There have been some long nights in Parliament as the minority Government attempt to cling on to the levers of power.

 Their recent moves, packing committees full of Tories and trying to stifle debate around Brexit, reek of a Government desperately trying to bypass democracy.

 With Brexit in particular I respect and back the result of the referendum, particularly with Blaenau Gwent’s vote to leave.

 But that doesn’t mean blindly handing over absolute power to an absolutely useless Tory Government.

 It’s the job of Labour now to keep the pressure on in Parliament so the Tories are forced to listen to the entire country – a message they should have heard loud and clear this June.

 Meanwhile, I have joined fellow Welsh MPs in writing to the Prime Minister about the Ministry of Defence’s procurement policies.

 They are buying tactical vehicles from the United States and trending towards sourcing overseas products when UK industry has the skill and means to satisfy demand.

 A few years back I attacked the Government in Parliament for resorting to Swedish steel for army vehicles when British steel said they could produce the goods.

We all know in this region how important supporting the steel industry is.

 Yet again, the Government is failing to put their money where their mouth is.

 This is also true of my campaigning for more regulation of the rent-to-own sector, whose sky high interest rates are hitting hard pressed families.

 The Government is passing the buck to the Financial Conduct Authority when I’ve asked them numerous questions about how they are going to help solve this problem.

 The FCA are looking into the sector and have suggested a series of solutions, but they are ill-defined at best and seemingly a long way away too.

 The Citizens Advice Bureau are doing good work around this issue, and I’ll be meeting them after conference season to see how we can move forward.

 While other parties are off to the Manchester and the seaside for the party conferences I’m taking the chance to tour a bunch of schools in the borough.

 It’s a great week every year and it’s lovely to see the good work going on locally.