FIRSTLY, this week I am delighted with the news that Labour are back in control of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, with a positive agenda for Penarth, Sully and Llandough as well as the wider Vale.

I’m also pleased to see Penarth councillors Lis Burnett and Peter King in the new cabinet.

The polling stations are open today for the European elections – I would encourage all readers to use their vote for Labour, to stop the rise of Farage and the far right in British politics.

Meanwhile it’s been another busy week in both the constituency and Westminster.

Locally I’ve been talking about taxis, ensuring we get a fair wage for our taxi drivers who work incredibly hard as a crucial part of our public transport network, and also that we have safe and available taxis for residents around Cardiff and the Vale.

I’ve been taking on board concerns about drugs and drug dealing - something I’ve been working on very closely with the police and local services. And I’ve also been talking about sport – this time football and ensuring young people can get involved in teams, but also have opportunities to progress within their chosen sport as well.

In Westminster I’ve been talking about serious violence and ensuring we get police on our streets to deal with knife crime and other violence, which sadly we’ve seen on the rise in some parts of the UK.

I’ve also been talking about the steel industry. Steel is a crucial backbone here in Wales, but there is worrying news from some parts of the industry across the UK. I’m glad to say that we have a thriving steel plant here in the constituency, employing a lot of people who produce steel for our construction industry and many other infrastructure projects – but it’s crucial that those projects are open to Welsh steel, in order to drive jobs and business here in our local community.

In the Commons I challenged the Conservative Welsh Secretary over what I believe is his failure to stand up for our steel industry.

I asked him: “Steel is of course the foundation of any successful industrial strategy. So can the Secretary of State explain what he has done to offset the lost opportunity for Welsh steel producers of the lost Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and the electrification to Swansea?

"What projects has he actually secured to provide procurement opportunities for Welsh steel producers?”