FIRSTLY, I’d just like to remind readers that while the Prime Minister made an announcement on Monday about easing Covid restrictions, that applies only in England. Any further changes here in Wales will be decided by the Welsh Government next week, when the three-week review takes place - so look and listen out for announcements from the First Minister over the coming days.
As I mentioned in my last column, I spoke in two Estimates Day debates in the Commons last week. On Building Safety – and the issues affecting so many of my constituents - I said: “Leaseholders should not have to pay for this. Obviously the primary responsibility lies with the developers and those who built these defective buildings.
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“I have heard about sewage flooding into apartments, balconies that are not safe to go on, windows that are not safe to open, rendering that is not suitable for the maritime environment of the Cardiff Bay area falling off buildings on to cars, let alone the whole litany of fire safety issues relating to compartmentation, doors, fire alarm systems and, of course, cladding and insulation.
“This is an extraordinary situation and the issues are very wide ranging. The situation in which residents find themselves is completely unacceptable. It is worth emphasising the mental health toll that it is taking on many of my constituents - those who have bought properties in good faith and then find themselves facing extraordinary bills while they have been going through the same difficulties that everybody in the country has been going through in the past year.”
And in the debate on Official Development Assistance, I said: “The Opposition believe that global Britain can and must be a force for good in this world, doing our fair share and our moral duty but also acting in our common and national interest, particularly given the rapidly changing and volatile global power dynamics.
“I am proud to have worked at the former Department for International Development and with some of our leading British humanitarian organisations. I have seen the incredible work that our aid and our organisations have done around the world; I pay tribute to all of them. I am deeply saddened that they are now having to scrabble around to deal with the cuts, which are being introduced in such an irresponsible way.”
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