I view the reports of an ‘improved dialogue’ between our Welsh government and No 10 with some caution.

Words are one thing, but here on the ground local people are facing the realities of the hardship inflicted upon us by 12 years of austerity and now so much more after just 12 weeks of Truss and Sunak.

It is a gross understatement for the current prime minister to tell the international community that Britain has taken ‘a bit of a knock’ when by some accounts his predecessor cost us, the taxpayers, £30 billion in 50 days of mismanagement.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, now allowed back in from the cold, was candid about last week’s autumn statement.

We are now facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began - years of recession which will push half a million people out of work. They predict that the drop in household spending power will be so acute in the next two years it will effectively wipe out the past eight years of growth.

Therefore you will not be surprised to learn that I am very critical of what has happened in Westminster.

But locally in Monmouthshire we are really trying to do things differently.

We are setting out to work with others – including political groups – to deliver consensus politics and develop agreed strategies.

We have brought about a change in emphasis which is there for all to see: our focus is understandably different from that of our Conservative predecessors.

But despite that we are resolutely aiming to work alongside them and others to deliver whatever is the best we can for all our residents.

Already examples abound. We liaise actively with the councils in Hereford and Powys on the Wye River Commission. We held a series of six local cost-of-living summits working with town councils and local organisations.

And in these exceptionally challenging times we are particularly aware of the need to make the best use of scare resources for the maximum benefit of those in the community. An example of this is the way we are identifying sites that can be developed for affordable housing.

So while I remain critical of the horrors of the last few weeks in London, and struggle with new and current challenges, I am determined not to let party-political differences stand in the way of what is genuinely the best bet for the people of Monmouthshire, from wherever the ideas originate.