6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's efforts to encourage the UK Government to rebalance its spending on infrastructure? OAQ52466

Infrastructure investment is vital to the prosperity of the whole of the UK. I will continue to press the UK Government to ensure Wales gets its fair share.

First Minister, I hope you enjoyed the secret ceremony you attended this week to rename the second Severn crossing the Prince of Wales bridge, against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of people in Wales who were not even invited. [Interruption.] 

I do want to hear Neil McEvoy's question. 

It took freedom of information requests to reveal how desperate you were to go to the unpopular ceremony, and how cosy your relationship is with Alun Cairns. Last week, you voted against a motion of no confidence in the Secretary of State, even though key Conservative manifesto promises were broken, including rail electrification between Cardiff and Swansea. So, I wonder when you were quaffing drinks with Cairns and royalty if you spoke about the report from the transport committee in Westminster that exposed how Wales is sidelined on infrastructure spending, and made clear that decisions will always favour London. The report showed how absurd it was to cancel much needed infrastructure projects in Wales at the same time as billions of pounds of expenditure were announced for London. Now, nothing is being done by Cairns. Whilst money is thrown at the south-east of England, we have cuts for Wales. [Interruption.]  

You do need to come to a question now, Neil McEvoy. 

The Secretary of State is starting to be an embarrassment to our country, as well as stopping us developing our economy. [Interruption.] This is the question. Hopefully, this could be understood. 

Get to it. [Laughter.] 

How could you vote—? [Interruption.] A very simple question to answer this week. How could you vote last week against a motion of no confidence in the Secretary of State for Wales? It's very simple.

In two minutes and five seconds, because I looked at the clock, the Member managed to take an issue on which I agree with him quite substantially, and presented it in such a ham-fisted way as to annoy almost everyone in the Chamber. That is his talent—I understand that. But I have to say that we will always fight to make sure that Wales gets its fair share of infrastructure investment. We do not have a fair share at the moment. He mentions a secret ceremony, so secret, in fact, that I wasn't even at it. [Laughter.] But, there we are, and he will have seen coverage of it on the news in any event. But certainly I share his desire to make sure that Wales gets the promises that it has been given in the past kept, in terms of electrification and in terms, of course, of seeing more money made available for the infrastructure that we need in Wales.

I was just about to ask you, First Minister, how you managed to wangle an invitation to this secret ceremony that I didn't get invited to either, but you've taken the wind out of my sails on that one. [Laughter.]

Would you say that the question about the—[Interruption.] [Laughter.] And there's always the Alun Davies road going from Brynmawr to Abergavenny, isn't there? [Laughter.] Maybe when you're First Minister we'll see that as well, Alun. [Laughter.]

Let's get to the question. 

I'm getting to a question. The question about the name of the bridge has been raised many times, but isn't it more important, First Minister, that the tolls on that bridge have been reduced and are going to be abolished later this year? Whatever you think about the name of the bridge—some are for it, some are against it—isn't it a fact that people are now going to be able to enter Wales and leave Wales without paying what many in this Chamber have called a tax over so many years? That's to be welcomed. That's because of this UK Government.

I do welcome the removal of the tolls, and it's about time too. People have been paying for many, many, many years, probably beyond the cost of the bridge as it was built in 1996. So, I share his congratulation, if that is the word, to the UK Government for lifting the tolls, but it's taken them long enough. I mean, the reduction of the tolls was due entirely to the fact that VAT was no longer chargeable on them. It wasn't some kind of largesse that the UK Government provided in terms of the tolls themselves. But, yes, there are opportunities now, of course, for us to get over what has been a psychological barrier to investors who are looking at Wales and make sure that we continue with our great success that we've had with foreign direct investment and improve those figures over the next few years.