During the weeks in which we have movingly reflected on the steadfast dedication to public service of Her Majesty The Queen, we have unfortunately also seen glaring examples of the exact opposite.

While we’ve become accustomed to chaos in Westminster, the fallout from the chancellor’s announcement is unprecedented even by the shambolic standards of recent years.

This banker’s budget single-handedly crashed the pound, drove up the cost of borrowing and unsettled the market to such an extent that the Bank of England was forced to intervene with a £65 billion commitment just to stabilise matters.

Had it not been for this, we were likely within hours of pension funds collapsing, while pressure on mortgages with rising interest rates, inflation close to double digits and now even further cuts to spending proposed to pay for this catastrophe mean that the cost-of-living crisis for Blaenau Gwent is now an outright emergency.

Blaenau Gwent and areas like ours have always borne the brunt of austerity and recession, and what was already going to be a very tough winter for people has been made that much harsher by the sheer indifference and incompetence of a Tory regime which knows little of the challenges our communities face and which cares even less.

Our borough – and our country – deserves a UK government which recognises the most sustained threat to people’s livelihoods and living standards for decades with the seriousness and urgency required.

While we have next to no chance of this from the Thatcherite gang currently in Downing Street, the Welsh Government is doing all that it can with the powers and resources available to it to mitigate this and protect people, services and communities.

Ensuring that this support continues and is ramped up and supporting the organisations helping people on the ground across Blaenau Gwent is my immediate and overriding focus.

I have been communicating loudly, clearly and repeatedly to ministers - including at every session of First Minister’s Questions - about how dire the situation could become and how prompt and determined action is needed to protect people here from the ravages of yet another round of Tory austerity – one which nobody voted for.

They have made crystal clear to a person that the Welsh Government fully grasp this and will be doing their utmost to help.

This may be an uphill battle against this shambolic Tory regime, but people in Blaenau Gwent need to know that, here in Wales at least, they have a Labour government; a Labour government which is on their side and which will always put the interests and the wellbeing of communities like ours above those of city bankers and wealthy donors.