Swansea Bay City Deal

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 25 September 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:57, 25 September 2018

Well, let me give you some examples. If we look at the States, I've spent a lot of time talking to the companies that invest, particularly in Wales, from America, and the same with Japan. I've spent a lot of time with companies in Europe who invest in Wales, amongst them Airbus, for example, Ford, Toyota I've met, and all these organisations very much value the presence of a First Minister, or a Government Minister, because a Minister can open doors that officials can't and agencies can't.

What are the results? The best foreign direct investment figures for 30 years, and those figures speak for themselves, and unemployment at 3.8 per cent. That would have been unthought of in the days before devolution.

She talks, rightly—and she's right to say I'd support the initiative she's described—but a very good way of moving forward with increasing the amount of energy generated from renewable sources would have been Swansea bay tidal lagoon, which the Conservative Government rejected, thereby removing our chances of innovation, of leading the world in a technology, the creation of 1,000 jobs, and, of course, many, many homes and manufacturing plants powered by renewable energy. That is a matter of great regret to me, and it's hugely important that the UK Government continues to review the decision that it has taken and to give Wales the same fair play as it wants to give to the DUP.