6. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Free ports

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:00 pm on 8 February 2023.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 5:00, 8 February 2023

Could I just point him back towards the pre-2020 Government, which invested £16 million in the north-east area coast? It didn’t require a free port—it was just investment, which then enabled Siemens to develop its capacity for offshore wind. It doesn’t need to be free ports to do this. What it needs to be is strategic Government investment. Now I, of course, will always welcome investment in my area and the potential for jobs. In fact, that’s why I will back this going forward. But don’t pretend that it’s free ports that do it. It’s actually the opportunities in renewables, and the ports and the skills within south Wales. Free ports is just an ideology.