Thank you so much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm pleased to move this motion today so that all Members here can properly debate the Labour Government's roads review and its transport policies. The way the recent roads review announcement was made was nothing short of a shambles. The Deputy Minister's statement in this Chamber just before recess was, in my view, one of the worst statements that I have ever heard to date—a statement about the roads review conclusion that didn't actually outline what roads have been given the go-ahead and which have been the chop. Instead, the Deputy Minister chose to unveil which projects had been spared the axe while many of us were already in the Chamber, sitting around frantically going through the document that we'd only just received. Whether that was a deliberate attempt to avoid proper scrutiny or a genuine blunder on the Deputy Minister's part, I guess we will never know. But at least now we’ve had the time to digest the outcome of the review, and have had ample time today to give it the scrutiny that it rightfully deserves.

My view is that the roads review does not meet the economic, social and cultural needs of a modern and dynamic Wales. The Deputy Minister might believe that his move is groundbreaking, brave, and world leading, but those who will be directly affected by this most certainly do not share this view. Some have dubbed the Deputy Minister's announcement the 'Valentine's Day massacre of roads', with others staging large-scale protests. Take the community of Llanbedr, for example. Villagers thought their misery was coming to an end when plans for a Llanbedr bypass were given the go-ahead in 2020. Then, not long after road building projects in Wales were halted, we found out that the Llanbedr bypass was going to be shelved, despite the Welsh Government already spending some £14 million on the scheme. Residents in Llanbedr cannot move around their village safely due to the traffic problems, with the area often brought to a complete standstill. A bypass would have put an end to their nightmare, and restored the villagers' quality of life. They are so enraged that those affected by the Labour Government knee-jerk reaction are planning a major protest in the area later this month, and quite frankly I don't blame them.

It's clear from looking at the outcome of the roads review that north Wales is being well and truly hard done by, as is often the case with this Labour Government. I am sure my colleagues will go into this in more detail about specific roads in their patches that have been thrown onto the scrapheap, but let me just touch on a few. Both the third Menai bridge crossing and the Flintshire red route, two much-needed schemes, have been spiked. Only recently, we have just seen how vulnerable Ynys Môn is when the Menai suspension bridge was forced to close due to safety concerns. That resulted in major motoring mayhem in the area, including heavy congestion, not to mention the economic damage that was inflicted on the area as a result. A third Menai crossing would have helped improve journey times, road safety and resilience. I'm sure that many of the north Wales Members here, along with their constituents, will be bitterly disappointed by the decision as we all wait with bated breath to see what alternatives will be drawn up. The third Menai crossing joins a whole host of other projects being shelved, including the Flintshire red route, which some argue would drastically ease congestion and improve air quality. The Road Haulage Association, an organisation I have the upmost respect for and have worked closely with for quite some time, recently gave me their verdict on the roads review, and it's rather damning to say the least. Geraint Davies, RHA board member said:

'This is a body blow for supply chain businesses who need a modern, functioning road network to keep people and goods moving efficiently.'

Mr Davies went on to say that

'Roads are the only option for many businesses and communities in Wales. Bottlenecks on key routes makes transport costlier than it needs to be. Ministers must recognise these realities and commit to road improvements like the M4 Relief Road that we desperately desperately need.'

The RHA added, 'Road freight not only provides lifeline services to remote communities and the vulnerable, but it actually drives the UK economy. By not investing in roads and infrastructure, the Welsh Government is making Wales a more difficult place to do business.'

My inbox has been inundated with e-mails from constituents and those even further afield expressing their frustration over Labour's decision to stop road building projects. One constituent, who travels from Blackwood to Newport every day for work, a journey that used to take just a little over 30 minutes—. It now takes my constituent over an hour to get to work, because the Labour Government is grinding Wales to a halt by failing to address congestion. My constituent says that whilst he welcomes plans to achieve net zero, he believes the current approach to scrap road building will strangle Wales of future investment and take us all back to the dark ages. He says, 'We will always need roads and need a healthy economy to meet the needs of a growing population. I do not believe that anyone in the Welsh Assembly has any idea of what it's like to travel to work at peak times daily. They are making decisions by not living in the real world of the average human being.' This is from a constituent, I'll have you know.

Another constituent of mine has been forced to cancel his subscription to a popular indoor climbing centre in Cardiff because of the sheer amount of time it's taking him to get there from his home. What should be a 35-minute journey is now taking upwards of an hour, and he simply can't bring himself to sit in traffic all the time. After battling with traffic to get to the climbing centre for a considerable amount of time, he's now decided to cancel his membership completely as he just can't take it anymore. Because of this Government's failure to provide us with an adequate transport network, we have businesses losing money, and, in this case, residents' fitness, enjoyment and mental health is suffering.