Croeso!

Croeso! I am delighted to welcome you to my new weblog. I am one of the four Members representing Wales in the European Parliament.

I was born and bred in the Rhondda, where I still live. Most weeks I work in the European Parliament in Brussels. Once a month the Parliament sits in Strasbourg for a week. Moving the whole parliament, its staff and members to southeast France every month costs a fortune and really disrupts our work. That’s why I belong to the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform calling for all parliament meetings in Brussels. Over a million people have signed our petition. I hope it’s something we can change very soon.

My job is to represent the people of Wales so getting your views on issues is vital. I do a lot of work on the environment. At the moment I am working hard on the new waste management laws. This affects every one of us. I know the misery of living next to a landfill site - I can see Nantygwyddon tip from my front window at home. Even though Plaid Cymru stopped the dumping of rubbish in 2001 and closed the tip, site remediation has not been done as originally promised and it still causes real health concerns.

The major threat we all face is climate change. I do whatever I can personally at home and in work to minimise my contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why my New Year’s resolution is to make at least one journey in four between Wales, Brussels and Strasbourg by train rather than flying twice a week. I’ll still be flying too much but that’s unavoidable with my long-distance job. At least I can lessen the damage immediately. Roll on better rail services!

Rwy’n bwriadu ’sgrifennu’r blog yma yn Gymraeg ac yn Saesneg felly gallwch gysylltu a fi yn y ddwy iaith fel y mynnwch.