BREXIT has continued to dominate proceedings in Parliament as the historic triggering of Article 50 has now taken place.

 

Concerns about Britain becoming a low-tax haven that rips up workers’ rights may not come to fruition but we cannot just assume things will work out for the best.

 

The protections baked into our partnership with Europe around stopping workers and shoppers getting ripped off and our environment cannot just be thrown away without thought.

 

It is incredibly important now for Labour to fight to ensure we get the sort of Brexit that does not punish ordinary people.

 

Back home it’s been good to be able to get around the constituency and see the hard work going on in our valleys by different companies.

 

I had the chance to visit PCI (formerly Penn Pharma) near Tredegar who have been going from strength to strength in recent years. It was good to hear about their high-skilled jobs, desire to expand and emphasis on making sure to draw from nearby graduates.

 

I also popped into Clams Cakes on the Victoria Industrial Estate which might be the new benchmark for the most delicious smelling business I’ve visited. They have 20 employees, are putting out products nationwide and are another local success story.

 

It would be wrong to ignore the difficulties with regeneration in Blaenau Gwent and the surrounding boroughs, but it is still good to be able to see and celebrate our success stories.

 

Meanwhile I also got to pop into Georgetown Primary School to hear about their work they are doing to help out the environment in their playgrounds and the community.

 

It’s always good to see how switched on and interested the pupils are at our schools and I love getting the chance to hear about the things they care about.

 

Finally, I helped host a reception event in Parliament to show MPs the latest plans around the Circuit of Wales development.

 

Guests got to pose questions to several of the people involved trying to make this development happen and it was a very worthwhile session.

 

The bid is now with the Welsh Government and I am glad to see the developers have been revising the proposal plans to give it the best chance possible to succeed.