Last week started in a field near Castlemartin. I was there as a guest of local farmer Stephen Alderman to meet the president of the Pembrokeshire NFU branch, Perkin Evans, and NFU Cymru president, Dai Davies, to learn more about the tangle of red tape which is strangling farmers. It was so beautiful gazing out over the coast on a crisp, clear day. But these fields aren't just for gazing at. They are a place of work, just as a foundry is for a steel worker. "It's almost a full-time job dealing with cattle passports and the penalties for the smallest mistake are horrendous," I was told. The afternoon was spent catching up on correspondence and the papers generated by the three committees I sit on in the Senedd. Tuesdays mean an early morning dash to Cardiff Bay, a journey of just over two hours by car, if I'm lucky. Every time I get stuck in a long line of ferry traffic on the A477, I tell myself I must be dreaming - after all the First Minister tells us the road isn't busy enough to merit dualling. Harrummppphh. Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons mean sessions in the chamber of the Senedd. That's when we get a chance to quiz ministers and make speeches on matters close to our hearts. My last speech was about how many young people are disengaged from society at large, and politics in particular. It was great to glance up at the glass-fronted public viewing gallery to see an audience of sixth formers from Greenhill - you could argue that their very presence negated what I was saying, but sadly I've discovered they are the exception, not the rule. My mornings in Cardiff are taken up with committees. As Shadow Finance Minister, I sit on the finance committee and it's been a busy couple of weeks studying how the Labour-Plaid coalition is planning to get a quart of services out of pint pot of money. Fridays see me back home in Pembrokeshire, catching up with constituency business. Last week, I met some constituents at their homes to discuss issues and then it was back to the office in Narberth for letters, home to see the children and cook them some supper, then a quick smarten up before the annual FUW dinner in Carmarthen. • If you have any concerns you would like to raise with me, then call my office on (01834) 860102 or 02920 898384.
