December Newsletter

17th December, 2021

Hello and welcome to my final newsletter of 2021.

Its been a bit of a whirlwind year and I’m sure many of you are looking forward to a brighter and happier 2022. Please do stay safe this Christmas as you enjoy time relaxing with family and friends. Covid is still with us so we need to remain vigilant.

It was lovely to welcome Dame Rosemary and Derek Butler to Westminster last week and it made me realise that I haven’t been able to make the most of my time here as your MP by welcoming members of our CLP to come and visit so far. This has been due to Brexit, prorogation, a snap General Election and finally Covid! Hopefully next year we will be able arrange visits to Parliament and it would be lovely to be able to do this. Have a think and let me know if there is any interest in arranging a trip in the Spring. It would be lovely to see you in London!

In the meantime I wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful, healthy New Year.

Best wishes

Last week, Jayne Bryant and I visited our local Delivery Office, here in Newport West, to see this year’s Christmas delivery operation first-hand and pass on our thanks and season greetings to all the hard-working staff.Throughout the pandemic, postal workers have put themselves on the front line to keep us connected, and now during the busiest time of year, staff are working extremely hard to deliver over the Christmas period. It was great to have the opportunity to personally thank staff and pass on Season’s Greetings last week. It has been a difficult year for so many, and so I wish them well for the rest of their Christmas operation.

Ruth with Jayne Bryant on Post Office visit

It was a pleasure to visit County in the Community to discuss their extensive work throughout the community here in Newport West and across South East Wales. We discussed their annual report which showcases what County in the Community have been delivering for people in Newport.From the Joy of Moving programme to the Fit & Fed programme, it is brilliant to see the positive impact their programmes are having on children and adults in Newport West. You can read the report here: https://issuu.com/…/citc_annual_report_2020…/30…

In Parliament

In the wake of Richard Ratcliffe’s second hunger strike outside the Foreign Office to get his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe back to the United Kingdon safely, I spoke in the Westminster Hall debate on Nazanin. Many local people here in Newport West have contacted me about Nazanin and I was determined to speak and share your concerns. In my speech, I demanded the Minister get back to the Foreign Office and make very clear to the Foreign Secretary that this simply cannot go on. You can watch my speech here: https://fb.watch/9mdOKLuOfV/ However, in a written parliamentary question to the FCDO, I asked the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss MP, “How many members of the Government have visited Iran since July 2019?”The Foreign Office have admitted that no Minister has been to Iran since July 2019. The lack of action taken by the UK Government to return Nazanin safely to the United Kingdom and reunite her with her family is atrocious. We need Nazanin home – and now. #FreeNazanin

MPs stand in solidarity after the debate on Nazanin

For #IslamophobiaAwarenessMonth I took the opportunity to celebrate Newport West’s diversity – one of our city’s greatest strengths – and of which I am very proud.You can watch my speech here: https://fb.watch/9FMOptR11i/Islam is one of the largest religious groups in Wales, with tens of thousands of Welsh people practicing a strong and committed Muslim faith. I am proud that Newport West is home to very many of those people. It is so important to take a moment to acknowledge the key role our Muslim community has played over the last 18 months and to each of them, I say thank you. Last week, I met with members of Muslim Council of Wales to reaffirm our collective determination to challenge and eradicate hate speech and discrimination.

This month constituents have mostly been in touch with my office about:

– Health, Services and Medicine
– Crime, Civil Law, Justice and Rights
– Energy, Utilities and Environment

My office continues to support people across Newport West so if you have a query or need assistance please contact us on ruth.jones.mp@parliament.uk or 01633 256268.