General News

Now and then, an individual MP has the chance to change the law by proposing a “Private Members' Bill”. Getting such a Bill through both Houses of Parliament is hard because it is easy to object and block a Private Members' Bill. Most people might expect that it takes 325 MPs to stop a Bill in its tracks - that is half the number of MPs – or that a majority of MPs could push through a Private Members' Bill. In fact, it takes only one individual MP – often a Government Whip – to shout “object” at the right moment, and the Bill is dead.

We have now seen how the Boundary Commission for Wales’ proposes to redraw the boundaries of Welsh Parliamentary constituencies. Wales is losing ten of its MPs – that’s 1 in 4 - so there are bound to be big changes. It means less representation for Welsh people in Parliament, and the Boundary Commission has no choice but to cut across valleys and mountains to meet the very restrictive requirements within which it has to do its work. So Cynon Valley has been split in three and Anglesey is linked to Bangor after 400 years as an island constituency.

Any MP’s work is inevitably “a game of two halves” – representing the constituency in Westminster and being in the constituency to be available to and work with individuals and organisations. So my life is divided between the two ends of the M4, as is my office. My four staff help to manage the mailbag, co-ordinate my diary and act as a first port-of-call when constituents or organisations contact me. They also provide the back up for all the work that it is expected an MP will do in Westminster – scrutinising legislation, sitting on a Select Committee, and taking part in debates.

There are three parts to our traditional New Year Media blitz : The review of last year, predictions for next year and New Year Resolutions. The Review is the easy one because “there’s nothing that cannot be made to appear inevitable when described by a competent historian (or journalist)”. But while some reviews offer real insights, most get us no nearer to “the truth”. On the Home Affairs Select Committee, after an in-depth examination of the August riots, our report is informative and constructive, but we can’t answer the big question : “Why did the riots happen?”. After the 1980s riots Lord Scarman – with an expert team and dedicated resources – produced a superb evidence-based report. I keep asking “Why haven’t we had a similar investigation in 2011?” It’s needed.

We’ve been working as a Parliamentary democracy for over 900 years, and we still get some things wrong and can always work for room for improvement. But it’s useful to look at “younger democracies” and to see how they do things. For example my colleague Rushanara Ali MP, the Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow, invited me to an event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh in the stunning setting of the Speaker’s House at Westminster. We were joined at the event by the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, and our Shadow Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP.

The recent redevelopment of Porth Teigr in Cardiff Bay has continued the success of BBC Wales in attracting some of the UK’s top shows and talent to our local area - including one of the best known and well loved (and my own personal favourite), Doctor Who. Of course, having the Rift of Time in the constituency has some benefits..... such as the chance to attend a special preview of the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

On Sunday the Ardwyn Singers treated us to a superb Christmas Concert at All Saints in Penarth – the first concert since the almost complete renovation which will expand the potential of the church building for church members and the wider community. It also makes the beautiful stained glass window at the back of the church much more accessible.

The things we have been hearing as MPs looking at the causes of the 2011 riots in a number of English cities are reflected in a new report from the London School of Economics. First, it says that many people got involved because they felt the riots were explicitly ‘anti-police’. That supports my argument that engagement between the community and the police - and "The Authorities" generally - is absolutely essential if we are to prevent riots happening in the future.

Two seminars last week demonstrated the importance of understanding the role of the MP at a time of constitutional change. In the first discussion some people seemed to think that the arrival of the National Assembly for Wales lessened the need for Welsh constituencies to be represented in Parliament. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Times are tough for most people at present, and that’s bad news for local businesses as we approach the Christmas shopping period. That made it all the more galling to hear how top salaries have gone through the roof. Industry chiefs used to be paid, on average, 13 times the average wage paid to their employees. Now it’s often 80 times and sometimes even more than a hundred times as much.