Rhun ap Iorwerth: I had the pleasure last week of visiting an engineering company, BICO in Beaumaris in Anglesey, which does superb work in the area of engineering in very specialist technical areas. It’s a company that I’m sure we could see growing in years to come. You will be aware that I and my party are in favour of the regionalisation of economic development in order to ensure that economic...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take a further intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I made the point earlier that the idea behind our regional renewal Bill is to give the kind of focus to Government that the welfare of future generations Bill gives you. You could do all of that without the legislation, but the legislation helps.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Just briefly, there are projects, of course, that aren't involved in deals. I proposed one, suggested yesterday, on Anglesey—the reopening of the Gaerwen to Amlwch railway line—an important kind of transformative project. I was disappointed that the Government and your benches voted against my amendment yesterday, but I will give you one more chance to say that Government is eager to work...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for taking an intervention. Is that good enough reason for you to support our amendment today, calling specifically for creating those centres of agglomeration in various sectors, down particular areas of rural Wales?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: By the way, I’m not one who likes to talk about everything going to the south—it’s a very populist thing to do in north Wales. It’s not a north/south split that we have in Wales, but there is a difference between the east and the west, where there is prosperity in the north-east and the south-east that does need to be disseminated to the rest of Wales. But we must seek ways and means...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It is incumbent on me to point out the irony in the position that you take as a party that has wholesale failed completely to introduce the kind of equality on a UK level that you say we want to see in Wales. There's no hiding that both main UK parties, in governing for decades, for generations, have failed to bring equality to the UK. And you're quite right, we need to talk about how we...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to participate in this debate. May I thank the Conservatives for bringing this topic forward today? Given that I have the job of trying to persuade the Conservatives to support our amendment 4, I’m sure I shouldn’t say anything too negative about the Conservatives, but I’m afraid that I do have to start by pointing out the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And our commitment to the steel industry I think has been clear enough, not least through the fact that elements of support provided to Tata Steel from Welsh Government have come about through co-operation between our two parties. We've been clear, I think, before, during and since the crisis at Tata Steel in 2016 that securing the future of the industry is vital, is crucial, if we want Wales...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, David Rees, for tabling the motion. I speak both on behalf of Bethan Sayed, who's one of the signatories of the motion, and as Plaid Cymru spokesman on the economy.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm certainly one that doesn't see Wales as behaving in isolation, and what happens in terms of infrastructure elsewhere can be beneficial. But what happens in terms of infrastructure elsewhere can be detrimental to us too. Look at HS2—every study shows that HS2, with the billions being spent on HS2, would be detrimental to the Welsh economy as a whole, even though there might be advantages...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I left my home on Ynys Môn around 6.30 p.m. last night. Six hours later, I arrived in Cardiff Bay. I could easily have jumped into the car and made the journey comfortably in about four hours at that time of night. It makes no sense that we have a rail system—that should surely incentivise people to get on it—which is a disincentive every time you look at how long-distance journeys work...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I thank the Minister for the statement. Of course, I agree with the intention here, namely the need to look for innovative ways to boost investment in our infrastructure: infrastructure that shows the clear evidence of under-investment historically—and that under-investment, I remind you, has come from Labour and Conservative Governments over the years. Although I do agree that the age of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’ve called for additional funding and an additional focus on the north Wales growth deal, as a result of the Hitachi announcement on Wylfa Newydd, and we could add the Rehau announcement in Amlwch to that too. And whilst I note and welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment to being willing to provide more funding to the north Wales growth deal, if additional funding is made available by...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It strikes me that the seriousness with which that referendum result was given, or the respect that it was given, has been reflected in the fact that we have spent two and a half years trying to see if there's a way of reaching an agreement. It's not as if it's been ignored; we've just got to the point after that negotiation and seeing, 'Listen, this is the alternative', and perhaps...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I recognise the point that you make and I recognise the value there has been in some of the contact that there has been. We think there's more that can be done. We encourage innovation in how, you know, in these last few weeks even, we look to maximise leverage for Wales in any way we can. But it's for that reason of thinking maybe there's another way that we can discuss that we will, with...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I remember my late friend Steffan Lewis saying that if he was a nationalist going into the meetings with the UK Government, well, he was certainly a nationalist coming out of them, because, as the former First Minister said behind me, they were a complete waste of time in terms of many of the inter-governmental discussions. The point that we’re making in this motion today is that the voice...
