Russia Is Using The British Council As A Political Tool

23 Mar 2018

I remember my first flight to St. Petersburg in May 2005 as clearly as if it were yesterday. I was on my way to take up my post as Director of the British Council’s operations in St. Petersburg, and felt a palpable sense of hope, combined with a healthy dose…

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Infrastructure investment: Time to recapture the ambition of 1945

22 Mar 2018

Prospect Magazine This government’s assumption that a growing economy will benefit everyone is flawed. Such thinking has always prevailed in Whitehall. It has perpetuated the damaging view that it doesn’t matter if growth is driven by a limited number of regionally-confined sectors. The result is that our economy is dangerously…

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Temporary Exemption From Trump Steel Tariffs Is Step In Right Direction, But We Are Not Out Of The Woods Yet

22 Mar 2018

Commenting on reports that the EU is set to secure a temporary exemption from the Trump steel tariffs, Member of Parliament for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks, Stephen Kinnock, said: “Steelworkers across the UK and Europe will sigh with relief if it is confirmed that the EU have…

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Select Committee Report Highlights That Government Failings Means We May Have No Choice But To Extend Article 50

19 Mar 2018

Select Committee Report Highlights That Government Failings Means We May Have No Choice But To Extend Article 50, And Expresses Disappointment In The Attempt Made By Certain Members To Undermine The Collective Spirit Of The Committee As the Committee on Exiting the European Union publishes its latest report calling on…

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We Cannot Let Football Act As A Smokescreen – We Must Postpone The World Cup

19 Mar 2018

Politics Home Since I first spoke out and called for FIFA to postpone and relocate the World Cup I’ve been met with a torrent of disgruntled tweets, many from Russian bots, saying “sport and politics don’t mix, leave the World Cup alone”. While I can understand that sentiment, I’m afraid…

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Prime Minister Found Wanting As Trump Steel Tariff Executive Order Is Milestone Moment For Future Of UK Steel Industry And Future Of Rules Based Global Economic System

09 Mar 2018

Commenting on Trump’s Executive Order confirming 25% tariffs on British steel imports to the USA, Stephen Kinnock, Member of Parliament for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot steelworks said, “President Trump’s signing of an Executive Order imposing steel tariffs is a milestone moment for the future of the British steel…

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Steelworkers Will Judge Theresa May On Her Approach To Donald Trump’s New Tariffs

06 Mar 2018

PoliticsHome We’ve all been there, right? A tricky week at work, so you decide to start a trade war with the whole world. Having lost his longest serving aide, again chastising his “Mr Magoo” Attorney General, and it then becoming public knowledge that his son in law and senior White…

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Aberavon MP Calls On New Prisons Minister To Scrap Plans For A Prison In Port Talbot With Immediate Effect

06 Mar 2018

Aberavon MP, Stephen Kinnock, has called on the new Minister for Prisons to call time on the UK Government’s plans to build a prison in Port Talbot, describing the idea as a ‘non-starter’ and saying the plans should be ‘scrapped with immediate effect’. In their first clash in the House of…

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Aberavon MP Condemns Aggressive Trump Tariffs On Steel

05 Mar 2018

Commenting on Donald Trump’s announcement of plans to impose tariffs of 25% on all steel and aluminium imports to the USA, Stephen Kinnock, Member of Parliament for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot Steelworks said: “This reckless and impetuous announcement from Donald Trump is deeply worrying for the British steel…

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Aberavon MP Calls Out Government And FCA For Allowing A Free For All Which Has Left Many Steelworkers And Pensioners Worse Off

15 Feb 2018

Today, Stephen Kinnock has: called for urgent action on pension misselling called out the FCA for failings; urged the government to produce a white paper; and supported Work and Pensions Committee report Stephen Kinnock, Member of Parliament for Aberavon, home of the Port Talbot Steelworks, today called out the Financial…

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Why I’m Fasting Today To Help End First-Past-The-Post

06 Feb 2018

LabourList As we mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, I, along with politicians from across the political spectrum, campaigners and people from all walks of life, are today taking part in Make Votes Matter’s hungry for democracy initiative, a 24-hour hunger strike to call for a new voting system, one…

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UK Risks Missing Brexit Boat

05 Feb 2018

From the moment Theresa May announced her intention to trigger Article 50, it’s been clear that we were in a race against time. But few seem to realize that we have less than two months in which to land the most important and complex deal in our post-war history. The reality…

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Stephen Kinnock And David Rees Statement On Cymer Afan Comprehensive

05 Feb 2018

On Friday Stephen Kinnock met with residents from the Upper Afan Valley about the proposals for Cymer Afan Comprehensive, following that he and David Rees AM met with Councillors Scott Jones and Nicola-Jayne Elsie Davies, and former Assembly Member Brian Gibbons. After the meetings Stephen Kinnock and David Rees issued…

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Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock Meets With Pensions Minister To Speak Up For Constituents About Changes To The BSPS On The Day We Learn Initial BSPS Transfer Figures

31 Jan 2018

Stephen Kinnock met with the Pensions Minister, Guy Opperman, for a frank exchange of views about the government’s handling of the changes to the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). Last year, Mr Kinnock wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions calling on the government to take action…

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Only By Speaking European Languages Will Britain Rebuild The Bridges Burned By Brexit

29 Jan 2018

Times article with Luciana Berger We take it for granted that public figures from the rest of Europe can speak flawless English, as Emmanuel Macron did in his interview on the Andrew Marr Show last Sunday. We expect the presidents and prime ministers of France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden or Norway to be…

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No Place For Scandalous Child Poverty Figures In 21st Century Britain

26 Jan 2018

Nearly a third of children in Aberavon are living in poverty according to statistics published the End Child Poverty coalition. Local MP Stephen Kinnock has called the figures ‘scandalous’ and said ‘there should be no place for child poverty in 21st century Britain. Figures from the End Child Poverty Coalition show 4424…

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Stephen Kinnock Calls For Early-Warning System So Regulators Can Be More Proactive

24 Jan 2018

Aberavon MP, Stephen Kinnock, has said lessons need to be learnt from the creation of the British Steel Pension Scheme mark 2, and called for an early-warning system so regulators can be more proactive in tackling the unscrupulous behaviour of certain pension advisers witnessed in Port Talbot. Speaking in a Commons…

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MP Holds Constructive Meeting With New Prisons Minister

17 Jan 2018

Aberavon MP, Stephen Kinnock, has held a constructive meeting with the new Minister for Prisons, Rory Stewart MP, just days after his appointment to the role, over the proposals to build a prison in Port Talbot. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Kinnock said, “The meeting with the new Minister was…

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Aberavon MP Calls For Urgent Meeting With New Minister Over Prison Plans

11 Jan 2018

Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock has written to the new Minister for Prisons, Rory Stewart OBE MP, urging him to get up to speed on the proposals for a prison in Port Talbot and calling for an urgent meeting to discuss why the land in the Baglan Industrial Park is not suitable…

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Stephen Kinnock To Hold Third Annual Funding Fair

11 Jan 2018

Aberavon MP, Stephen Kinnock, is due to hold his annual funding fair in Taibach Community Education Centre at the end of the month. Now in its third year the event has grown to include 13 different advice providers and Mr Kinnock is encouraging local groups and organisations looking for funding…

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The European Economic Area Offers An Opportunity To Stay In The Single Market And Control Movement Of Labour

03 Jan 2018

Politics Home For almost eighteen months now the country has been grappling with the vexed question of how best to retain the benefits of the single market without having to accept the free movement of labour. We know that if we were to cut our economy off from the single…

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