Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:02 pm on 5 July 2016.
[Continues.]—have not even bothered to stay in this Chamber for the discussion on the very future of those Valleys that they seek to represent.
But, can I welcome the statement from the Minister? There’s no doubt that the post-Brexit initiative will now be even more important to the Valleys’ communities of south Wales, as we’ve said. And I’m not going to stand here and repeat everything that’s been said. I agree with a lot of what Bethan Jenkins has said and, clearly, what the Minister has said. There is so much to address; it is a huge agenda and I’m very grateful to the Minister for what he’s setting out.
So, I want to focus on just one particular area that I believe is hugely underutilised in the Valleys, and that is promoting our environment and tourism, including our industrial heritage. I’m very pleased, therefore, that that is a key component of the taskforce agenda. Often, Wales is thought of as being heavily reliant on its natural beauty when we’re looking at developing tourism, and it’s certainly the case in my constituency of Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney that it is blessed with areas of natural beauty. But, of course, it’s extremely rich in its industrial and trade union heritage. We have, for example, the Winding House, the Cyfarthfa Industrial Heritage Centre, the Ynysfach Iron Heritage Centre, and, as we know, Merthyr was at the heart of political reform and the development of trade unionism in the nineteenth century. So, will the Minister confirm that, where the ambitions of the taskforce talk about promoting our environment and tourism, this will very much include our industrial and trade union history, which should be a key part of any strategy, recognising that promoting aspects of our heritage can play a significant role in creating jobs and supporting regeneration?