October is now upon us, with Harvest songs and giving thanks to our farmers and agricultural communities for providing our food. A special time of year, with colour changes and cold, sunny days. It was great to meet so many local people, businesses and farmers at last month’s Usk Show, always a favourite date in the calendar.

Always a celebration of our rural communities and traditions, and ones we must protect. However, at the moment, that joy is marred by constant challenges facing rural Wales, by Governments at both ends of the M4 and disease, namely TB and most recently Blue Tongue.

It has been devastating to hear that we have Blue Tongue now in our county, yet another blow to farmers and our auctioneers, who are already under huge pressure from rising costs and unfair regulations. I have urged the Welsh Government to step up with financial support for vaccination and containment measures, and to this time remember that we have porous, soft borders between Wales and England, not hard ones, so it’s imperative that cross-border solutions are found and policy made.

In the Senedd two weeks ago, I took part in an important debate on our NHS. It was good to be able to set the record straight on Reform UK’s position on it. Despite the desperate political smears from other parties, due to a meteoric rise in membership numbers and support, Reform will always keep NHS Wales and prescriptions free at the point of delivery, and in Government, will keep prescriptions free too.

Our priority is to fix the system, cut waste, and get patients the timely care they deserve, put power back into clinicians’ hands and matrons, bring back sex-based language and wards, and bring back to life an NHS that Wales can be proud of again. Our frontline staff are amazing; they deserve more, and better leadership. Unfortunately, we continue to see a Labour Government in Cardiff Bay that is out of touch and failing to deliver.

I have had an interesting few weeks back in the Senedd, with Government Ministers acting like children, refusing to answer questions on the NHS, Digital ID cards, and so on, simply because they know that the end is nigh for this current Government in Wales. That kind of petty and dismissive attitude is an insult to democracy, especially as you, my constituents, deserve those answers.

The people of Wales expect grown-up politics, not arrogance and avoidance.From our farms to our hospitals, Wales needs leadership that listens, acts and puts people first. It is time for a government that listens to the people, focuses on fairness, common sense and delivering for the people, not playing desperate political games.As your local Member of the Senedd, I will continue standing up for our communities, for our farmers and for a better, fairer Wales.