Speeches by Stevens.

“We are investing at least £445 million—an historic investment—in Welsh rail, to right the years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and to unleash Wales’s economic potential. This funding will support the permanent closing of level crossings on the north Wales main line, enabling increased services acr…”

“In June, the Crown Estate announced that it will partner with Equinor and Gwynt Glas to develop floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea. Those projects will create over 5,000 new jobs and will leverage £1.4 billion in private investment. This will deliver generational change in Wales. We are supporting the industry wi…”

“At the autumn Budget, we demonstrated our commitment to our fiscal rules while maintaining high levels of investment to rebuild our public services—an investment in farming as well—after the mess that the Tories left behind. We have repeatedly said that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden,…”

“I always believe that we do things better when we do them together.”

“My hon. Friend is right that floating offshore wind presents significant opportunities for Wales and the UK. In the leasing round that just took place we had a first-mover advantage in this technology of the future. Earlier this month, the Energy Secretary granted development consent for the Mona offshore wind farm, wh…”

“I apologise to the right hon. Lady; I am afraid I did not hear the start of her question. On tax and what the Chancellor has talked about, we stand by our manifesto commitment not to increase income tax, employee national insurance contributions or VAT. The Chancellor has said that it would be irresponsible to write fu…”

“I am very sorry to hear about Melanie’s situation. However, I would say to the hon. Gentleman that his party were in government with the Conservatives during the coalition years. That Government delivered horrible austerity on Wales, which lead to public services in Wales being degraded. His party was the architect of …”

“The Opposition’s decision to vote against the additional funding was inexplicable, as was their decision to vote against extra money for the NHS, for education and for businesses—I could go on. They stand here and criticise this Government while they vote against extra money for Wales.”

“As I have just explained, an error was made by the previous Conservative Government. Heavy rail was and always is reserved. The Welsh Government will not be required to re-pay any Barnett consequentials provided to them as a result of any error that took place under the Conservative Government.”

“The hon. Member will know that that was an error made under the previous Conservative Government. Heavy rail infrastructure is reserved in Wales and, like every heavy rail project in England, Barnett consequentials do not apply. The UK Government’s rail network enhancements pipeline funds East West Rail—or Ox-Cam rail,…”

“No, I will not.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his question—and for his very good Welsh. The first phase of the midlands rail hub will enable additional trains between Birmingham and south Wales, strengthening cross-border connectivity between Wales and England. That is absolutely what this Government’s investment is about: creating jobs …”

“Talking from the perspective of the two Governments working together, we have devolution, and it is absolutely right that the two Governments have their own identities. Within that context, you are not going to agree on everything, every single day. What drives you, sustains you and sustains that relationship is that y…”

“I am sure that that would be fine.”

“We were able to secure funding for Brand Wales in the spending review. What I hear from businesses is that they feel that over the past few years we have not been promoting what we do in Wales well enough abroad—that there is some work that goes on, but we could do an awful lot more. That is why we put a bid into the s…”

“Where we are in terms of the timeline is that we expected that the transition within Tata, and the restructuring, would have been much further along the line by now. In fact, there are quite a lot of people still working at Tata who we originally anticipated would have left by now, so that is good news. As a board, we …”

“Absolutely, yes.”

“The situations in Scunthorpe and Port Talbot are and were very different. In Port Talbot, we had a private company that wanted to invest, complete a transition and make a commitment, and was willing to work with us to do that. We managed to secure a very good deal, including not only the building of the electric arc fu…”

“It was very special. That shows the strength and focus of our negotiating teams. The situation with the tariffs and the changing nature of the negotiations with the United States is not easy to deal with, I am sure. I am not in the centre of it. I put my views into the DBT team and the Secretary of State leads on that.…”

“You missed a treat.”