(1 year, 8 months ago)
Commons ChamberMy hon. Friend is never quiet in his forthright campaigning for Stoke-on-Trent. He is a fantastic champion, and of course I will work with him to ensure that any additional funding opportunities are there for Stoke. He has had a fantastic record so far on attracting Government investment, but of course we want to do more.
Mr Speaker, you and the rest of the House will probably know that Huddersfield is a very large town that has never shown all that much interest in becoming a city, but we are feeling very aggrieved that we are not getting the help we need for some prime development projects, particularly with the old market site. Could the Minister look into our area, which is very split between Labour and Conservative—and I am asking quietly and I hope persuasively?
(2 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberI thank my right hon. Friend for his question and for his passion and commitment to delivering a freeport. I know that he is a great champion for the Milford Haven bid in particular, and I look forward to sitting down with him to discuss it. The freeports programme has great potential to contribute towards achieving the Welsh and UK Governments’ decarbonisation agenda and net zero ambitions. We look forward to receiving strong bids from across Wales that demonstrate how they will meet the Government’s shared goals, as articulated in the bidding prospectus.
The Minister may not know, but I used to be a Swansea politician—I was a councillor. Is it not about time we introduced the Swansea barrage scheme, which would make a great difference to alternative energy for Wales?
I thank the hon. Member for his question. As he is a champion for Swansea as well as Huddersfield, I would certainly be happy to sit down with him and discuss this further.