Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 18 June 2019.

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Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 2:01, 18 June 2019

So, what Lee Waters says was a cliché were not my words—it was the Confederation of British Industry Wales director Ian Price who said this cancellation

'sends the message that Wales is not open for business.'

'Economic growth will be stifled, confidence in the region will weaken and the cost of an eventual relief road will rise'.

Now, I don't often quote Welsh Secretary Alan Cairns, but I agree with him that this decision was hugely disappointing and a 'dark day' for Wales.

It was also the Secretary of State that we had to rely on to find anything out about what was going on with the inquiry and the report, finding out, actually, that the decision was a positive one from the inspector some weeks before Welsh Government told us. Now, does the First Minister not recognise that it was you who closed off effective debate about this report when it might actually have made a difference, by keeping it secret for several months while you were making your own decision? And is the UK Government not correct on the fundamental point that, were it not for 20 years of Labour-led devolution, this road would now be built?