Latest news with #Thomas-Symonds
South Wales Argus
12 hours ago
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
Torfaen MP Nick Thomas-Symonds praises armed forces
Nick Thomas-Symonds, who represents Torfaen, attended the national flag-raising ceremony at New Palace Yard in Westminster to mark the start of Armed Forces Week. The ceremony, held on Monday, June 23, marked the beginning of a week of national events. Mr Thomas-Symonds said: "It was a solemn privilege to represent Torfaen at the Armed Forces Flag Raising Ceremony in Parliament. "We're incredibly proud of our Armed Forces community here in Torfaen, so during Armed Forces Week, it's important to show our support and thank those who protect our nation." The event was attended by MPs, military personnel, and Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov. Speeches were given by Air Commodore Philip Wadlow and defence secretary John Healey. A similar ceremony took place at Pontypool's Civic Centre. Councillor Gaynor James, Torfaen's Armed Forces champion, said: "It was an honour to speak at Torfaen Council's flag raising ceremony to mark Armed Forces Week. "Our Armed Forces community – both those currently serving and have served previously – have given so much to our country, and it's incredibly important we provide them the support necessary." She said she would continue working to ensure the armed forces community is supported across the borough.
South Wales Argus
5 days ago
- Health
- South Wales Argus
Dementia: Nationwide Cwmbran bank branch provides help
Torfaen MP, Nick Thomas-Symonds, visited the Cwmbran branch of Nationwide to see how its Fairer Futures programme is helping people in the area. Nationwide is now the biggest banking brand on the high street, with 605 branches across the UK. The three-year Fairer Futures project aims to help with societal issues, including dementia. Nationwide has teamed up with Dementia UK to place dementia specialist Admiral nurses in branches, including Cwmbran. These nurses have private areas in the branch where they offer 45-minute appointments to provide expert advice for anyone affected by dementia, regardless of who they bank with. Mr Thomas-Symonds said: "I was delighted to visit Nationwide in Cwmbran to hear how their Fairer Futures Programme has supported specialist advice for people living with dementia and their loved ones in Torfaen." Darren Lewis, branch manager at Nationwide in Cwmbran, said: "It was an honour to welcome Nick Thomas-Symonds MP into the branch to show the value of our in-branch dementia clinics to the local community. "At Nationwide, we want to ensure no one faces dementia alone and encourage anyone impacted by dementia to seek support by visiting a specialist Admiral Nurse in one of our branches."
South Wales Argus
19-06-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Warm Home Discount scheme to benefit thousands in Wales
An estimated 110,000 households across Wales will receive the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under a Labour government scheme. The scheme forms part of a wider plan to ease the cost of living for families across the UK. Nick Thomas-Symonds, MP for Torfaen, said: "This announcement from Labour will make a real difference to families in Torfaen." The expanded scheme will see nearly 2.7 million additional households across the UK become eligible for the discount, bringing the total number of recipients to 6.1 million. Mr Thomas-Symonds said: "Labour is determined to secure our energy system, protect it from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets and give working people the security they deserve. "Through our mission for clean power, and the support announced today, this Labour government is putting money back in the pockets of working people." In addition to the Warm Home Discount expansion, the government plans to accelerate the introduction of a debt relief scheme aimed at tackling unsustainable energy debt built up during the energy crisis. The scheme will target households struggling with energy arrears and help reduce the overall cost of servicing bad debt, which currently affects all bill payers through higher energy costs. The new measures are part of the Labour government's broader mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, improve energy security and permanently lower household bills. The Warm Home Discount scheme currently provides eligible low-income and vulnerable households with a one-off discount on their electricity bills during the winter months. The planned expansion and complementary debt relief scheme are intended to offer immediate support while also addressing longer-term energy affordability and sustainability. The plans follow Labour's commitment to deliver clean, secure and affordable energy for all.
New Statesman
20-05-2025
- Business
- New Statesman
The brain behind Labour's EU deal
Photo byThe long journey to this week's EU-British reset of relations began with a phone call from the opposition leader Keir Starmer to his old friend Nick Thomas-Symonds on 4 September, 2023. Sitting in his London flat, he was told that if there was to be a Labour government, Starmer saw healing battered relations with the EU as a top priority. The result was the up-ending of Thomas-Symonds' life as he began a relentless shuttle between his family home, which he shares with his sixth-form sweetheart and their three children; London; and the capitals of Europe. Each week over the next year he left Abersychan – once the hometown of that celebrated European Roy Jenkins – for Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Rome, Warsaw, Helsinki, Tallinn and even the Vatican. It was an exhausting Eurostar odyssey, building the personal relationships which culminated in this week's 'turning the page' love-in and – equally important – the prospect of annual EU-UK summits in the years to come. Standing in the Downing Street garden on Monday (19 May) the European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič told assembled dignitaries that he had been in such close contact with Thomas-Symonds that his wife had suspiciously challenged him on the identity of the 'Nikki' appearing so relentlessly on his phone log. (Welsh Penderyn whisky was also presented. Šefčovič is trying to convert the Welshman to Slovakian red wine.) From those first days in opposition, Thomas-Symonds had constructed a three-pillar strategy. Because of Starmer's public commitment not to restore the single market, customs union or free movement – which he thinks cannot be revised in this Parliament – he would concentrate on new relationships in, first, security and defence; second the safety of citizens, covering both crime and migration; and third, trade and growth. Some economists have expressed disappointment at the relatively small numerical impact of all this; the Prime Minister has spoken of an additional £9 billion annually for the economy, very little measured against the £100 billion economists say has been lost because of the Brexit deal. But Thomas-Symonds says that is a deliberately low, cautious estimate. It only refers to the food and agriculture deal and the emissions scheme, not to any future access to the gigantic new €150 billion European defence investment fund. About this, he is bullish. 'The principle is that to access the fund you have to have a security and defence partnership, which we now have. There are further negotiations around important details such as protecting intellectual property but there is very wide acceptance that we must not fragment the European defence industry.' The share prices for BAE Systems, Babcock, and Rolls-Royce tend to support his optimism. Thomas-Symonds also emphasises the importance of the emissions trading deal which will save the UK £800m annually in European taxes, and of energy cooperation more generally: 'We have undersea cables between the EU and the UK already and we are not taking full advantage of the interconnectors and the offshore wind.' Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe On the e-gates issue, so important to tourists and business travellers, he has been negotiating separately with the Port of Dover and Eurostar. The further EU biometric checks ahead, he points out, will be useful in tackling illegal immigration. But on airport queues, he accepts the next stage is for individual European countries: like Starmer, he hopes summer tourists will notice a big difference. Thomas-Symonds is rare in the current cabinet in having a deep interest in Labour history. The recent biographer of Harold Wilson, he tells me that he drew inspiration from the former leader: 'I have talked about ruthless pragmatism, and I took a lot from Harold Wilson's renegotiation of terms with the Common Market in the mid-1970s. Wilson was determined to keep Britain in. After Brexit, things are different for Labour, however much many in the party wish they were not. 'Our mandate is clear,' said Thomas-Symonds, 'it is not to return to the single market, or customs union or free movement. But I do believe that closer cooperation with this huge partner, worth £800 billion in trade, is strongly in our national interest.' When I ask him why the principle of dynamic alignment on standards cannot be extended from food and agriculture to other areas, he sternly reminds me that as with the US and Indian trade deals, 'these are all sovereign decisions by the government'. He does not envisage a further lurch towards the EU before the next general election and, amid the current hullabaloo about 'betrayal' and 'surrender', he is keen for a robust political fight with the Tories and Reform over a deal which business has greeted so enthusiastically. If there is a certain wily mistiness about the longer-term future then – well – both Harold and Roy would approve. [See also: The EU-UK reset exposes the limits of a 'geopolitical Europe'] Related
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK, Europe strike post-Brexit deal on defense, trade issues
The United Kingdom and the European Union reached a landmark agreement centered on fishing rights and defense cooperation Monday, five years after Brexit. British Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds announced the deal as officials from both sides met in London for their first major summit since the U.K. formally left the 27-nation trade bloc in 2020. That followed a slim-margin 2016 referendum vote calling for the U.K.'s departure. The government of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other senior EU officials, billed the summit as a major milestone in resetting relations. "Historic day," Thomas-Symonds wrote on X on Monday. "After months of negotiations, I can announce that the Labour Government has secured a new agreement with the EU." Starmer's chief negotiator said the agreement was good for jobs, bills, borders and more. Rubio Teases Details Of Potential Trump, Putin In-person Meeting After Russia-ukraine Ceasefire Talks Stall "Britain back on the world stage, with a Government in the service of working people," Thomas-Symonds added, without further elaborating on the details of the deal. Read On The Fox News App Starmer has stressed that the U.K. will not rejoin the EU's frictionless single market and customs union, nor agree to the free movement of people between the U.K. and the EU. The prime minister has faced growing challenges from the Reform U.K. party, which supported Brexit and opposes mass migration policies upending the powerful island nation. Reform, which recently won big in local elections, and the opposition Conservative Party have already called the deal a "surrender" of U.K. sovereignty to EU leadership in Brussels. "The white flag has been waved outside Downing Street. The great EU surrender by the UK is taking place as we speak," Reform UK's Richard Tice told British media, billing the deal as a betrayal of the terms of Brexit on fishing in particular. Talks on strengthening ties focused largely on security and defense, and on a youth mobility plan that would allow young Britons and Europeans to live and work temporarily in each other's territory. That remains a politically touchy issue in the U.K., seen by some Brexiteers as inching back toward free movement, according to the Associated Press. The U.K. already has youth mobility arrangements with countries including Australia and Canada. Johnson Pushes 'Aggressive' Timetable For House To Pass Trump's Budget Bill After Gop Mutiny: 'We Cannot Fail' Another issue that has long been a sticking point in U.K.-EU relations is fishing — a symbolically important issue for the U.K. and EU member states such as France. Disputes over the issue nearly derailed a Brexit deal back in 2020. The summit is also expected to cover aligning standards on the sale of agricultural products, which could eliminate costly checks on food products exported across the English Channel. Thomas-Symonds told the BBC he was confident that trade could be improved for food imports and exports. "We know we've had lorries waiting for 16 hours, fresh food in the back not able to be exported, because frankly it's just going off, red tape, all the certifications that are required, we absolutely want to reduce that," he reportedly said. The New York Times cited an unnamed European diplomat as saying the agreement will allow European boats access to U.K. fishing waters until June 30, 2038. The agreement comes as the return of President Donald Trump brings a greater sense of urgency for cooperation between the U.K. and the bloc, as the incoming U.S. administration takes a new approach to European trade and security, as well as the Ukraine-Russia war. It's unclear how Trump, who backed Brexit, will react to Starmer's new deal with the EU. "The reset could still be blown off course by disagreements over how to consolidate existing areas of cooperation like fisheries and/or external factors, such as a negative reaction from the U.S. to the U.K. seeking closer ties with the EU," Jannike Wachowiak, a research associate at the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, told the AP. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: UK, Europe strike post-Brexit deal on defense, trade issues
