My latest newsletter is out now!


** November 2022 Newsletter
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** Cost-of-Living Advice Day
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Record energy prices, soaring costs for household essentials, falling wages and high interest rates mean its an extremely worrying time for households as incomes are not keeping pace with rising costs and don't cover essentials.

Nobody should have to think about whether they switch the heating on if they are cold, and nobody should have to skip meals because they can't afford to pay their bills and eat.

For these reasons I held a Cost-of-Living Advice Fair, bringing together a host of different organisations who could provide advice on reducing costs, accessing support, advice on budgeting and debt, and offering help with bills.

Thank you to everyone who helped making it such a success.

I’ve put together a booklet which provides information from the organisations that were there on the day, and from a number of others. It contains links to resources, helplines and further information that could be helpful to you, and I hope that you and your family will find it helpful.

[link removed]

If you or someone you know is struggling my team and I stand ready to assist and support residents, so please do get in touch.


** Remembrance Services
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This Remembrance Sunday, it was my privilege to attend the Remembrance services in Port Talbot and Briton Ferry.

In Port Talbot I laid a wreath at Talbot memorial park.

I also attended a service at Saint Mary's Church and then place a wreath at the cenotaph in Briton Ferry to remember the fallen.

I was also pleased to take part in Great Western Railway's Poppies for Paddington initiative on Armistice Day, with a wreath put on the London train and laid at Paddington's war memorial.

We will remember them.


** Richard Burton 10K
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It was a pleasure to once again run the Richard Burton 10K this year. The event is always so well organised and all those involved in planning it works their socks off to make it such a great event.

I have been running every year since becoming the MP for Aberavon and I'm happy to say, I managed to keep my run time below an hour again!


** Afan Deli Visit
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This month I visited Afan Deli in Port Talbot town to discuss what challenges businesses are facing currently. There will also be more on this visit to follow!


** MP HERoes
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I was delighted to nominate Tracey Lewis, co-owner of Ferrari's Cafe, as my MP HERo and to welcome her to Parliament for a celebration to recognise the vital contribution businesswomen like Tracey make to our community.

MP HERoes is a programme run in partnership with Savvitas and NatWest which champions women business owners. The programme is building a pool of local role models, successful business owners with ambition to grow and who lead the way for other women.

I joined Tracey at the Afternoon Tea Celebration in Parliament which highlights and celebrates women business owners.

Tracey has made Ferrari’s a real hub in the community, and she’s also championed Port Talbot through her support for the steelworks and her drive to improve the town centre.

Her work supporting the community during the pandemic, supplying take away roast dinners, typified the tremendous community spirit we have here in Aberavon.


** Skewen Historical Society
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I was invited by Skewen and District Historical Society to see the unveiling of Sir Samuel Thomas Evans' grave, which they have restored using a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The grave was falling apart and definitely not fitting for a man of Sir Samuel's stature. I was really pleased to see the high standard they have restored it to.

They also put on a great exhibition about Sir Samuel and his life in St John's church, where his grave is located; some local schools have also started teaching about the local legend after Skewen Historical Society got in touch with them.


** Door Knocking in Briton Ferry
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It was great to be out on the doorsteps in Briton Ferry again and speaking to local residents about their concerns.

Lots of really good conversations with residents who are sick and tired of this shambolic Tory government and who want a General Election now!

Thank you to everyone who came to knock on doors.


** Visit to Skewen Craft Market
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I visited the artisan and craft market in Skewen at the Memorial Hall, where I saw the wonderful handmade gifts and food on offer (and came away with a cake!)


** This Month In Parliament
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Questioning Rishi Sunak on Gavin Williamson's Appointment

I took the Prime Minister to task at PMQs this month, over his appointment of Gavin Williamson to the cabinet.

"The Prime Minister stood on the steps of Downing Street and said that he wanted to restore trust, yet in the past 24 hours, we have seen that he is prepared shamelessly to swap red boxes for political support.

There are serious consequences to all this horse-trading, so I would like him to be clear on this point: did he seek or receive any advice on security concerns about the right hon. Member for South Staffordshire (Sir Gavin Williamson) before his appointment to the Government yesterday, given that the right hon. Member was sacked in 2019 for leaking sensitive information relating to our national security?"
Pressing the Minister on FLOW for Aberavon

I pressed the Minister on ensuring the Crown Estate and Government are both committed to sourcing components for the Floating Off-Shore Wind farm that we hope comes to Aberavon to be sourced locally.

"Floating offshore wind has the potential to transform the economy and jobs market in my Aberavon constituency and across south Wales, but it will only happen if floating offshore wind substructures and other components are manufactured and assembled locally.

There are two concerns: first, the Crown Estate is putting in place leasing criteria that seem to be about the highest bidder rather than maximising local value and content, and secondly, there are rumours flying around that the Government may be cancelling the floating offshore wind manufacturing investment scheme, which will be fundamental to facilitating the whole programme.

Will the Minister confirm that he will urge Crown Estates to maximise local content in the criteria and that the Government are 100% committed to the FLOWMIS programme?"

You can view my speech on the link below.

Floating Offshore Wind could be transformative for Aberavon - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])
Steel

I again raised steel in the House this month and pressured the Government to do more to support our steelmaking industry.

"What Conservative Members seem to be failing to recognise is that they have had 12 years to deal with the massive disparity in electricity costs between ourselves and our nearest competitors?

There has been a total failure to have a procurement strategy that works for the UK steel industry and a complete absence of any action to support the transition to net zero. So rather than us take any lectures from Conservative Members, it is time they showed some humility and actually started to take some decisions about this vital foundation industry".

You can watch my intervention below.

Britain Needs Its Steel As A Foundation Of The Modern Manufacturing Renaissance - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])
Immigration

This month in my Shadow Immigration role, I have held the Government's feet to the fire on their failures at Manston immigration detention centre.

You can view my speech via the link below

The Conservative party has overseen the total breakdown of the asylum system - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])

I also announced that Labour supports a points-based system - but it needs improvements to make sure we tackle the exploitation of migrant workers, which is also bad for British workers who might be being undercut and for employers who need to attract talent.

Our long-term ambition is to ensure that all businesses, in every sector, and our public services recruit and train as much home-grown talent as possible to fill vacancies, before they look overseas.

For instance, we need to train more home-grown doctors, hence our commitment to doubling the number of clinical placements and to setting out a five to 10-year workforce plan, which is desperately needed when we consider the 7 million person waiting list and the huge issues with workforce shortages and challenges.

We know that if we just turn off the tap of migrant labour, without the appropriate workforce structures and adequate training and recruitment in place, our public services will deteriorate and our businesses will struggle to meet our wider economic ambition to make, buy and sell more in Britain. In the end, it becomes a crutch, with more and more jobs eventually disappearing overseas.

You can watch my much more in depth speech via the link below.

Labour supports a points-based system – but it needs improvements - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])

I questioned the Home Secretary on the fact that the Conservative government's recent legislation is making the asylum backlog even worse, with 16,000 asylum seekers having to wait an extra 6 months for a decision at great cost to the taxpayer.

You can see me question the Home Secretary via the link below.

The Conservative government’s recent legislation is making the asylum backlog even worse - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])

I further pressed the Tories on their utter failure at processing asylum claims.

In 2012, the Home Office was making 14 asylum decisions a month; it is now making just five.

Tory Ministers like to blame covid, but the truth is that this is a mess of their own making. They chose to downgrade asylum decision makers from higher executive officer grade to lower executive officer grade, leading to a less experienced workforce on lower wages with lower retention rates and collapsing morale.

The inevitable consequences were slower decisions, more decisions overturned at appeal, an increasing backlog and ballooning taxpayer costs.

You can see more of my speech below.

The Tory backlog of 143,000 asylum seekers is the root cause of this hotel crisis - Stephen Kinnock - Labour MP for Aberavon ([link removed])
Boris Nemtsov Place

I attended the unveiling of Boris Nemtsov Place - an important tribute to a man who paid with his life for standing up to Putin.

It has been an honour and privilege to support my good friend (and now political prisoner in Russia) Vladimir Kara-Murza, his wife Evgenia and Camden Council to make this happen.

Steel APPG and Shared Prosperity Fund APPG

I chaired a productive meeting of the APPG for the Shared Prosperity Fund this month. It is vitally important that the UK Government keeps their promise to replace every penny of EU development funding and makes sure that constituencies like Aberavon aren't short-changed.

I also chaired a lively meeting of the Steel APPG where we heard from experts from Warwick University's research team, who told us about how Britain - including Port Talbot - can lead the way in green steel.

This will only happen if the UK Government understand the urgent need to invest in green transition & step up to the plate.

Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme

It was great to be able to go to visit the Defence College for Military Capability Integration recently, as part of Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.

I got to see (and try out!) some military kit & had several brilliant briefings on the action required to keep our country safe by equipping our Armed Forces for the decades ahead.


** Media Highlights
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Sky News with Kay Burley

I spoke on Sky New with Kay Burley about the deal signed by the Home Secretary in Paris and how it is simply too little too late. We need more ambition, and immediate action on asylum backlog.

I spoke about how Labour would scrap the Rwanda scheme, and invest in the NCA, so that they can proactively tackle people smugglers in the Channel.
BBC Radio 4's World at One

I spoke on Radio 4's World at One show regarding how Keir Starmer set out Labour's pro-business, pro-worker immigration policy.

We will reform the points-based system so that businesses recruiting from overseas must also have a workforce plan which maximises opportunities for our homegrown talent.
Sky News

I spoke on Sky News about the Tories disastrous mini budget and how the Conservatives have wrecked our economy over 12 years. Low growth Rishi is part of the problem.

Only through Labour's plan for 'growth from the bottom up' can we create the good jobs we need to boost household income *and* fill hole in public finances.
Politics Home: The Rundown Podcast

I took part in an episode of Politics Home's 'The Rundown' Podcast to discuss the failures the Tories have made with their handling of the crisis at Manston Immigration Centre, and of the whole asylum and immigration system overall.

You can listen to the full episode via the link below:

Home Office failures risk "whipping up vigilantes" - The Rundown by PoliticsHome | Podfollow ([link removed])
Policy Exchange

I spoke at the Policy Exchange to discuss Labour's immigration policy, where I laid out Labour's committment to a points based system, amongst other things.

We also spoke at length about the failures of the immigration system since Brexit.

You can watch the full discussion via the link below:

(13) Is the Immigration System working post-Brexit? / Twitter ([link removed])
Sky News: The Great Debate

I took part in 'The Great Debate' on Sky News where I discussed Labour's immigration policy once again.

I made clear that Labour supports a points-based immigration system, but we'd improve it to ensure firms are committed to training up homegrown talent.

I also made clear that in some sectors (eg farming where pigs have been culled & crops burnt due to lack of workers), migrant labour can help us to make, buy & sell more in Britain.
BBC Radio 5 Live

I spoke to callers live on BBC Radio 5 this month, taking questions on plenty of topics. It was great to talk about Labour's policies and hear directly from members of the public from cross the country.

You can listen to the full discussion via the link below:

Nicky Campbell - 02/11/2022 - BBC Sounds ([link removed])
LBC Radio

I spoke to Iain Dale on LBC on how the Tories have destroyed the immigration system, with overcrowded asylum centres, way too few decisions being made on asylum applications, underfunding of the system and a total loss of control over small boat crossings.

I laid out Labour's plan to properly fund the National Crime Agency using money from the Rwanda plan, which Labour would cancel; this would enable us to crack down on criminal gangs.


Times Radio

I spoke on Times Radio about how Tory failure and the UK Government's actions are creating sickness outbreaks across immigration centres in the UK.

I spoke of the alternative plan Labour has laid out to crack down on criminal gangs, cancel the Rwanda policy to fund the National Crime Agency, make faster asylum decisions and reform the points based system to it works properly.



** Contact Details
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You can get in touch with us by calling the office on 01639 897660 or ending an email to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected] )

Check my website ([link removed]) , Instagram ([link removed]) or Facebook ([link removed]) page for details of my next advice surgery.
All the best,

Stephen Kinnock
MP for Aberavon

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My mailing address is:
MP for Aberavon
Water Street Business Centre
Water Street
Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot SA12 6LF
United Kingdom

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