Our UK Parliament has always been the centre of our politics during national crises. Whatever challenges we have faced, Prime Ministers and Governments down the years have answered to Parliament. Holding Ministers to account is vital at any time, but it is particularly important during the crucial periods that determine our country’s future for years to come.

Over the next few weeks, assuming the Supreme Court does not overturn the prorogation decision, and MPs return to Parliament, I will be using the additional time in Torfaen to speak to employers, voluntary groups and other organisations. This week, for example, I was able to attend the “Topping Out” ceremony for the new Torfaen Learning Zone. Credit to the Welsh Government and Torfaen CBC for their collaborative work and investment in this - progress looks impressive so far.

But the full impact of leaving the EU with “No Deal” on jobs, livelihoods, medicine, food and fuel supplies, should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Government Ministers should be in Parliament, ready to answer questions from all sides, and all perspectives, on this. Whatever your views on Brexit and on other political issues, closing down Parliament and preventing this debate is wrong.

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Whilst the Brexit debates dominated Parliament’s short September sitting, many other important issues were discussed as well. I was pleased to be able to Chair the Annual General Meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Off-Patent Drugs on 4th September 2019.

Since securing a change in the law in January 2016, I have been working to ensure that drugs initially licensed for one purpose but which are shown to be useful for another are made widely available where there is firm evidence that they can help patients.

One good example of this is bisphosphonates, a group of drugs initially meant for treating osteoporosis, but which are very effective at preventing primary breast cancer spreading to the bone.

The work of making these drugs more widely available, and driving through the change across the UK, continues. I was delighted when these were made widely available to breast cancer patients at Velindre in April 2018, benefiting my Torfaen constituents.

It’s a reminder that, even in these tumultuous political times, determined campaigning can make a difference.