6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Free ports

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:09 pm on 8 February 2023.

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Photo of Samuel Kurtz Samuel Kurtz Conservative 5:09, 8 February 2023

I'm always very grateful to bang the drum for something that I'm passionate about in this Chamber, and I've rewritten this speech about four or five times in my head, having listened to contributions this afternoon, and knowing the glare that the Deputy Presiding Officer gave me only a few weeks ago, I will be conscious to keep my contribution positive and upbeat this afternoon.

But it will be no surprise to Members of this Chamber that I will be advocating for one free port in particular, for the Celtic free port in my constituency of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire. We've heard the statistics from Tom Giffard, who represents the region that this free port represents, as it's over two geographical locations, and it brings together a whole region of organisations, be they Associated British Ports, Pembrokeshire County Council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, the Port of Milford Haven, Tata Steel, RWE, the University of South Wales or Pembrokeshire College. These are trust ports, private ports, local authorities and higher education colleges, coming together, seeing the benefits that this free-port bid can bring, and that's something that I think is incredibly positive.

But the point I'm trying to make, Dirprwy Lywydd, is that the Celtic free-port bid is not just confined to one community. It gives an entire region an opportunity to release the shackles a little, breathe new life into these communities right across south and west Wales. And we've heard from Tom Giffard regarding the £5.5 billion-worth of new investment and 16,000 new high-quality jobs. And the point that Luke Fletcher was making in terms of jobs being reallocated or redistributed from one area to another, I understand those concerns, but that's what's so important with this Celtic free-port bid: these are new jobs because of the renewable opportunities that are afforded to us with floating offshore wind. These are new jobs in industries that have survived by working in the hydrocarbon industries that have been in the area. I'll most happily take an intervention from my Mid and West Wales colleague.