Rishi Sunak is the UK’s new prime minister.

Our third PM in a mere seven weeks.

I offer the new prime minister my congratulations. It is obviously a significant moment in British history.

We now have the first British Asian prime minister and the first Hindu prime minister.

However, Rishi Sunak leads the Tory party which has trashed the British economy and made us a laughing stock across the globe. All this while winter approaches and the cost of living crisis tightens its grips on people’s lives throughout Islwyn and Wales.

The people of the UK need to have their say.

We need a general election now but we know we will be denied one because the Tories fear wipeout at the hands of the electorate.

* Newbridge is undergoing a transformation. I visited Newbridge railway station to see the current work that is taking place to transform railway serves in Islwyn.

Newbridge’s existing platform is being extended while a new platform is also being built.

The iconic bridge on Bridge Street has been removed and a new one is being put in place.

While 520 metres of track north of Cross Keys station is also being installed.

All this is part of increasing the frequency of the services on the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff line and creating a new regular Ebbw Vale to Newport service.

The project is integral to rebuilding Islwyn’s public transport infrastructure. The line has been an outstanding success since it re-opened in 2008 and I have campaigned for its enhancement since I was elected to the Senedd.

I hope that one day we will be able to achieve the re-opening of railway services to Crumlin.

* I visited Rhiw Syr Dafydd Primary School in Oakdale in my constituency to meet with the head boys, girls and their deputies as they were embarking on putting together their school council team. It was an inspiring visit.

The children greatly impressed me with their questioning, thoughtfulness and evident pride in their school. I was delighted to attend the end of week celebration assembly to hand out awards to pupils. The pandemic placed a huge burden on our school communities so it is heartening to see the resilience of our children and our school communities in bouncing back.