This week, I attended the Holocaust Memorial Day Parliamentary Reception, organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

27 January is the day for everyone to remember the millions murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. HMD is a day to honour the survivors of these atrocities and learn the lessons of their experiences to challenge hatred and discrimination in the UK today.

At the Parliamentary Reception, the HMD Trust issued a call for any organisations to put on an event to commemorate HMD.

Extensive education resources and specially tailored guides for different settings can be accessed through the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website. A specific national resource for Wales, which includes local stories to help groups engage with HMD, is available here.

The HMD Trust are also running a series of workshops for those planning HMD events across the UK throughout the autumn. The closest for any Cardiff Central constituents considering running an event is taking place in Swansea on 19 October. For details and online booking please click here.

For any further information, you can visit the Holocaust Memorial Day Trusts website by clicking here.

On 21st July, the Tory Transport Secretary Chris Grayling MP, slipped out a written statement in parliament on the last day before the summer break cancelling electrification of the mainline between Cardiff and Swansea. The government have tried to present this as ‘good’ news on the basis there will be no disruption for passengers and residents living near the line as a result of electrification works.

The continued neglect of rail transport infrastructure in Wales by the UK government and this disgraceful broken promise on electrification is in stark contrast to the money that they are happy to pump into London and the South East, never mind their £1 billion bung to the DUP to prop up their minority government.

Wales has 11% of the UK’s total railway lines but we get only 1.5% of UK Government investment in the railways. This recent announcement forms part of a series of failures to provide adequate funding for transport in Wales. The failure to provide funding for basic maintenance and upgrades, such as safety and highway improvements connected to electrification, has allowed our railways to fall behind other UK regions. Most recently, the government’s failure to confirm vital funding for the new Wales and Border franchise agreement, which has cast doubt upon the future of the new South Wales Metro project, is very concerning. The UK government’s unwillingness to work constructively with the Welsh Government to fill the £1 billion funding gap is counterproductive and is letting rail passengers across South Wales down.

All 22 South Wales Labour MPs  wrote to the Transport Secretary and the Welsh Secretary urging the government to reconsider the decision to renege on electrification to Swansea, which would include the funding of safety improvements, highway upgrades, and commit £1 billion to secure a sustainable new Wales and Border franchise agreement. In the light of the Government's recent commitment to the £30 billion Crossrail 2 project it is difficult to justify their decision to end investment in rail infrastructure across South Wales. Similarly, if the HS2 rail project goes ahead as planned in England, Wales is owed £2 billion as a Barnett consequential, which would go a long way in helping to deliver the infrastructure improvements required that includes the redevelopment of Cardiff Central railway station.

Recently I wrote to Boots plc with Labour MP colleagues about the extortionate cost of emergency contraception at their pharmacies. Boots were charging significantly more than other pharmacies such as Tesco and Superdrug. So I was pleased when they wrote to me to say they had made a decision to slightly reduce the price. I wasn’t so pleased that their lawyers had sent a threatening letter to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service about a legitimate and properly successful campaign.

I have also signed a parliamentary motion drawing attention to the gap between production and retail pricing of emergency contraceptives in the UK. Prices for contraception can be 5 times more than in other EU countries. This suggests that the cost of production and distribution are not the main drivers behind the price differentials in the UK and that maximising profit is.