My latest newsletter is out now!


** April 23 Newsletter
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** Cost of Living Advice Day
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I held another cost of living advice day where there was help available from a range of organisations to help local people during this cost of living crisis.

This cost of living advice day was a chance for local people to talk directly to the experts, and it was good to see so many people getting help that they didn't know they could get.

If you are struggling with the cost of living, please see the cost of living advice booklet that I have out together of some of the support available to you:
www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/cost-of-living-advice-booklet ([link removed])


** Visit to Physical Empowerment CIC
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It was great to attend the Physical Empowerment CIC session at Port Talbot Community Ventures recently to learn about how this fantastic group is helping women overcome abuse such as domestic violence.

I was really impressed by how the physical empowerment group helps women to become physically empowered again, learn their self worth and teach them they are worthy of empowerment; and the group’s strong believe in sisterhood was inspiring.


** Meeting with My Rounders
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I was thrilled to meet with the women behind My Rounders to discuss the huge success of the sessions they have been running at Aberavon Leisure and Fitness Centre.

We talked about plans they have to use the momentum they've built to create something even bigger. Excited to see where they take it next!


** Everyone Deserves an Easter
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This month I collected Easter Eggs from local businesses and residents for Carolyn Harris' Everyone Deserves an Easter project.

A special thanks to Tata Steel, Runtech, Tesco Briton Ferry, the Business Community at Glan Afan and Morrisons Baglan for donating or collecting these eggs on our behalf. We collected over 200 Easter eggs and these eggs went to children in vulnerable families across Aberavon.


** Table Tennis Group
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I went along and played a few matches of table tennis at Port Talbot Gas Welfare Club.

The group holds sessions twice a week and play league matches across other areas of Wales as well.

I was delighted that the group was able to secure funding for two tennis tables at one of my funding fairs.

It's a great way to keep active and get out and be social with a great group of people.

I would fully recommend going along if you can, it's lots of fun!
They're in particular looking for some younger members to keep the sport going.


** The Hwb at The Ynys
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It was great to visit The Hwb at The Ynys to hear about the tremendous work they are doing to help encourage men to talk more about their mental health.

The Hwb is a safe space for the community to use and somewhere for people to talk when needed.

This great facility is exactly what our community needs and the team there are providing wonderful support.


** Visit to Foredowel Engineering
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I was delighted to visit local manufacturing business Foredowel Limited Engineering Services. It’s a family run business with over 40 years of experience providing skilled employment and supporting the local economy.

Originally, they offered site engineering services to the steel works but have branched out to other areas like structural steelwork, heavy-duty and machine shop engineering.

Thanks to the support they’ve received from Barclays they’ve been able to purchase the premises they previously rented.

It’s great to hear of a local family business growing and expanding.


** 9 to 5 The Musical
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I had a brilliant time at our Port Talbot Musical Theatre’s performance of “9 to 5”, and to top it all I got to go backstage for a chat & photo with the cast.

It was an amazing show and I hope that as many of you as possible got to see it!


** This Month In Parliament
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Asylum Backlog Statistics

I raised a Point of Order on the completely false & deeply misleading claims made by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak & his ministers about the size of the asylum backlog under Labour.

The Prime Minister must apologise to the House & urgently correct the record, as he is duty-bound to do under the Ministerial Code.

I followed up this intervention in the House with a letter to the Prime Minister, asking him again to correct the record - in line with the Ministerial Code - after the statistics regulator ruled that the asylum backlog had increased by 147,000 since 2010 (not 'halved' as PM claimed!)

Under the Tories it is 8x higher than under Labour, at 166,000 today.

See my full letter here:
[link removed]
Illegal Migration Bill

I continued pressing the Tories in my role as shadow Immigration Minister.

The Tory Illegal Migration Bill is a Traffickers Charter because it will make it harder to prosecute criminals smuggling people across the channel.

It will make every aspect of their broken asylum system worse.

Labour has a 5 point plan to fix this mess and this Conservative Government should get out of the way.

Labour Friends of Taiwan

I was delighted to attend the launch of Labour Friends of Taiwan. It is critical that we build stronger ties between Britain and Taiwan, and this new group with help to do so.

Hong Kong Summit

Hong Kongers are on the frontline of the fight for democracy, and Britain has been right to fulfil our moral & legal obligations to BNOs.

I spoke at the Hong Kong Summit about fixing issues with the BNO scheme.

Hong Kong needs the free world, & the free world needs Hong Kong.

Local Election Campaigning in Swindon

Great to have spent time campaigning in Swindon several times over the past few weeks, supporting our brilliant Labour candidates for the 4th May local elections. It was also lovely to catch up with the wonderful Heidi Alexander and Will Stone, whom I hope will turn South Swindon and North Swindon red at the next general election.
Steel

Myself and my colleague Ruth Jones made the point to the Government that a vibrant and competitive steel industry has to be at the heart of any growth strategy, and that the UK Government’s continued dithering and delay when it comes to stepping up and showing the Welsh steel industry the support that it requires is a massive issue.

Labour’s £3 billion clean steel fund is exactly what we need to ensure that we get our economy firing on all cylinders.
Vladimir Kara-Murza

I am honoured to call Vladimir Kara-Murza my friend, he is the bravest man I know.

I reminded the Minister that he is a British citizen. Why is it that the UK government has failed to sanction the 29 officials who persecuted him whilst the US, Canada and Latvia have acted decisively?

Watch my full intervention here:
www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/the-persecution-of-vladimir-kara-murza ([link removed])


** Media Highlights
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The Times Red Box

The Tories' costly and illegal Migration Bill is a sham, designed only to chase headlines. It won't work and will make the situation worse.

Labour has a comprehensive plan to stop the crossings and fix our broken asylum system.

My piece for The Times:
[link removed]
The Mirror

The Conservatives have broken the asylum system & are out of ideas on how to stop small boats – as their flawed legislation shows. So they’ve resorted to paying expensive consultants taxpayer cash to do their jobs for them.

Read my full comments in The Mirror below:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/anger-ministers-shell-out-10000-29636442
The Times

The Tories’ costly and illegal Migration Bill is a sham, designed only to chase headlines.

It won’t work and will make the situation worse.

Labour has a comprehensive plan to stop the crossings and fix our broken asylum system.

Read the full piece:
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dangerous-channel-crossings-not-prevented-headline-chasing-gimmicks-c3cjnq9mk
The Mirror

Britain was the cradle of the first industrial revolution and we have the potential to lead the way on the new Green Industrial Revolution – but only if the UK Government backs Green Steel.

Liberty Steel Group’s progress in Australia illustrates what can be achieved.

Read the full piece:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/australian-green-steel-deal-shows-29624883?fbclid=IwAR3SCx61A-YU6E6JN93bWS5HLhgFKvxw7n43iQh9lLTUVu40ByufdqHFB9g


** Contact Details
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You can get in touch with us by calling the office on 01639 897660 or ending an email to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected] )

Check my website ([link removed]) , Instagram ([link removed]) or Facebook ([link removed]) page for details of my next advice surgery.
All the best,

Stephen Kinnock
MP for Aberavon

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MP for Aberavon
Water Street Business Centre
Water Street
Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot SA12 6LF
United Kingdom

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