Welsh Affairs

It really is a pleasure to follow an English MP in this debate on Welsh day. I am very pleased to be able to speak on Welsh affairs. There are, as the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) mentioned, some cross-border issues, and there are occasions when I need to speak on English affairs. It worries me that the Conservatives have proposals for English-only votes on English-only matters. That would deny me as a Welsh MP from representing the interests of my constituents when they go across the border for essential services. I believe in an integral United Kingdom and in the freedom of movement of people across the borders for services and goods. Listening to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham, I have to say that I had thought that it was only the nationalists who believed in this type of segregation; yet he indicated that he wanted to lift Offa's dyke up to prevent Welsh people from coming across the border and businesses coming from Shrewsbury into Wales. Well, we Welsh Members in this Parliament want an equal voice on matters affecting the whole of the United Kingdom. I am here today to represent the views of my constituents on some local matters, but also on those of national interest across the UK. In a few days' time, I hope to promote Anglesey, the mother of Wales, in the mother of Parliaments with an Anglesey day. I know that the Wales Office is co-operating on that matter so that all can benefit from the culture and heritage of Anglesey and from the economic advantages when people come into my constituency. It is about promoting my constituency. I want to refer in greater detail to a couple of important Welsh affairs issues, into which there have been inquiries. We have heard today about the important role—I disagree with my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, West (Paul Flynn) on this matter—of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. I think it does a good job of scrutinising Welsh legislation coming from the Assembly in the form of legislative competence orders. We take this matter very seriously and we liaise with other MPs, so if they wish to raise any strong issues on behalf of their constituents, they will be fed into that mechanism. I want to concentrate on two particular inquiries and the difference they have made to the north-west Wales region and my constituency of Ynys Môn. The first was into prisons in Wales. We worked on the important issue of prisoners having to move far away from their homes to serve their sentences—sometimes into south Wales from north Wales, but also into other parts of England. That makes it very difficult for their families to visit them. The Select Committee identified the need for a prison in Wales and we lobbied particularly for a prison in north Wales. A few weeks ago, the Justice Secretary announced a preferred site for that prison in north-west Wales, and I am very pleased about that, as I lobbied hard for it. As a result of the recommendations of the Welsh Affairs Committee, that preferred site in Ferodo in north-west Wales provides the opportunity to create hundreds of jobs in the area. The desolate site of the Ferodo factory, which has a nightmare industrial relations history, will now provide well paid and secure jobs. That is good evidence of the Welsh Affairs Committee raising an issue and making recommendations, resulting in benefit to the people of north-west Wales and the people I represent. It is evidence of the UK Government delivering for the people of my area. Energy in Wales, which is relevant to everyone in the UK, was the subject of the other inquiry that I wish to deal with. We had a follow-up inquiry into clean coal and other technologies as well. One of the main findings that would benefit my constituency—a cross-party recommendation, made by parties including the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru—was that if new nuclear went ahead, and the United Kingdom Government supported new nuclear development, existing sites in Wales would benefit from that. That was a clear, cross-party view at the time. The recommendations said that the extension of Wylfa power station needed to be considered. I can inform the House—I am sure that the Under-Secretary of State for Wales, the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. David) will confirm this when he winds up—that there is movement on that issue. There is a full study looking into a possible extension, which would ensure two or three years' more generation at the Wylfa site. That would provide extra jobs, skills and opportunities to young people over that period. I want to inform and update Members on an issue that the hon. Member for Ludlow (Mr. Dunne) raised earlier, when he was present. He is a supporter of Anglesey Aluminium, because Bridgnorth Aluminium in his constituency is one of the main customers of Anglesey Aluminium. I declare an interest as chair of the all-party aluminium industry group. The hon. Gentleman and I are working together to keep that smelter open. There is a big issue about the power contract, which is due for renewal in September. That is threatening some 600 to 700 jobs in my constituency. All the political avenues are being explored, as I have explained in parliamentary questions, and indeed in the Welsh Grand Committee—another issue on which I disagree with the hon. Member for Newport, West. I think that it is an important forum for raising issues. He does not agree, and neither do the press, but it is an opportunity for me to raise issues on behalf of my constituency. I welcome the fact that the Secretary of State is encouraging us to hold more of those Grand Committees. They are important. I do not blog; some people spend a lot of time on social websites, but I like to speak in this House, on behalf of my constituency, on important matters on as many opportunities as I can get. The issue of Anglesey Aluminium is complex, because the Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation, the parent company, is shedding 14,000 jobs worldwide. It is also reducing the production of aluminium across the world, so this is a precarious moment for the aluminium industry and for the renewal of the contract. I assure the House that everybody is working together on the issue. The Welsh Assembly Government are working on a new biomass plant, after the closure of Wylfa. The Wales Office is acting as a host, and as a facilitator between the Welsh Assembly Government, the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to get the best political outcome. At the end of the day, it will be a commercial decision, but I hope that there are more favourable conditions, so that we can save those jobs. I want to talk more about nuclear power, green and low-carbon energies, and the opportunity for Wales to be a leader and a pioneer in the low-carbon economy. The Climate Change Act 2008, the Energy Act 2008 and planning provisions provide an excellent framework for the development of renewable energy. The Energy Act also provides us with renewables obligations, so that there can be progress on an industrial scale. That will help to ensure that there is benefit. We must have nuclear as part of a rich mix if we want a safe, continued electricity supply for industry and our homes. I think that we are moving towards consensus on that. I read this week in The Independent that four leading environmentalists have said that they are pro-nuclear. One of them was a senior director of Greenpeace, who now sees the value of nuclear power. He calculates that the perceived risks associated with nuclear power are less than those posed by climate change and global warming. If we are to continue to build a prosperous, low-carbon economy, we need nuclear power. The UK Government, along with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, have listed a number of preferred sites for the first wave of new nuclear build. I am pleased to say that Wylfa is part of that first phase. A new nuclear power station in my area could create as many as 9,000 construction jobs, as well as the generating jobs that will follow. Those are high-skilled, well-paid jobs that would benefit my constituents. There is only one brake on consensus. I read with dismay this week a letter in The Western Mail that was written jointly by the chair and the environmental spokesperson of Plaid Cymru. The letter said that if Plaid Cymru was ever in power and had to make a decision on new nuclear on Anglesey, it would vote against it.