales for this extremely helpful action to support those seeking
sanctuary here in Wales.

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 BUTE PARK COMMUNITY   ORCHARD 

I was delighted at the news that plans for a community orchard were
given the go ahead. It was a pleasure to work alongside Melissa
Boothman from the Secret Garden Café in getting this project accepted
and underway.

Bute Park belongs to the people of Cardiff and the produce from the
orchard will be given back to the community. It will be a great asset
for outdoor learning and boosting engagement in growing.

 6 MUSIC FESTIVAL 

After our community campaign to Save Womanby Street, Our Cardiff
Labour Council has put live music at the heart of our city’s
economy. Music Tourism continues to thrive in our city after hosting
the 6 Music Festival for the first time ever. This has brough an
international audience and revenue to live music venues and
hospitality businesses across our city.

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