7. 6. Statement: Ministerial Taskforce on the Valleys

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:06 pm on 5 July 2016.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 4:06, 5 July 2016

I welcome the statement, and I think he’s right, I think, to connect this with the expression of alienation that crystallised for so many in our communities in the ‘leave’ vote. I’m just wondering whether this is an opportunity for a fundamental rethink, because the pattern that we saw, of course, was heavy ‘remain’ votes in metropolitan areas, and in the old coalfield communities across England and Wales a vote against—communities that feel that they haven’t been connected in to the, sort of, urban prosperity. Not a trickle down, perhaps, but a trickle up has been the model—the concentration of prosperity in the cities, which somehow we would try and connect with the Valleys. Do we need a new model now of economic development? And, as well as the taskforce, could we actually create a more long-term structure, looking at a development corporation for the Valleys? You know, strategies are great, but without structures, you cannot get long-term delivery.