On February 1st, I went to the Happy Gathering to celebrate the Chinese New Year with members of the South Wales Chinese community. It was a great event and a good time to acknowledge the contributions of the Chinese community to the UK. I’m pictured here with Angela Kwok who has worked tirelessly for her community over the years.





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On February 3rd, I went to a meeting at Eglwys Newydd about school reorganisation. Parents are understandably very distressed about the decision and are thinking about Judicial Review.

On February 3rd, Carl Sergeant AM, Minister for Social Justice and Local Government, came to Cardiff North.

Because of the Conservative-led coalition’s spending cuts, Cardiff could lose 60 police officers.

This seems to make no sense at all.

Let’s not forget that David Cameron promised no frontline cuts and that Nick Clegg promised thousands of extra police officers on the beat.

We went out to campaign against the cuts on Thursday and to ask people to sign a petition.

You can see the petition here.


If you would like to print it off and collect signatures, you can send it to me at my office – the address is on the Contact Me page of this website.

You can read a report about the cuts in the South Wales Echo (February 7th, 2011) here.

On February 3rd, I took part in a hustings organised by the Royal College of Nursing Cymru. You can read about the event here.



Along with representatives from the other political parties, I answered questions on health issues. The questions were very well-informed and I learned a lot from the discussion.

There was concern expressed by student nurses who are worried about whether they will have jobs when they qualify; there was also much discussion about A & E.

It was a very interesting and informative meeting.

Some thoughts on what the Labour-led Welsh Assembly has achieved:












Listed below are some of the Welsh Assembly Government’s achievements over the last 12 years:

On Saturday, I was delighted to be at the Wales Millennium Centre to welcome the Labour Leader, Ed Miliband, to Cardiff.

I very much enjoyed the Q & A session – there was a broad range of questions which both Ed and Carwyn Jones answered very well.

I continue to be impressed with Ed’s idealism, his command of the issues, and the easy way he has with people.

I’ve been campaigning for improvements to Cardiff Bus services and the Cardiff Bus Station for many months now.

Cardiff Council’s consultation on Cardiff Bus Station ends on February 14th.

This is an opportunity to create a vibrant central hub for our transport system – a hub that befits the capital city of Wales.

Click here to see my submission.

On February 8th, I went to the Rhiwbina PACT meeting and then on to a meeting about the Local Development Plan organised by Councillors Jayne Cowan, Adrian Robson and Brian Jones.

The meeting was packed out – there were about 200 there. There are obviously a lot of concerns.

I recorded a video about my petition protesting against police cuts:












To sign the petition, contact my office or download a copy here.

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To see a video about First Minister Carwyn Jones’ visit to Cardiff North to campaign for Yes for Wales, see below:

See the video below to learn about the latest action I have taken on Llanishen Reservoir:













Click here for the report.

To read my press release, click here.

This weekend, it’s been a pleasure to attend the Welsh Labour Conference in lovely Llandudno. It was inspiring to listen to our leaders’ speeches and I was buoyed by the whole event.

I was pleased to chair events organised by both Oxfam Cymru and Stonewall.

Ed Miliband’s speech can be read here.



Carwyn Jones’ speech can be read here.

On February 16th, I was pleased to attend the Wales Tobacco or Health Network Inaugural Symposium.

I spoke a little about my 2005 Private Member’s Bill on Smoking in Public Places (Wales) – you can read more here.



The smoking ban has been such an important public health measure and is having a real effect. Figures show that smoking-related deaths are falling in Wales.

With the referendum only a couple of weeks away, I’ve been out campaigning again for Yes for Wales. This week, we handed leaflets out outside the railway station.

To see my pamphlet, click here.

For my thoughts on Yes for Wales and the Welsh Assembly, see the videos below:

This week, I continued campaigning for a YES vote on March 3rd.

For another good reason to vote YES, see the video below:









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I participated in a YES run down to the Senedd on February 27th:


Read the Western Mail report here.
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On February 24th, I attended the Women Say Yes for Wales event in Cardiff:




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I was pleased to meet gair rhydd (Cardiff’s student paper) with First Minister Carwyn Jones and Jenny Rathbone to discuss Yes for Wales.

You can read the article here.

At the Welsh Labour Conference, I was pleased to participate in events organised by voluntary sector organisations: Oxfam Cymru and Stonewall Cymru.



I spoke at conference about our public services and the voluntary sector.

I was pleased to acknowledge the essential work that the voluntary sector already does in providing vital services.

I had been very shocked recently when David Cameron said that one of the big opportunities of his ‘Big Society’ would be the chance for the voluntary sector to bid for contracts to run public services.

I wondered where he had been.

There are countless examples in Wales where the voluntary sector delivers essential services on behalf of public authorities.

You can read my full blog post about our vital voluntary sector here.

I obtained figures under a Freedom of Information request that the Countryside Council for Wales has incurred legal fees and staffing costs of £297,000 in its fight against WPD’s plans to develop land at Llanishen Reservoir.

It’s truly appalling that a public body has had to pay out this much money because of WPD’s refusal to listen to the wishes of local people.

The known cost of the fight to the taxpayer to save Llanishen Reservoir now stands at a massive £352,000.

To read my press release, click here.

To read the report in the South Wales Echo from February 24th, click here.

I was interviewed this week for an article about the Welsh Assembly elections and environmental issues.

You can read the article in the Western Mail from February 25th here.

On a personal level, we try to be as environmentally aware as possible – we have had solar panels fitted to our home, we regularly compost and recycle, grow our own vegetables, and are a one-car household. We choose to holiday in Wales. We also try to do as much shopping as possible at farmers’ markets – I think that it’s really important to eat local produce and to support local traders.

The Cardiff North Labour Office also recycles and reuses as many materials as possible.

Policy-wise, Labour has a very strong record on the environment – the Westminster government introduced the world’s first Climate Change Act in 2008 and the Welsh Assembly Government has been very pro-active on the environment.

To read more, click here.