9. 9. Urgent Debate: The UK Government-DUP ‘Confidence and Supply’ Agreement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:18 pm on 27 June 2017.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 6:18, 27 June 2017

No. And let me be clear, I am a Conservative, but above all, I am a Welsh Conservative, so I, for one, will be doing my level best to make sure that Wales gets its fair share. I do understand that Northern Ireland is a special case and does need extra investment. With no representation from the mainland political parties and only the Conservatives standing in some seats over there, it often does not get the voice it needs at Westminster. This deal will give it that voice, and, sadly, I do respect the DUP for finding and using that voice. We have to ask ourselves, when criticising the deal, whether anyone in this Chamber would have wanted to live under the conditions that existed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and the damage they did to attracting inward investment and infrastructure improvements.

However—[Interruption.] However, I want to see positive progress from Westminster on the tidal lagoon. I want to see positive progress from Westminster on electrification. I accept that the scrapping of the tolls on the Severn bridge will come in under secondary legislation, but I also want to see the Barnett formula apply to elements of the confidence and supply agreement, such as health and education. And don’t keep talking to me about pork barrel politics: the Llandeilo bypass comes to mind as an absolute example.

Simon Thomas did actually make some very sensible commentary about the financial aspects of the confidence and supply agreement, and I believe all of us should put aside the toxicity that has gripped politics for so long. We need to work, all 60 of us, and our Welsh MPs of every hue, to get the best deal for Wales. We should press on the weaknesses within those financial settlements to make sure that we are not left behind. We should press for progress on all of these issues and that’s what my colleagues in the Welsh Conservatives will be doing.