I wanted to use this week’s column to talk about an issue that matters very deeply to me, and I know to many across Monmouthshire: climate change, our environment, and energy security.

I recently attended the National Emergency Briefing film screening at Govilon Baptist Church. It was incredibly enlightening and made a real impression on everyone in the room. I was already aware that we are facing a climate emergency, and I have always taken that seriously, but this film brought it into sharp focus in a way that was both hard-hitting and eye-opening, with new facts and figures that really stayed with me.

Following the screening, I committed to raising the need for a National Emergency Briefing directly with both the Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, and the Prime Minister.

It reinforced my commitment to net zero and made me proud to be part of a Government that is standing by its climate commitments.

The UK Labour Government has delivered the biggest ever investment in homegrown clean power in British history, including the largest nuclear building programme in half a century (enough to power the equivalent of 23 million homes)

The new publicly owned company, Great British Energy, is already delivering for communities across the UK, cutting bills for hundreds of schools and hospitals, and setting out plans to power millions of homes while supporting thousands of jobs by the end of the decade.

This matters because people in Monmouthshire are already feeling the consequences of our dependence on global oil and gas markets, particularly following the war in Iran.

Many in rural communities rely on heating oil or LPG and have no choice but to absorb sudden price rises. I have supported residents, including an elderly woman who saw her heating oil quote jump by £250 in less than a week. Others are hit through rising electricity bills or increasing commuting costs.

All of that is triggered by an international conflict that is out of the UK’s hands. That is why building energy independence through clean, home-grown power is so important.

In contrast, the Conservatives want to roll back the Climate Change Act, and have reversed their previous support for it. Reform has gone so far as to call net zero a ‘cult’. And where they have control of councils, they are in the process of rescinding net-zero targets.

The energy independence Bill and other legislation set out in the King’s Speech affirm this Labour Government’s commitment to harnessing clean, home-grown power, and I am proud to back a Government who take decisions that protect our natural world, our security, and our wallets.

Those decisions will benefit not only my generation, but generations to come.