The day I get to judge my annual Christmas card competition is always an exciting but challenging day for me as First Minister. Every year I send out thousands of Christmas cards to people all around the world, including the Queen, and to the President and Vice President of the United States. I like to make the Christmas card extra special, so I ask for help from schoolchildren around Wales.
As I stand at Platform 2 in Newport Train Station, 10am on the 1st of November, I feel a rush of adrenaline race through my body. After two years of hard work, campaigning and planning – the moment is finally here. I take a deep breath as I step onto the train and let the gravity of what I’m about to do sink in.
Too often violence against women is framed as an issue of women’s safety rather than what it actually is: male violence. The conversation becomes about street lighting and alarms when the least safe place for a woman is in her own home.
The rights of the child are at the heart of celebrations to mark World Children’s Day on 20 November. Wales will soon join over 60 countries around the world who have put children’s rights centre stage by outlawing the physical punishment of children. The law will change in Wales on 21 March 2022 with the removal of the archaic defence of reasonable punishment. It can’t come soon enough as far as we’re concerned.
This week we published our Net Zero Wales plan, focussed on action between 2021 and 2025. But I hear lots of people asking, what does ‘net zero really’ mean? It essentially means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases we put into the atmosphere with those we take out. Our aim is to get to net zero by 2050.
It’s Hate Crime Awareness Week and to mark it we’ve invited Noah to contribute to our blog and share his story with us…
We wanted to create a place where we can let you know in more detail about all we’re doing to make Wales a more prosperous, equal, greener and healthier nation and how it affects you. And we wanted to talk to you in a more modern and chatty way – away from the headlines, social media and press conferences. We are very excited about the blog and talking to you in a way we’ve never done before.
