It was brilliant to visit Abergavenny Food Festival the other weekend; it was an absolute joy as always.I caught up with friends, including the legend Franco Taruschio, who ran The Walnut Tree, as well as plenty of other wonderful people.

The food festival is an incredibly important part of our local economy and brings thousands of visitors to Monmouthshire, boosting our economy and putting our fantastic food producers on the map.

I also spoke on a panel about the future of food and the need to support our farmers with the transition to dealing with the impossible drought and wildfires we experienced this summer.

Llongyfarchiadau to the whole team who organised another brilliant festival.

Sticking with the topic of environment, I’ve also attended two more National Emergency Briefing screenings – one in Llanishen and one in Abergavenny.

I’ve attended multiple screenings across Monmouthshire with residents, and I believe it is essential viewing for all of us to better understand the seriousness and scale of the climate crisis we’re facing.

It’s been really interesting listening to everyone’s reaction to the film, and I’m proud to be part of a community that cares deeply about climate change and wants to take action locally to combat it.

I am calling for this briefing to be shown across the UK so everyone has the opportunity to see it.

You can find a screening near you at nebriefing.org/screening-map.

Another important part of my work on the environment is continuing my campaign to clean up our rivers.

My tour of Monmouthshire’s rivers has continued over recent weeks, as I met with TV presenter and journalist Kate Humble, local campaigner Mark Savill and co-founder of Friends of the River Wye, Nicola Cutcher.

We discussed a range of issues affecting Monmouthshire’s rivers, including my call for a Water Protection Zone across the English and Welsh parts of the River Wye – something Friends of the River Wye are campaigning for and I’m calling for in Parliament.

A Water Protection Zone would allow additional measures to be introduced to better protect the river, alongside much stronger enforcement of the rules we already have.

A big thank you to Kate, Mark and Nicola for sharing their thoughts with me and for all the work they’re doing for our rivers and environment.

I will continue doing everything I can on this issue and calling for a protection zone.

I also look forward to seeing the Clean Water Bill come to Parliament, which the Prime Minister spoke about recently at the Labour Conference. This Bill will bring the biggest change to our water industry in a generation, and I look forward to seeing the details and scrutinising it in Parliament.