Last week’s budget was another missed opportunity for a real plan to grow the economy and begin to make the changes needed to really improve people’s lives.
We are in a recession. Shopping bills are still rising, energy costs are still too high.
This is the only Parliament on record where living standards have fallen to lower than when it started. Nothing Jeremy Hunt said will change any of that.
This can’t go on, that much is clear. Britain needs a change, and it can’t come soon enough.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves rightly acknowledges the scale of the financial challenge that a future Labour government will face, given the mess we would be inheriting, but what we will do is start getting to work immediately on growing our economy so that everyone will be better off.

Safe Hands
I’m continuing my work to support those who lost money in the collapse of Safe Hands funeral plans, which is now the subject of a fraud investigation.
I spoke in Parliament, citing the case of Gary Godwin, a retired school caretaker from Nantyglo, who is just one of the 47,000 people who lost a combined £60m when the firm folded.
I have raised this in the House twice and discussed it with the Economic Secretary in person, but the Government continued to shuffle its feet until I raised a Point of Order with the Speaker.
I asked what more I can do to make sure Gary and his fellow victims don’t have a lengthy wait for justice?

Illegal Off-roading
I also spoke in debate about the blight of Illegal Off-Road biking in our valleys.
I spoke about the need for strong enforcement, about registration of the vehicles being used and asked the Minister what police powers could be introduced to deal with this menace and the best ways of tackling this problem here in Blaenau Gwent and right across the UK.
You can read my full contribution and the Minister’s replies here.

Israel and Gaza
Although I was out of the country when the vote took place – at a long-standing commitment to participate in the annual Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe – I had already signed the Labour amendment on Israel and Gaza, which I am in support of.
The scale of death and destruction in Gaza over recent months has been intolerable. There is an urgent and unacceptable humanitarian catastrophe taking place and there must be an immediate ceasefire.
Diplomacy, not bombs and bullets, is the only route to a lasting peace under a two-state solution with long-term security for Israel and long-term justice for Palestine.
Despite the procedural arguments that happened on the evening of the vote, I am pleased that the House voted unopposed for a ceasefire.

Ukraine
The end of February marked the second anniversary of the invasion by Russia, and Ukraine still badly needs our help.
I asked a question about how the UK’s £2.5bn in military aid for Ukraine will be spent.

Defence
I also asked a question about the hollowing out of Britain’s army by the Conservatives.
The British army has been shrunk to its smallest size since Napoleon, and defence budgets are in serious trouble because of the Conservatives mismanagement of defence contracts and the economy.
There is a crisis in recruitment. 46 out of 52 major defence projects are not on time or on budget. Ajax, which I have raised as a concern many, many times now, has cost taxpayers over £4bn with only 44 vehicles delivered. And now the defence budget is being cut by £2.5bn in cash terms this next financial year.
With threats increasing, war in Europe and a Middle East conflict the Government has no plan to secure Britain’s defences. Our armed forces can’t afford five more years of Tory government.

Police standards
The findings of Dame Angiolini’s report into Wayne Couzens are alarming.
The report details staggering police failings to spot Wayne Couzens’ unsuitability to be a police officer and notes that “there is nothing to stop another Wayne Couzens operating in plain sight”.
The murder of Sarah Everard shocked and appalled all of us, and yet very little has been done to protect the public from officers unsuitable to the job.
There must be urgent reform of the police vetting system and an overhaul of standards and misconduct practices.
I put it to the Home Secretary that any officer under investigation for domestic abuse or sexual assault must be automatically and immediately suspended.
There should also be a review of all indecent exposure allegations against serving police officers in order to identify, investigate and remove those officers from service.

Courts
I also spoke about the Crown Courts now having a backlog of over 65,000 cases. Experts say the court’s capacity to deal with processing cases won’t keep pace with demand. This is leading to victims giving up on our justice system.
The Tories are failing on law and order. Labour will speed up justice for victims by increasing the number of prosecutors to put criminals behind bars.

Greensill
The Insolvency Service confirmed the outcome of its investigation into the directors of the collapsed Greensill group of companies and commenced director disqualification proceedings against Lex Greensill to have him disqualified from running or controlling companies for up to 15 years.
This is a very serious proposed disqualification. I wrote to the Insolvency Service to ask if Lord Cameron was also being considered a Shadow Director. I look forward to seeing further information on this to better understand Lord Cameron’s role in the company.

Advice surgery
Thank you to Cllr Dave Wilkshire for joining me for a busy advice surgery in Garnlydan. If you wanted to speak with me but couldn’t make it, please get in touch by emailing nick.smith.mp@parliament.uk or phoning 01495 313167.

Coffee Morning
Join us for a cuppa and a good cause at Ebbw Vale EVI on Friday, March 22nd at 10.30 am.
We are holding another coffee morning for the Everyone Deserves campaign, and this time it’s to give local families a helping hand at Easter.
Please come along for a hot cross bun and a beverage and find out more about our joint campaign.
We are trying to broaden our reach and so it would be great if you can bring a friend or member of the family with you.
It’ll take just an hour of your good will and it will make a real difference to our community.
I hope to see you then.