It’s been an extraordinary few weeks for global trade and international relations. Stock markets have been spooked, interest rates for bonds have increased and sectors such as pharmaceuticals, car manufacturing and steel are continuing to experience uncertainty. It’s too early to judge the impact on families’ incomes here, but people will be concerned about their pensions, their employment and the UK’s growth.
There is much uncertainty, what I do think is certain is that escalating a trade war is not in the national interest and would be a disaster for working people. We cannot play politics with people’s livelihoods. What we need are cool heads and calm responses and, thankfully, that’s what we have with our Labour Government leadership team. That the UK was levied with the lowest rate of reciprocal tariffs is a vindication of the work done by the Prime Minister so far, but the job isn’t finished. We must work towards securing an economic deal with the US. Labour’s trade teams will continue to have constructive discussions in the coming weeks to agree a wider UK-US economic prosperity deal but as Keir Starmer has said, a deal will only be made if it reflects our mandate to deliver economic stability for our communities.

We cannot go down that road, not when so many are still struggling with the cost-of-living, and while those with the most continue to evade and avoid paying what they rightly owe in tax. That’s why Labour is going even further to cut down on tax evasion, raising a further £1bn through changes announced in the statement.
The government has made changes to our tax system to ensure that those with the broadest shoulders contribute a greater share. These measures include reforming capital gains tax and inheritance tax, abolishing the non-dom tax status and ending the use of offshore trusts to shelter assets from inheritance tax.
We are bringing forward £3.25bn of investment to deliver the reforms our public services need, through a new Transformation Fund.
The effect of our growth policies means there will be an additional £3.4bn to support our public finances and public services by 2029-30.
The going will be tough for a while, but things will improve. Living standards will rise twice as fast this parliament compared to the last. Compared with the Conservatives’ final budget, the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) says people will be more than £500 a year better off, even factoring in inflation.
The OBR has upgraded its growth forecast for next year and every year thereafter, predicting GDP growth of 1.9% in 2026, 1.8% in 2027, 1.7% in 2028 and 1.8% in 2029.
And let’s not forget that we have just committed to the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation.
As of April 1, 3.5m people are receiving a pay rise, with the National Living Wage rising to £12.21 and the National Minimum Wage, for workers 21 and under, rising to £10 per hour.
Also, Labour’s commitment to the Triple Lock means that spending on the State Pension is set to increase by around £31bn a year by the end of this Parliament. As of this week, the State Pension will increase by 4.1% or up to £470 a year.
From this month Pension Credit has also increased by 4.1% meaning a rise of £465 a year for single households and £710 a year for those with a partner.

i) Welfare
Many are concerned about changes to the welfare system. After 14 years of damaging Conservative rhetoric on benefits and cuts, people are understandably fearful when they hear about changes to the benefits system.
Labour’s proposed reforms are aimed at making our welfare system more financially sustainable, so that it can remain in place and be strengthened to protect and support the most vulnerable.
The proposals are that anyone who cannot work should absolutely be properly supported, and anyone who is able to work but isn’t in a job should be given all the help they need to get back into work.
The changes would not just see £4.8bn saved in the welfare budget but £1.4bn invested into programmes to help people get into work. This is something I believe does need addressing, too many people have slipped through the cracks, there are far too many young people being left behind with, currently, 1 in 8 in the UK not in employment, education or training.
I’ve been working with Welsh Office and DWP Ministers to secure “Trailblazer” funding for the constituency, which I hope will help boost our local levels of economic activity and tackle unemployment.
The “economic inactivity Trailblazer scheme” is an employment programme which will provide funding to our local Department of Work and Pensions to work with local authorities and other partner organisations to put together a joined-up work, health and skills offer.
I’m hoping to hear some news on this soon.

The main points announced in the Spring Statement were:
Those with the most severe health conditions will be protected. The reforms are to ensure the safety net is always there for those who need it most.
The mobility component would not be affected.
Universal Credit’s standard allowance is going up by £7 per week.
In addition to funds from the UK Government welfare system, the Welsh Government provides a range of support that can be worth up to £4,000 per year for low-income households.
There won’t be any changes until after November 2026 and changes will only occur when someone submits a new claim or has their claim renewal.
The Green Paper will now be consulted upon ahead of a debate and vote in Parliament. It is important that we ensure everyone who wants to have a say is encouraged to do so. To make sure your voice is heard please visit: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper/pathways-to-work-reforming-benefits-and-support-to-get-britain-working-green-paper
Reform of the welfare system is needed, but this is a consultation and so it is difficult to know what the proposals we will eventually be asked to vote on will look like. Any votes in Parliament will follow in the summer, in the meantime I will be working with Gerald Jones MP to organise a meeting with local disability groups and others, alongside the Treasury and Pensions Minister Torsten Bell MP.
After receiving a letter from the Blaenau Gwent Labour Group I’m working on organising a Teams meeting with the Disability Minister Stephen Timms MP to go through all the details before votes one Tuesday evening. Please bear with me on this, whilst I work out the details.

ii) Defence
When I sat on the Public Accounts Committee I spent a lot of time looking into defence spending and defence procurement.
It would be fantastic to not have to focus so readily on defence spending when there are so many other financial pressures but with this being such an uncertain and uneasy time for our world, it is an area that needs attention. I have mentioned many times in the house my concerns about defence spending and the recruitment failures that have left our army shrunk to its lowest size since the Napoleonic Wars and so I am pleased that Labour will be providing an additional £2.2bn for the Ministry of Defence next year. I’m also very glad to hear plans to reform our broken defence procurement system, plans which will not only boost our safety but also have a tangible impact on working people, fuelling jobs and local investment in our constituency.

iii) Wales
For us here in Wales, the Government’s first budget delivered a record £21bn settlement for the Welsh Government, the biggest in the history of devolution.
As a result the Welsh Government budget allocated more than £600m extra for the NHS next year to drive down waiting lists and the longest waits, which are now falling for the second month in a row.
More than £1.5bn private investment has also been driven into Wales, creating hundreds of jobs and laying the groundwork for thousands more.
Through the Port Talbot Tata Steel Transition Board, Labour has secured £80m left unfunded by the last government to help workers, the supply chain, local businesses and regeneration.
And in another example of how our two governments are working in partnership to deliver for Wales, additional funding of £25m for 25/26 has been allocated to keeping coal tips safe.

Miners’ Pensions
I sought further confirmation at Business Department Questions that our Labour Government is working hard to give a boost to former pit staff who paid in to the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme (BCSSS).
Thanks to our Labour Government more than 1600 ex-miners and their families have received a pension boost in Blaenau Gwent & Rhymney. Now, we need progress on an uplift for BCSSS members.
The Minister for Industry Sarah Jones MP told me that she has met the trustees, and her team is moving as fast as possible to work through the issues associated with the scheme. I’m grateful for the update the Minister provided and for all of the work being put in to putting this right.

It’s good to hear about the work being done to seize and destroy bikes being used for illegal activities. It was in our manifesto to tackle this blight and I’m glad that there is currently a Bill progressing through Parliament to specifically allow for stronger responses to this difficult issue.
The Bill will enable police to confiscate off-road bikes and e-scooters used dangerously without prior warning; to enter private dwellings to seize off-road bikes that have been driven antisocially or without insurance; to allow for the disposal of seized vehicles within 48 hours, reducing the current two-week impoundment period and preventing their return to offenders; and to issue on-the-spot fines that are set to rise from the current minimum of £100.

Steve Jones MBE
I was pleased to speak at the Extraordinary Meeting of Blaenau Gwent Council to bestow the Freedom of the Borough on Steve Jones MBE. A big well done to the councillors who put this together.
Steve is a world-class, record-breaking athlete, one of the best long-distance runners ever. To give Steve this honour and shine a light on his achievements is a brilliant thing for our local councillors to have done.

Campaigning
We’ve had some very worthwhile campaigning sessions in the last few weeks, knocking doors in Nantyglo, then Deri a week later with the Upper Rhymney Valley councillors, and also surveying residents with a questionairre put together by Cllr Sue Edmunds in Ebbw Vale. Speaking to people on the doorsteps is so important, and I would encourage anyone who can come along to join us. Please keep an eye out for the regular emails that are sent out with the details of campaigning sessions and let us know if you want to help out.
This week I will be travelling to Runcorn and Helsby to help with the Parliamentary by-election there and also to the Bristol / Bath area to help campaign for the upcoming West of England Mayoral election.