Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 9 July 2019.

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Photo of Paul Davies Paul Davies Conservative 1:42, 9 July 2019

First Minister, I received an e-mail last week, and I'm sure that sounds familiar from a leader of the opposition. I received an e-mail from Gill and Antosh, who run a bed-and-breakfast in my own constituency. They have received correspondence from two of their guests about their train journey from Newport to Haverfordwest. Now, the guests had a fantastic time walking our coastal path and thoroughly enjoyed our famous Pembrokeshire hospitality. However, despite booking seats, they described their train journey as being 'squeezed' and 'packed to the gunwales' with one of the guests, recently recovering from shingles, being wedged between the catering trolley, other passengers and the door. This was incredibly painful for her, so much so that she felt like cancelling the holiday as she felt she couldn't go on. 

Now, 75 per cent of the guests to this B&B are from overseas, and more than 60 per cent rely on public transport to get to Pembrokeshire. Is this the welcome to Wales that people should be receiving at a time when we should be boosting our tourist numbers? And is it right that guests to our country should be treated so badly? And what is your message—[Interruption.] I know the Labour Members don't want to hear the realities of our train services, but what is your message to Gill and Antosh? What is your message to Gill and Antosh and to the other tourist operators and businesses who rely on visitors coming to Wales?