Spring Budget: Wales

Debate between Beth Winter and Virginia Crosbie

Wednesday 29th March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Virginia Crosbie]

The last time a nuclear power station was invested in and built was under a Conservative Government. As the hon. Member will know, we have a huge energy statement tomorrow in the Chamber; I would not want to pre-empt what the Minister will say.

GBN means jobs and investment in areas that are calling out for them, including my constituency of Ynys Môn. I want good jobs for hard-working people—jobs that support Welsh communities—and nuclear can deliver that. Wales can be a centre of energy innovation. In the Budget, we learned of plans for a small modular reactor competition. There is already a long list of companies looking to Wales to house these game-changing stations, which will help decarbonise not only the power grid, but energy-intensive users in the heavy industry sector. We need these projects to come to Wales, but of course we need to attract investment.

Giving nuclear the green label will drive crucial investment. Nuclear has the lowest life-cycle carbon intensity, lowest land use and the lowest impact on ecosystems of any electricity source, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. If that does not attract investment, I do not know what will. Wales has a world-class site in Wylfa and Trawsfynydd at its disposal. It is essential that we make the most of those sites; it would be a huge missed opportunity if we did not. Over the next decades, there will be a significant ramping up, with new nuclear projects across the UK, facilitated by Great British Nuclear. Wales can and should be part of these plans, and the Budget was a big step forward, but there is much to do.

This Budget has delivered for Wales; it is way more than the hand-to-mouth support that the Labour Government in Cardiff asked for. It has paved the way for long-term sustainable growth and employment in Wales, for levelling up parts of Wales that have seen little interest or investment from Cardiff in the past 20 years, and for an economic revolution in Ynys Môn.

[Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab)]

It is clear from the evidence provided by the Welsh Government that we receive substantially less funding via the levelling-up fund than we did as a member of the EU. The Minister for Economy quoted a figure of £1.1 billion less. What does the hon. Member have to say about that?

[Virginia Crosbie]

That is simply not the case. I will highlight the way that north Wales has been treated by Labour. In the past six months, it has been deprived of one of the two bridges connecting it to the mainland. It has seen abject failures in the devolved health service, and suffered over 700 job losses with the closure of 2 Sisters in Llangefni. While Labour MPs sit there and complain about our Budget, let us look at the actions their own Welsh Government, in co-operation with Plaid, have taken to support my already deprived community through these challenges. They have refused to compensate the businesses that suffered significant losses as a result of the closure of the Menai suspension bridge—a closure that, I hasten to add, resulted from failures in its maintenance programme. They stalled on funding a much-needed GP co-location in Holyhead, which would have helped people who have struggled for years with a health board that is in and out of special measures. With their £155 million underspend, they could have stumped up the funding for some of those 700 people who lost their job at 2 Sisters in Llangefni to travel to another plant and continue working for a few months. They chose not to.

The only reason why Labour MPs are unhappy is because they cannot face the fact that the UK Government are delivering on their promises to the Welsh people in a way that Labour has abjectly failed to. I commend the Budget and the difference it will make to people across Wales, particularly in my constituency of Ynys Môn. Diolch, Mr Llefarydd.

Domestic Abuse Bill

Debate between Beth Winter and Virginia Crosbie

Consideration of Lords amendments
Thursday 15th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Virginia Crosbie (Ynys Môn) (Con)]

I, too, would like to pay tribute to Dame Cheryl Gillan. She gave me and so many others much support and encouragement on our journeys to this place, and she is an inspiration to us all.

It is a privilege to speak in this important debate, and it was an honour to sit on the Domestic Abuse Bill Committee last year. I commend Ministers and Members on both sides of the House for the hard work behind the Bill. As we focus on the recent Lords amendments to the Bill, it is important that we remember that we are debating the finer detail of a Bill that will, as it already stands, deliver a radical change to the way that domestic abuse is defined and legislated against.

Not only does the Bill extend the definition of domestic abuse to include coercive and controlling behaviour, but it extends the definition of those who suffer to include children. For thousands of adults in the UK, the abuse they witnessed as a child will have had a profound and long-lasting effect. Many suffer deep trauma from the verbal, emotional and financial abuse they witnessed as children, which was perpetrated on and by the people they trusted to be their primary carers.

What we see and experience at an early age forms the basis of our future expectations, our own patterns of behaviour, and our health and wellbeing outcomes. It is devastating, therefore, to be exposed to any kind of abuse, including controlling and coercive behaviour, in our formative years. Studies have shown that children who witness domestic abuse often have the same poor life outcomes as those who are actually abused. They have the same likelihood of developing post-traumatic stress disorder as soldiers returning from war. They are also more likely to experience stress-related physical illnesses and mental health problems throughout their lives, and they are more likely to exhibit health-damaging behaviours such as smoking and drug-taking. Crucially, they are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide.

Charities such as Gorwel in my constituency see those issues time and time again. In addition to providing refuges and support for men and women who are direct victims of domestic abuse, it offers specialist provision for children and young people who are dealing with the effects of domestic abuse. However, it can only do so much. As a result of the Bill broadening the definition of domestic abuse, we can improve the lives of not just the children of today but the adults of tomorrow. That is why the Bill is so important and why I commend the hard work that has gone into ensuring that it is fit for purpose and serves the needs of the adults and children of the UK.

[Beth Winter (Cynon Valley) (Lab) [V]]

The Domestic Abuse Bill provides an opportunity to deliver transformational change in tackling domestic abuse and violence, and many of the Lords amendments, which I wish to support today, strengthen it considerably.

Sadly, domestic abuse and violence remain endemic in this country, while unmet need remains a problem. Services have suffered under austerity, and one in six refuges in the UK have closed since 2010, while demand has increased, especially during the pandemic. Welsh Women’s Aid has shown that there has been a 32% increase in referrals to community-based support in the last year. Having worked in women’s refuges and with the victims of domestic abuse, I have witnessed the devasting impact this has on people’s lives—on women of all ages and backgrounds, on their children, and on families, friends and communities. I have seen how severe funding constraints hamper the development of effective services. I pay tribute to the excellent work carried out by Women’s Aid in my constituency, despite these challenges.