Vote for Plaid tomorrow/ Pleidleisiwch dros Blaid Cymru yfory!

Y cyfan sy da fi i ddweud heno ma yw pleidleisiwch dros BLAID CYMRU yfory. Bydd cyfle i chi bleidleisio o 7 y bore i 10 y nos, felly dim esgusodion!

All I have to say to you today is make sure you vote for PLAID CYMRU tomorrow! You have the chance to vote from 7am to 10pm tomorrow, so no excuses!

Child Poverty

This week's Assembly session is again a re-run of last week in that it is being dominated by an attempt by some to score points in light of the local elections on Thursday. How much baring this will have on the actual outcome of the election is any one's guess, but its happening nevertheless.

I raised questions today on child poverty in relation to public service delivery, and the recommendation in the recently released report by Save the Children and the Bevan Foundation about the importance of Local Authorities working together in delivering the child poverty agenda effectively. I also raised concerns during business questions about the fact that the Westminster Government has yet again stalled the announcement of data on housing below the average income to June this year, as it may well suggest that the interim child poverty targets are far from reachable in the current climate.

I had a meeting with Brian Gibbons AM today, also on the child poverty strategy. It is useful for me to have such meetings as the spokesperson on this particular issue so that I can keep up to date with Government actions, and any representations that may be made to Westminster colleagues. I am deeply concerned that the DWP are looking to privatise service provision with regard to benefit take up and I will be keeping an eye on developments in this field. It just seems ironic that while the Government in Wales wants to decentralise service provision and support public sector positions, the Westminster Government are taking a very different approach altogether - purely for the sake of financial savings.

Ieuan Wyn Jones visits Neath and Swansea

Ieuan Wyn Jones gyda pobl lleol yng Nghastell Nedd, ac actifyddion Plaid Cymru. Daeth Ieuan Wyn Jones AC i Gastell Nedd ac Abertawe ddoe er mwyn cwrdd a phobl lleol. Dyden ni ddim yn gallu galw ar arweinydd o Lundain i ddod i ymweld a'r bobl ond dwi ddim yn credu ein bod ni'n rhy ofnus o'r ffaith bod Brown wedi ymweld a Chymru heddiw ar ol yr wythnos ofnadwy mae e wedi cael yn y wasg am ei anallu i wneud penderfyniadau allweddol. Rwyf wedi bod allan yn canfasio eto heno yn agos i'r ardal lle rwy'n byw, ac mae nifer fawr o bobl yn gefnogol iawn o'r Blaid. Mae'n bwysig ein bod yn cadw'r momentwm i fynd o nawr hyd ddydd Iau..glaw ai peidio....

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Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy First Minister and Plaid's leader visited Neath and Swansea yesterday to meet with local people. Ok, so we can't possibly call on any London leaders to come to Wales, but quite frankly I don't think that Brown's visit to Wales today did the Labour party any good. This week's press has been scathing of Brown's dithering, and rightly so.

I've been out canvassing again tonight near the area where I live, and the response has been very favourable. We just need to keep the momentum going from now until Thursday...come rain or shine....

Local elections are upon us..

Yes, we all know the local elections are happening, especially when opposition debates at the Assembly are tabled in a clear attempt at political point scoring for effective local press releases! We've just had a rant from Darren Millar about dog fouling in his area, and while he acknowledges that responsibility is on the Council for rectifying such situations, he seems intent on calling for 'directives' from the National Assembly. Good to see the Tories calling for centralising services at the Assembly! I wonder what his Council colleagues would say?

I have been out and about on the doorstep canvassing with local candidates in the run up to the election, and the response has been favourable, I must say. Ieuan Wyn Jones is visiting Neath and Swansea tomorrow, and I look forward to raising the profile of the party locally alongside our leader. Plaid's innovate policies for Local Government, alongside our commitment to putting local people first is appealing to the people of this area.

On the other hand, Labour in Pontardawe have sadly resorted to fly posting on BT phone boxes in the area- clearly unable to find a resident willing to put a poster up in their window!!

I hope that we will make gains all over Wales in this coming election. In Neath we are gathering support and interest in the party, as in other areas of Wales such as Caerphilly and Cardiff, not to mention Rhondda Cynon Taf ( despite Chris Bryant's attempt at negative spin in the Welsh press about Plaid candidates) We have to build for the future, and ensure that we get more candidates, and more people from a wide, cross section of society represented on our community and Borough Councils.

Monday musings

John Prescott seems to be having a hard time of it since announcing that he once suffered from bulimia. Whatever one thinks about him, raising awareness of this illness is always something which I support as I am involved in campaigning with regards to eating disorders. Its still a huge stigma to suffer/ to have suffered from bulimia or anorexia, therefore I'm sure that John Prescott didn't take the decision to talk about his experience lightly.

In other news, I note Huw Lewis's anger at Plaid AMs raising awareness of the divergence of policy or activity between Labour in Wales and Labour in Westminster. We only raise such issues if they are factual- such as Westminsters determination to close our post offices, privatise the DWP, and tax the poor. Noticing how riled Huw Lewis is over such comments only confirms to me his own insecurity with his own party. News on the doorstep about Labour's lack of support come May 1st is obviously not going down well! Whether this is another stab at the leadership of the Labour party I'm not quite sure, but I wish that Huw Lewis and others would just get on with it, and declare if they are interested in standing or not.

Children's Commissioner for Wales

I met with the Children's Commissioner, Keith Towler today at his office in Swansea. I expected it to be a brisk meeting introducing himself and his priorities, but he devoted over an hour with me to discuss various issues regarding young people- from criminal justice to child poverty to child mental health services, to the general need for people to understand and to accept that yes, young people have rights!

He was very open about his work, and even though he has only been in post for seven weeks, he seems to have a clear idea about what the Children's Commissioner's office should be doing for the children and young people of Wales. It was encouraging to learn that he is more than ready to voice his opinions to those who are decision makers both in Wales and in England. When we discussed the criminal justice system it was a matter of when, and not if the criminal justice system is devolved. Considering how unfair young people within the criminal justice system are treated, it is obviously of great importance that Keith Towler intends to set out the agenda as to why Wales must have powers in this area.

With regards to child poverty, I believe that the Children's Commissioner is hoping to meet with the expert group that has been established, and the WAG on a regular basis to understand how his office can fit in, and where they can be most effective in delivering for young people.

Its vitally important that children and young people across Wales are fully aware of who the Children's Commissioner is, and how it can help shape their lives.

Tory attempt to foil fact finding mission

Reading the BBC website, and the story initiated by Darren Millar criticising Anna Richards from Waste Awarenss Wales's trip to Australia to look at how they administer their recycling policies, I thought it was a little hypocritical, and a cheap way of point scoring to be honest.

Remember that Darren is on the Sustainability committee that last month flew to Austria and Berlin ( from Terminal 5 of all places) to look in to carbon reduction strategies. Now, I'm all for fact finding missions. The few ones that I have been on to Brussels and Scotland with the Petitions committee have been very useful indeed, but Darran Millar shouldn't criticise the actions of a publicly funded body who choose to carry out research in this most important area as a 'waste'.

It is at the top of the political agenda at the moment due to Nerys Evans AM's measure with regards to limiting recycling sent abroad, therefore I do not criticise the attempts by those in the sector who wish to seek expert advice, and to learn from best practise in other countries. Surely if we want to implement the most effective policies in this field, then we need to ensure that we are researching the best and most radical systems?

If he is so concerned about not wasting money, I suggest that he gives some of his pay rise to level the burden...

An MP's 'constituent only' website

Its interesting to note that on a day when the Assembly is launching its e-petitions website, web casting and e-forum web page that I have fallen upon the information provided by a fellow blogger, Matt Wardman (via twitter... It is useful!) that an MP only allows her constituents to read her website. Everyone who is in her constituency must log in to be able to read about her work.

On a day when we are trying to show that elected politicians are responding to the needs of the people of Wales, and are engaging with constituents in new ways, Westminster seem to be doing the opposite!

The MP in question is Joan Ryan who represents Enfield North. Here is what she puts on her home page to 'welcome' new readers-

This is a special website just for my constituents.

It allows you to let me know your views and to find out what mine are and, importantly, what I'm doing about them. Click on the button on the right to find out more about this site. You have to register to use this site, but that's only so I can make sure that I am listening to the right people. It's all explained if you click on that button.

And you can click on the other button on the right to check if you live in my constituency. If you live here too you can then register and start using my site to tell me your views. If you're already registered, just log in and let me know what you think.

Now I am all for Joan Ryan representing her constituents as effectively as possible, we all strive for that, but surely if somebody from outside her area is interested in the work that she does, if she has any special areas of interest for example- how is stopping them from accessing her website of any use?

The reason why many people contact me, for example, with regards to eating disorders is that I say that I am working on this agenda on my blog, and so invite anyone to contribute to the discussion. It adds to the debate, and shows the level of interest outside South Wales West for what I am doing.

You can contact Joan Ryan from the website, and read about her briefly, but I have to say that confining her readership is far from inviting, and does not convey a positive image of politicians supposed attempt at re-connecting or communicating with the electorate at large.

Cross Party group on eating disorders tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to the cross party group on eating disorders tomorrow, especially as today I visited a woman who has suffered from the condition for most of her life, and was told that had mental health strategies been in place to support her years ago, she would be fit and healthy now.

If this is not a wake up call for action, I do not what is. At the meeting Peter Boyle, a Public Health Specialist will be giving a brief introduction on the work of the All Wales Eating Disorders Special Interest Group. It was enlightening to discover that Peter and his colleagues had previously devoted time and effort into writing a care pathway on eating disorders in Wales, which was then, under Jane Hutt, set to be enforced as part of a National strategy on eating disorders. Unfortunately this did not happen for reasons of which I am unfamiliar with. Therefore, I hope that one of the key first actions for our group is to impress upon Edwina Hart, the current Health Minister the need for the implementation of the care pathway so that those suffering from eating disorders have the care that they rightly need and deserve at every level - from access to GPs who may then refer them to local mental health teams, to the more specialised services.

Experts in the field rightly argue that there will be far less of a need for beds in a specialist treatment centre if sufferers can be supported from the outset- without their condition getting so severe that specialist treatment is the only option. There is much more to do in this field, what with educating GPs about how to identify those suffering from an eating disorder, to providing support networks for people, to ensuring that courses specialising in eating disorders are part of the main syllabus for both nurses and Doctors- all issues that we will discuss in the group during the next three years, at least!

Who wants to be...a Politician?

I sympathise with Dawn Butler MP and her experiences as outlined today in the Observer regarding having to endure frequent racism from Politicians at Westminster. I was shocked by her account of her experience with former Tory minister David Heathcote-Amory who challenged her right to sit in the elected members area of the Commons' Thameside terrace, failing to understand or accept that yes, she too was an MP with every right to sit there.

For Dawn Butler to have to justify her existence at every juncture is understandably frustrating, and even soul destroying. It shows that there is a long way to go to ingrain a culture of diversity at Westminster, so that people do not have to be continually singled out for being different, or failing to fit in to the London club of male, middle class and white.

Of course, the Assembly still has a long way to go in reaching its potential in terms of attracting AMs from every walk of life, from differing ethnic groups, to differing social backgrounds. While we are strong on the gender front ( for now), and while Plaid has the first and only AM from an ethnic minority on its benches, I still believe that there is a small, but underlying apprehension to embrace change, or to accept people that do not fit into the perceived 'norm' of what it is to be a politician.

While generally I am treated equally and fairly ( for the record) on some occasions some people's observations or remarks- however harmless, can be annoying!

People forever mix me and Nerys Evans AM up ( even though we look completely different..but we are nearly the same age, so you can undestand their obvious confusion;-)), while others merely talk about me as 'that young AM' without even considering that I may have a name and a personality!

I do feel that I am patronzied sometimes, which can be frustrating, but I learn to bite my tongue and to say little in reply for fear of conforming to a youth image of immaturity and sensitivity..

Nevertheless, despite my surface concerns I must admit that the Assembly is much more inclusive than Westminster- just in the way that we work more than anything else. It seems that there is still much more to be done in 1) encouraging people from all walks of life to stand as candidates and to understand its importance and 2) be accepted and respected once they are elected...........

Come the Referendum....

Peter Black says on his blog today that we should get on with the Yes campaign for a Parliament for Wales. I couldn't agree more, but wasn't it the Lib dems who said a while ago that they didn't want a vote on a Parliament on the same day as the next National Assembly elections? Seems a bit disjointed, but now that the Lib dems are changing tactics ( again) and trying to out Welsh Plaid Cymru and the 'Welsh' Conservatives at the moment ( what with Eleanor Burnham's reference to the LCO system as 'swimming through custard') then this doesn't surprise me.

The Convention is set to start its work in the summer, and I see no reason why the Yes campaign cannot start organically regardless of the timeline of the Convention. Surely everything that we are seeking to do in the National Assembly( at least here in Plaid Cymru) is to try and show how and why we need a full legislative Parliament for Wales?

Yes, the current system is complicated and long-winded- but let us not forget that this was instigated as a way to appease the Labour party internally. Again, it was the Unionist vs Devolutionist fight in the Labour party that took precedence over endorsing the findings of the Richard Commission. That is why we are where we are today.

So lets move on, be positive about the Referendum, and enthuse the people of Wales about the importance of the Assembly becoming a Parliament. OK, so the Ian Lucas's and the Don Touhig's of this World probably don't have constituency offices brimming with letter on the constitutional question at face value, but when we delve into the issues, then the importance of enhancing the powers of the Assembly becomes clear.

People want to know why the National Assembly can't decide to keep the Post Offices open, why we can't change the regressive immigration and asylum policies of London Labour. People want to know why we can't make decisions on planning applications above 50MW, and why the Assembly can't reach the child poverty targets alone. There are many things that we can do currently as an Institution, but for the sake of clarity and consistency, as well as for the sake of enshrining the rights of the people of Wales- we must campaign for a successful outcome to this referendum.

Anhwylderau Bwyta/ Eating Disorders

Bydd cyfarfod nesaf y grwp trawsbleidiol ar anhwylderau bwyta yn digwydd wythnos nesaf, ar y 15 o Ebrill am 12.30 yn ystafell Cynhadledd 21 yn y Cynulliad. Os oes diddordeb da chi mewn trafod y materion pwysig sydd yn ymwneud a thriniaeth anhwylderau bwyta, a thrafod sut i sicrhau bod y mater ar flaen yr agenda gwleidyddol, plis dewch i'r cyfarfod. Ers sefydlu'r grwp, rwyf wedi derbyn cryn ddiddordeb gan bobl sy'n gweithio yn y maes iechyd, pobl sydd yn cael anhwylder bwyta, ac gan elusennau yn y maes. Mae'n bwysig bod y grwp nawr yn mynd i'r afael a'r sefyllfa yng Nghymru. Yn ngolau trafodaethau'r LCO newydd ar iechyd meddwl, mae'n bwysigach nag erioed bod gwasanaethau anhwylderau bwyta yn cael ei drafod, a sut fedrir hyn gwella yn y dyfodol.

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The next meeting for the cross party group on Eating Disorders will take place next week, the 15th of April at 12.30pm in Conference Room 21 at the National Assembly for Wales. If you are interested in taking part in the debate, and of looking at ways to ensure that the issue stays at the top of the political agenda, then please attend the meeting. Since we have established the group, there has been widespread interest from Health professionals, charities, and those with eating disorders in the group, and the work that we are seeking to carry out. Its important now, especially in light of the LCO on Mental Health at the Assembly, that provision is improved for the future.

Will Australia become a Republic?/ A fydd Awstralia yn Weriniaeth?

Mae'r Telegraph heddiw yn amlinellu dyheuon Gweriniaethol Prif Weinidog Awstralia, Kevin Rudd. Mewn cyfweliad cyn iddo gwrdd a'r Frenhines yn Llundain, pwysleisiodd bod ei Blaid gwleidyddol yn bwriadu hwyluso trafodaeth gyhoeddus newydd ar y pwnc o greu Awstralia Gweriniaethol. Dwi ddim yn hollol sicr os wnaeth Kevin Rudd pwysleisio hyn yn uniongyrchol i'r Frenhines, ond mae'r ffaith bod e ar yr agenda gwleidyddol eto yn bwysig iawn. Er efallai nad yw'n bwnc llsgydd yn ddiddorol gweld sut fydd y trafodaethau yma yn datblygu, a sut effaith fydd y drafodaeth yn cael ar Brydain.

Wedi syniad yr Arglwydd Goldsmith o orfodi pobl ifanc i dyngu llw i'r Frenhines derbyn cyhoeddusrwydd mor negyddol, mae'r holl pwnc wedi tanio trafodaeth pellach ar bwysigrwydd y Frenhiniaeth ir Unfed Ganrif ar Hugain. Mae cyfarfod cyhoeddus y grwp Republic ym Mae Caerdydd ar y 19 o Ebrill, felly os ydych am fod yn rhan o'r drafodaeth, dewch!
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The Telegraph reports today about the Republican aspirations of the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. In an interview with the paper in London ( before meeting the Queen) he stated his Republican credentials and his intention to hold a conversation with the people of Australia about the Monarchy, and the possibility of becoming a Republic. I'm not so certain if Kevin Rudd raised this issue with the Queen in person, but the fact that it is on the political agenda again is hugely significant. Even though it may not be a hot topic of discussion in the country, it will be interesting to see how the debate progresses, and how it may shape opinions in Britain.

Following the PR flop of Lord Goldsmith's idea to introduce an obligatory oath of allegiance to the Queen on young people in Britain, the whole debate surrounding the importance of the Monarchy in the 21st Century has been reinforced. The campaign group Republic have their annual meeting in Cardiff Bay on the 19th of April, so please attend if you want to be part of the discussion here in Wales!

Rali ym Merthyr yn erbyn glo brig/ Merthyr rally against open cast

Dyma cwpwl o luniau o'r brotest yn erbyn glo brig a ddigwyddodd ym Merthyr ar ddydd Sadwrn. Roedd y rali, y cyfarfod cyhoeddus a'r gig yn lwyddiant mawr ( er gwaetha'r sylw pitw a rhoddwyd iddo gan y BBC ac eraill) ac mae nifer o bwyntiau gweithredu gen i nawr yn dilyn o'r cyfarfod agored am y ffordd ymlaen. Rwyf yn bwriadu ysgrifennu at Jane Davidson i ofyn iddi wir ystyried cynnwys Ffos y Fran o fewn y buffer zone 500 m a fydd o bosib yn cael ei gyflwyno ymhen ychydig. Mae'n annerbyniol bod y glo brig yn yr ardal mor agos i dai pobl lleol. Mae son am fwy o glo brig ym Merthyr hefyd nawr, yn benodol ble mae fy rhieny yn byw yn Heolgerrig. Mae'n bwysig os oes rhaid cael glo brig yn yr ardal bod y buffer zone yn cael ei weithredu. Mae pobl wedi bod yn aros rhy hir am hwn, ac mae'n bwysig i weithredu yn awr.

Wedi i Huw Lewis siarad mor gryf o blaid gweithredu buffer zone yn yr ardal yn y Cynulliad yn ddiweddar, roeddwn i'n disgwyl ei weld o ar y rali. Ond na, doedd o ddim ar gyful y lle. Fe ddaeth Jill Evans ASE, Leanne Wood AC a Mike German. Fe wnaeth George Monbiot, gohebydd yn y Guardian siarad yn y rali, ynghyd a phrotestwyr lleol a Gordon James o Gyfeillion y Ddaear.

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Here are a couple of pictures of the protest against open cast mining which was held in Merthyr on Saturday. The rally, the public meeting and the gig were a success ( regardless of the lack of coverage given to it by the BBC etc) and I took quite a lot of actions points from the meeting. I intend to write to Jane Davidson to raise with her again the fact that retrospective planning should be granted to Ffos y Fran in relation to the 500m buffer zone. It is unacceptable that this opencasting is taking place so close to people's homes. There are talks of further open cast developments in the area also- namely in Heolgerring where my parents live and where I grew up. Its important that if there has to be open cast in the area that the buffer zone is implemented. People have waited far too long for this, and we must act now.

Having listened to Huw Lewis's rousing speech lately at the Assembly with regards the buffer zone I thought that he would have turned up for the events in his area, but that wasn't to be. Jill Evans MEP, Leanne Wood AM and Mike German were amongst the politicians present. George Monbiot, a Journalist and climate change campaigner spoke at the rally, as did local campaigners, and Gordon James from Friends of the Earth.

The future of devolution

I'm not sure why Ian Lucas has chosen to comment at this point in time about the need for a review of the way devolution is working on a UK level. The terms of reference for the All Wales Convention has been discussed in full during the meeting of the establishing committee, to which sources tell me, Ian Lucas MP failed to attend on numerous occasions. Surely that was the place to make such opinions known, not via the Western Mail over a month later?

He comments that 'The All Wales Convention, by its very nature, cannot resolve these issues because it relates to Wales alone yet it is dependant upon the UK Parliament to achieve its goals.

“When it reports, we do not know the political context in which it will tell us its views. What we do know, however, is that politics in the UK as a whole will impact on whatever it does suggest.”

Yes, unfortunately, we know that any suggestions by the Convention must be accepted by the UK Parliament, but this is common knowledge, and the whole purpose of the Convention is to gather a wide variety of Welsh opinion in making key recommendations to the UK Parliament over the future set up of devolution in Wales. We are under no illusions that reform can happen in any other way, but we need to ensure that the Convention is successful, and that the people of Wales have faith in its processes.

Again, Ian Lucas is right that we will not know the political context when the Convention reports ( I assume he means that after a General election the Tories could be running the show in London) but again, we cannot use this as an excuse to water down the aspirations of the All Wales Convention and that which it has been mandated to perform. The MP protests too much, and in my opinion he is trying to find a way to water down the running, and the affect of the All Wales Convention before it has started.

It is not for us in Wales to push for anything more or anything less than a Convention that will re asses the powers of the Welsh Assembly, and create the environment where a Referendum in 2011 is clearly a reality. An investigation in to the Scotland Act is on its way, and no doubt there will be further calls to look at English regional control in the future.

We must get on with the work of the Convention here in Wales without hesitation. If the UK Parliament is uneasy with its findings and its conclusions, then so be it- democracy will be at work.

Delaying the inevitable

An article in today's Independent suggests that the Government is trying to bury the release of new statistics on child poverty, which experts believe will indicate that the targets both to halve child poverty by 2010, and to eradicate child poverty by 2020 will not be met. The Government in London apparently want to make public this news a day after the local elections, and the London Mayoral elections.(Goverments do have a habit of this.does anyone remember the top up fees debate?)

This may indeed be the case, but reports up to now by Save the Children, Rowntree, and various other organisations have consistently argued along such lines- this is not a shocking new revelation to those who work in the sector.

As with Alistair Darling's meagre contribution during the budget to tackle child poverty,the Government is undoubtedly biding its time in order to spin a positive line on the new stats.

Whenever I ask a question on this issue at the Assembly a Minister almost always throws back some figure or another (no doubt in an attempt to throw me off track) but the reality is that if Westminster continues to fail in introducing progressive policies in the realm of taxation and childcare support, there can be no illusion of success.

Child poverty campaigners don't have the 1st class seats in the lobbying stakes, but if Labour in London are intent on being the saviours of child poverty- if they sincerely want child poverty to be their lasting legacy in Government then they must do more than talk about it in left leaning magazines and local government election leaflets.

I am only too aware of our party's commitment in One Wales to the goals to tackle child poverty,but as I have said before, our actions will only be successful if Westminster is to shift its actions forward.

Generally, I think we should be careful not to position ourselves too narrowly on the poverty agenda here in Wales. Much more must be done to inter-relate the poverty agendas- from in work poverty, to fuel poverty, to pensioner poverty. Even if it is often unitentional, differing groups and organisations in these areas find themselves competing for the political agenda as opposed to working together for a shared goal.

In the meantime, I will await the Government's announcment...

EU petitions committee

I am in the petitions committee now, and there is a heated debate on landlaw in Valencia- a raft of petitions concerning irregularities in urban planning laws and the loss of property. It is hard to follow the debate as only the MEPs are given the full documents of information, but it is interesting to see the varying opinion on the committee, and evidence given by the petitioners.

The two Welsh petitions were discussed in the morning's session, and both remain open so as to allow the Commission to collate more evidence on the alleged breaches of EU Directives. They will be discussed again in the near future. The fact that they remain open is positive for those involved in both campaigns.

We are launching our own e-petitions system this month aslo, and this should allow for more people to put petitions forward to the Assembly, and for discussion to take place on web forums.

What we can take from this experience is that the EU committee takes part in regular fact finding missions in relation to varying petitions. This ranges from committee members visiting the area of the petitioners concern, their homes, or public meetings. They will then compile a report for other members of the committee, and draw a conclusion from that. This seems a great way of bringing politics closer to the people, and could be a key way of encouraging our AMs to take a much more hands on approach to local concerns.

I'm not sure how long this meeting has to go, but there are many petitions yet to be heard!

Brussels

Iam currently on the eurostar travelling to Brussels. We've been delayed somewhat, and have had to travel back towards London. We should be back on track soon though! The last time I came to Brussels I was travelling with young people from the Rhondda who were filming a DVD of Jill Evans's work as an MEP.

I'd love to give the same opportunity to other young people, but unfortunately AMs expenses are not so generous as our EU colleagues;-)

We are meeting with the LNG pipeline campaigners tomorrow who are giving evidence to the petitions committee, and also some Welsh Euro MEPs.

Travelling by train is much more of a pleasure than flying I mus admit. I am quite happy to minimise my carbon footprint in the travel stakes!!