Well, the key thing is that we benefit economically and socially from that connection whilst clearly spreading that prosperity all the way to Holyhead.

The WLGA's north Wales co-ordinator told me in committee,

'it’s not just about people who are out of work, but there’s also the issue of low wages, and then there’s also the issue about being able to move to more, higher paid work'. 

The north Wales business council chair told me:

'We have to do everything we can to robustly package our economy in the region, including that with cross-border partners, and we’ve got to be doing it now.' 

To allow for working on an equal footing with areas across the border from north Wales, they also called for devolution of resources and powers at a regional level. The north Wales growth deal's lead chief executive, Flintshire's chief executive, told me:

'There are some areas of funding...if the controls were loosened and they were devolved to north Wales with some agreement of objectives with the Welsh Government, we could make more traction with that money.' 

And the North Wales Economic Ambition Board stated:

'Devolution of functions to north Wales that matches that of neighbouring English regions is a defensive necessity and a desirable enabler of growth.'

Their vision aims to create 120,000 jobs and boost the local economy to £20 billion by 2035. 

Yesterday, I asked the Cabinet Secretary to respond to the north Wales growth deal bid's invitation to the Welsh Government to support the formation of a regional transport body with powers delegated to the body from local authorities and the Welsh Government to allow it to operate in an executive capacity and with a fund of £150 million over 10 years, including the Welsh Government's existing £50 million for the north Wales metro commitment. His potentially concerning response was instead:

'We've already established the north Wales and north-east Wales metro steering group'.

Will he therefore have the courage to devolve the powers that north Wales is calling for, or could the Cardiff command-control mechanism compromise the whole project?