Free ports are not an ideology, and they’ve changed, as I’ve just said, the economy there in Scotland, where they’ve been invested. He talked about the north-east—look at the impact it’s had in Teesside. It’s had a huge impact on a community that’s previously been deprived.

In the south-west of Wales the Celtic free port is projected to create 16,000 jobs and £5.5 billion of inward investment for green energy projects. That’s 16,000 high-quality, well-paid green energy jobs with a real opportunity to unlock part of the £54 billion floating offshore wind industry. Linking two of our deep-sea ports in Milford Haven and Port Talbot is a great use of the resources that we already have, and should make us more attractive to the offshore wind sector, given that it would cover a large part of the Welsh coast.

I have no doubt that it will also help support the proposed Gwynt Glas offshore windfarm near the coast of Pembrokeshire. We already have the infrastructure in Port Talbot to support this cutting edge industry’s innovation in the Celtic sea and make Wales a world leader in green energy. Not only do we have a deep-sea port, but we already have ready-made steelworks to support the manufacturing side of an offshore floating wind industry. It’s also clear we have great transport links, so we can easily reach other parts of the UK and beyond.

Finally, the area of Neath Port Talbot is also part of the NPTC Group of Colleges, which already has an excellent reputation in furthering education and works with industry leaders and universities, so we also have the potential to provide the right skills mix, which will help underpin and deliver this project far into the future.

I cannot say enough that investment of this type is sorely needed to be spread beyond the usual places. It should be uncomfortable to learn—particularly for Luke Fletcher, who represents Neath Port Talbot in the same way that I do—that the average GVA per head in Neath Port Talbot, less than an hour down the road, is less than half of the GVA per head in Cardiff. Sadly, a 2022 prosperity score for Neath Port Talbot puts it nineteenth out of the 22 local authorities in Wales, and at 337 out of 374 authorities in the UK in terms of economic and social well-being. So, free ports are an opportunity to change the narrative, and that, I think, is the point that Luke Fletcher and Plaid Cymru and the anti-growth coalition seem to miss.

So, despite this real potential in the area, we’re not creating the economic output, we’re not getting the right incomes, and we’re not harnessing the potential and the skills that we have. A free port can change that situation, and I think the Celtic free port has limitless potential in Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot. A green energy innovation corridor, underpinned by this investment, can really make a difference and showcase the talent we have in Wales to the world.

Let’s also hope this will have a knock-on effect in town centres in places like Port Talbot, as well as on small businesses in and around the area, which depend on customer footfall. I’m hearing a lot that this project will be transformational for the region. Working with a huge array of partners across south Wales, I think we can make this part of Wales a brilliant example of what free ports can offer, and I wholeheartedly say that I back the bid for a Celtic free port in south-west Wales. Thank you.