I spoke in last week's debate on the cost of living to highlight how many constituents in Newport East face a triple-whammy financial blow with the end of the furlough scheme, the hike in National Insurance, and the planned cut to Universal Credit.

The decision to scrap the Universal Credit uplift will result in the biggest-ever overnight cut to social security - a move which will affect 8,630 households in Newport East.

Research from Action For Children shows that, even with the uplift in place, a typical sole-earner family with a parent in a low or middle-income job has been out of pocked by an average of £750 a year because of social security losses over the last decade.

When the £20-a-week-cut to Universal Credit goes ahead, the figures suggest their average annual benefit income loss will rise by 140 per cent, to nearly £1,800 a year.

Throughout the pandemic, I have heard first-hand from constituents how the uplift has been a lifeline for so many who are struggling to afford essential items and make ends meet - including many who are in employment.

Forty per cent of Universal Credit claimants in Newport East are in work: an inconvenient truth for government ministers who seek to use the benefits system to sow false divisions.

The fact that this cut will come at a time when the costs of energy bills, fuel, food and other consumer goods are firmly on the rise makes the government's proposal all the more indefensible. I fully support Labour's call on ministers to cancel the cut and make the uplift to Universal Credit permanent.

* I am delighted the UK government has finally announced that folic acid will be added to flour products to help prevent spinal tube defects in babies. This is an issue I've been raising regularly in Parliament - including earlier this month - and change has been a long time coming: the government consultation on the issue ended two years ago. More than 80 countries across the world, including the USA and Canada, had already acted on the scientific evidence to introduce folic acid into all flour and related products, so it's about time the UK caught up.

The introduction of this public health measure has only been possible because of determined work of the charity Shine and campaigning families like my constituents the Walbyoffs, and their inspiring nine-year-old daughter Sara who lives with spina bifida. I pay tribute to them for their efforts which have helped to make such an important difference.

* In Parliament I've also been challenging the UK government over its underinvestment in rail infrastructure in Wales.

Wales accounts for 11 per cent of the rail network but receives only two per cent of rail enhancement funding from the UK Government. As I emphasised in Wales Questions this month, it's time that ministers committed to addressing a pattern of chronic underinvestment.

They could make a start in Newport East by finally allowing the Welsh Government to run more cross-border services under the Wales and Borders franchise, and by supporting the New Stations Fund bid for a walkway station for Magor - a campaign I fully support.