Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
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Jo Stevens
We have worked closely with the devolved Governments on a UK-wide DRS, and now have alignment across the UK on including polyethylene terephthalate plastics and metals in a DRS with the launch date of October 2027, which is good news for business. We considered the Welsh Government’s exclusion proposal, in line with our commitments under the 2025 review of the UK Internal Market Act, and in doing so engaged with businesses and environmental stakeholders across the UK. We believe that the Act exclusion that we have agreed, in response to the Welsh Government, is the most pragmatic way that we can protect trade and support growth in the UK.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for her answer. She and I know that when it comes to economic growth in Wales, or indeed in Northern Ireland, Scotland or England, we are better together. We are also better together historically and culturally. My Gaelic cousins on the Benches in front of me are my friends—I want them to stay in the United Kingdom. What can the Minister do to persuade people who are as yet undecided about what to do that it is better to be within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? We are always better together. [Hon. Members: “More!”]
Jo Stevens
The hon. Member has united a lot of us across the House. His Plaid friends sitting in front of him want separatism. They want to inflict an independence that will cost every single person in Wales—adults and children—£7,000 every single year. They want to build walls between us at a time when we should be standing together.
St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs
Jim Shannon Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered St David’s Day and Welsh affairs.
It is a real privilege to open this debate as we come together to mark St David’s day and discuss Wales’s past, present and, critically, its future. I may not use my full 15 minutes to speak, because other colleagues will want to speak in this important debate. This is my seventh St David’s day debate and my second as Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. I thank my colleagues the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) and the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), who sadly is not in his place today, for helping to secure this debate.
It continues to be an honour to Chair the Welsh Affairs Committee and to facilitate the effective cross-party working that makes the Committee so special. We work together to achieve the best for Wales, and I must thank all current and former members of the Committee for their valuable and constructive contributions over the past year. I particularly commend the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) for her practical support of Welsh cakes for our Committee meeting yesterday—they were very useful. I would also like to pay tribute to the fantastic team of Clerks, led by Alison Groves, who support the Committee. We simply could not function without them and are incredibly lucky to have such a diligent and skilled team assisting us.
It has been a busy year for the Committee since our last St David’s day debate. We have four ongoing inquiries, with two reports set to be finalised in the coming months. We also published the conclusions of our inquiry into farming in Wales in November, and following it, the Treasury made very welcome changes to the thresholds for agricultural property relief and business property relief.
Let me move on to the namesake of this debate: St David, who adorns the entrance to this Chamber coming from Central Lobby. He faced adversity from an early age, having been born in the middle of a violent storm as the child of an act of rape. Nevertheless, he would rise to become the first Bishop of Mynyw and establish new churches throughout south Wales, 50 of which are still named after him. St David is commemorated as a great orator and preacher who spread the Christian message. Indeed, one of his recorded miracles was forming a hill beneath himself as he preached to a large crowd to enable them to see and hear him more clearly.
As a nation, we are proud of our rich and storied past, kept alive by our vibrant oral tradition. The Eisteddfod each summer forms a key celebration of this oral tradition, our Welsh culture and the Welsh language by attracting 170,000 visitors each year. From the chapels to the miners’ welfare halls, Wales is renowned for being a land of song. Regardless of the rugby score—we are trying to forget some of the latest scores—Members can be sure that we are the loudest and proudest on and off the field. Our choirs are not only a source of national pride but often the bedrock of community solidarity.
Wales has an enduring history of valuing fairness, solidarity and respect—values passed down from generation to generation and shaped by our history, but employed time and again in our everyday lives. Indeed, before there was an NHS or a welfare state, Welsh communities came together to ensure dignity and respect for all.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Lady on securing this debate; she is right to praise St David’s day, and everyone is here for that purpose. While we can be Welsh, Northern Irish, Scottish or English, what brings us together is this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and our Gaelic cousins in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all part of that. I commend her on her speech today, and I am sure others will also make good contributions. We are always better together. Does she agree with that?
Ruth Jones
The hon. Member is quite right; we are always better together. As a Gaelic colleague, I welcome him to this debate today and I look forward to his contributions later on.
St David was known for his austere lifestyle, surviving on a vegetarian diet of mostly leeks and water. I am not necessarily advocating that today for all here, but his resilience has come to symbolise Wales’s resilience in the face of social challenge, including inequality and social disadvantage. Wales has strong communities that are rooted in the place where they live. This is a legacy of our rich working-class heritage—a pride in place founded upon pride in work. Wales played a leading role in Britain’s last industrial revolution as a centre of heavy industry, including mining, quarrying, smelting and steelmaking. This was recognised by our communities.
In continuing this place-based story, I welcome the Government’s focus on restoring pride in place and driving investment into our former industrial communities. Welsh councils are set to benefit from £280 million of Pride in Place funding, alongside over £30 million of capital funding to invest in Wales’s public realm.
While manufacturing might have defined Wales’s past, it will also shape its future. Wales is still a proud manufacturing economy, and manufacturing continues to be the biggest contributor to the Welsh economy in terms of output, employing over 150,000 people. This makes Wales an outlier in the UK and an international leader in advanced manufacturing. Whether it be aerospace, automotive, defence or electronics, we know that Wales is leading the way.
I am extremely proud that my constituency of Newport West and Islwyn is an exemplar in many of those industries of the future. Duffryn is home to the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster, which includes Vishay, IQE, Catapult and KLA. Just across the road, Airbus is innovating cyber-security solutions for aerospace, and Safran provides deluxe seats and even beds for airlines. In Blackwood, General Dynamics is busy outfitting the future of Britain’s mechanised defence forces, and in Marshfield, Microsoft and Vantage are building a number of data centres as part of the new South Wales AI growth zone.
As Wales positively embraces the fourth industrial revolution, I welcome the efforts by the Welsh and UK Governments to address the adverse impacts of the last. As a former physiotherapist, I have treated miners with lung conditions such as pneumoconiosis and silicosis, so I know how profound and lasting the impacts have been. The human and environmental impacts have been great and long-lasting, and we are not going back there.
In Islwyn, I am proud to represent a former mining area that will greatly benefit from the Government’s decision in the autumn Budget to return £2.3 billion to former British Coal staff. Those pensions are long overdue and I welcome their return. Though the pits may be gone, the bonds of solidarity and community spirit embedded within Islwyn are still clear for all to see. A prominent example of that is the Cefn Fforest Miners Institute. First built in 1935 and funded by contributions from local coalminers, it has been lovingly restored by the village. It reopened in November after being closed for 15 years and now acts as a renewed hub for the community, hosting shows and events. At the same time, I pay tribute to the fantastic Cross Keys silver band, which was formed in 1902 by the local mining community and is still going strong today. I would recommend any concerts they provide—really, I would.
I welcome the strong, co-ordinated response by the UK and Welsh Governments in putting forward a record combined £230 million over the next four years to improve coal tip safety. The new multi-year approach being taken by both Governments was much needed.
The Welsh Affairs Committee has been looking in detail at prisons, probation and rehabilitation in Wales. That is an area of significant public policy concern in Wales because we have the highest incarceration rate in western Europe, with 177 Welsh residents in prison per 100,000 of the population. The Committee was pleased to receive oral evidence from the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, who I know is committed to driving forward work to address reoffending and improve our prison system. As part of our inquiry, we have looked at a wide range of issues, including prison management, housing and education support, as well as the provision of healthcare and services in the Welsh language.
The Committee has also considered the specific experiences of women in the criminal justice system, but of particular concern has been the ongoing management of issues at HMP Parc following the 17 deaths there in 2024. We will continue to scrutinise the working arrangements there to ensure the safety of inmates and staff alike. Despite our inquiry being ongoing, the Committee has already had some early wins, with the Ministry of Justice agreeing to our request for the publication of an annual Wales-specific justice dataset, the first of which was published in September.
I will close by talking of the future and the big choices facing the people of Wales in just a few months’ time. In May, Wales faces a profound choice about its future: to move forward with a clear plan and a track record of delivery with Eluned Morgan and Welsh Labour, or to turn inward and embrace a politics of grievance and division. While Wales relied on devolution to protect itself from the worst of the Conservative and Lib Dem austerity for 14 years, that period thankfully has ended and Wales can face the future and invest. We now have a Labour Government at each end of the M4 working together for Wales, providing a record devolved financial settlement for 2026 and year-on-year increases in borrowing powers for the Welsh Government, delivering on our manifesto. That means an additional £6 billion of funding for our schools, hospitals and public services.
In the Senedd, that record funding is being put to work. Waiting lists in Wales have fallen for the last seven months in a row and are the lowest they have been in three years. We are seeing serious long-term investment in improving literacy and numeracy in our schools, and significant additional support for local businesses seeking to grow. Just last week, we saw our two Governments in partnership announce the end of the historical under-investment in Wales’s railways, with a shared ambition for £14 billion-worth of upgrades across north, south, mid and west Wales, including new stations at Newport West and Cardiff Parkway, near Marshfield in my constituency.
This week, the House voted to abolish the cruel two- child limit, which is set to benefit almost 70,000 children across Wales, including over 2,000 in my constituency. From April, that change will slash child poverty in Wales by 10% overnight. None of that is an accident; it is the product of a joint vision of a fairer future for Wales, rooted in social justice and delivering the jobs, transport and opportunities people need to thrive. The path of progress may be slow and difficult, but that does not make it any less valuable. Now is not the time to put the partnership at risk, just as we are beginning to see good news and developments across Wales.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing this debate on St David’s day to take place, and I look forward to hearing the contributions of other colleagues. Diolch yn fawr.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I know that cheer was not for me, Mr Speaker. When it comes to offshore wind in Wales, the waters in which that offshore wind energy will be generated are the same waters that flow by Northern Ireland, the same waters that flow by England and the same waters that flow by Scotland. Is it not time to have an offshore wind strategy for the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? If we do it together, we will do it better.
Jo Stevens
I always believe that we do things better when we do them together.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(9 months ago)
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Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I welcome the Government’s increased spending in Wales. First, it is good for jobs and opportunity, and secondly, those in uniform, whether in the Army, the Royal Air Force or the Royal Navy, come from all over the United Kingdom—from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Does the Minister acknowledge that the new spend on defence could be shared proportionately between those countries, be it on those who serve in uniform, or on companies that are involved in the defence sector?
Dame Nia Griffith
As I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, Northern Ireland benefits considerably from companies such as Thales bidding into that defence fund. For many years, there have been many excellent service personnel from Northern Ireland. I am sure that he will look after them when they become veterans.
Gender Critical Beliefs: Equality Act 2010
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year ago)
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Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Rosie Duffield (Canterbury) (Ind)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered gender critical beliefs and the Equality Act 2010.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. The Equality Act, passed by a Labour Government in 2010, protects people from discrimination based on nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. The Act has a commendable objective: to prevent people from acting on their prejudices and disagreements in a way that results in the discriminatory treatment of others. It exists not to eliminate difference or ensure conformity, but to foster good relations and tolerance between different groups.
Sometimes rights clash. Very few examples of that clash have played out as publicly and discordantly as that between sex and gender identity: that is, the rights of biological women, and sometimes men, and the rights of those who change their social gender to transition to women. Significant feminist gains have been made in policy and law since the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s. Those gains include recognition of specific rights and services for women on the basis of their sex, be that in hospital wards, prisons, rape services, domestic abuse shelters, lesbian dating sites and clubs, women’s health organisations and women’s sports teams—spaces that meet our specific requirements as women. Those gains are being eroded by the blind acceptance by some, including policy makers in this place, that anybody who identifies as a woman de facto becomes one. At a time when male violence against women and girls is at epidemic levels in the UK, women’s single-sex spaces could not be more important.
Our desire to be kind, inclusive and accepting are worthy and valuable human traits. It is that pursuit of tolerance that underpins our law on discrimination.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Member for Canterbury (Rosie Duffield) on her stance, courage and wise words. Does she agree that respect is a two-way street? Although we should respect someone’s belief, we have been edging towards a place where biblical questioning of a view is taken as an offence. I treasure, as the hon. Lady does, biblical beliefs. I fight for anyone to live their faith in so far as it does not lead to harm or injury. Does the hon. Lady agree that the Government should also take that approach?
Rosie Duffield
I thank the hon. Member for his point. I agree that all of those beliefs should be—and are—protected under the law.
Our desire to be kind, inclusive and accepting are worthy and valuable human traits, and it is the pursuit of tolerance that underpins our law on discrimination. They are essential values in a pluralistic democracy where we can acknowledge, navigate and respect our differences. Yet a tendency has arisen in polarised debates, particularly around sex and gender, to treat holding a belief opposing one’s own as not merely a point of disagreement, but a moral defect in the person with whom one disagrees.
That has been clearly demonstrated in the terms that have been used for women who think that our biological sex matters, that it is a material reality that cannot be changed and is entirely different from gender identity—that is, gender-critical women like me. Nasty, puerile terms, many unrepeatable in this place but repeated ad infinitum across social media, such as bigot, Nazi, fascist and TERF—trans-exclusionary radical feminist—are just some examples.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Jo Stevens
I am glad that my hon. Friend raised that. She will know that the Government are fully committed to harnessing AI to improve productivity and efficiency, and to boost economic growth. I was pleased to hear the Chancellor talking about AI growth zones in her speech. Like my hon. Friend, I want to ensure that Wales maximises AI opportunities. I will be happy to discuss that further with her.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
One of the advantages of this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is that every region benefits from the trading opportunities that arise. Will the Secretary of State reaffirm that there are advantages for Northern Ireland from its economic contact with Wales, as there are for Scotland and England?
Jo Stevens
As I said, the Government are determined to see growth right across the United Kingdom, in all four nations. The relationship between Wales and Northern Ireland is very strong, and long may that continue.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Mr Speaker
Do you always have the last question before Prime Minister’s questions deliberately, Jim?
Jim Shannon
It is up to you, Mr Speaker, but you always call me; you are very kind. Thank you.
Tackling violence against women and girls can be done regionally, but is it not time to do it on a national level, with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working together?
Dame Nia Griffith
Absolutely; that is central to our manifesto. Our commitments will take in the whole of the UK—particularly the Home Office commitments on policing, and the commitments in the legislation that we intend to bring forward.
International Men’s Day
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Sam Rushworth (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered International Men’s Day, issues affecting boys’ and men’s health and wellbeing and gender equality.
I thank members of the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate and the 22 Members across five parties who supported the application. I have a confession to make: being new to this place, I did not know when I applied for the debate that the convention was that I would be the first speaker. However, it is an honour to open this debate marking International Men’s Day, which took place on Tuesday of this week. I hope that I am able to give a voice to some of the men and boys in the area that I represent, who may feel powerless and unheard.
My second confession is that this is the first time I have ever spoken publicly about the health and wellbeing of men and boys specifically. I am unashamedly feminist. My work before coming to this place was in international development, including supporting women’s empowerment projects in northern Ghana and research on gender and education in Rwanda. On a recent International Women’s Day, I was in the Central African Republic to meet and seek international support for women leaders of the interfaith platform, who courageously work together to promote peace. In the UK, I have supported initiatives to break down barriers to girls entering science, technology, engineering and maths, and I am proud to belong to a party that is working to close the gender pay gap and setting a national mission to halve violence against women and girls.
Gender inequality, as we all know, has long been seen through the lens of women’s struggles, and rightly so. Women have fought tirelessly for equality of opportunity and freedom from violence and discrimination, but when I meet and listen to my constituents, there are also undeniable challenges that specifically impact the health, wellbeing and life outcomes of boys and men. These are raised with me by women as well as men, because nobody fights for their sons more than mums.
May I be clear at the outset of this debate that International Men’s Day is not a call to diminish the importance of women’s rights, nor to overshadow the progress made in gender equality for all? Rather, it is about recognising that gender inequality harms everyone—men and boys as well as women and girls. Men are more likely to die prematurely, more likely to develop alcohol addiction, more likely to be homeless, more likely to take their own life, more likely to be sent to prison and more likely to be a victim of violent crime.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Member for securing this debate. He is right to highlight the issue of suicide. More young men under the age of 18 commit suicide in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Over the past five years, suicides of young men number almost 5,000. That is worrying and very concerning. I have a quick question for the hon. Member. Men’s sheds across the country are a great help. The one at the Glen community association in Newtownards directly helps young men and teenagers—
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Dame Nia Griffith
The Budget includes a total of £320 million and a commitment for the investment zones in Cardiff and Newport and in Wrexham and Flintshire. This is a crucial part of our work with the Welsh Government to provide a rocket boost for sectoral strengths such as the creative industries, the life sciences and advanced manufacturing, including our world-leading compound semiconductor cluster.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
There is great potential for creating new jobs in wind energy and sea energy in Wales. We in Northern Ireland, and in Belfast in particular, have the engineering skills to provide the turbines for that energy production. Everyone would gain: Wales would get the jobs, and Northern Ireland would get the jobs as well.
Dame Nia Griffith
This Government are absolutely committed to economic growth across all parts of the United Kingdom.
Oral Answers to Questions
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 year, 10 months ago)
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David T. C. Davies
We certainly do not want policies such as this. There is an anti-motorist agenda with the Welsh Labour Government that includes not only 20 mph speed limits, but legislation bringing in tolls on the M4 and a ban on any major new road projects being built. We have even had Monmouthshire Labour Council suggesting that it might want to campaign to bring back Severn bridge tolls. The lesson is that if people support motorists and support the right to drive a car they should vote Conservative at the next general election.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
On this illogical decision to pursue a 20 mph limit, does the Minister agree that there is a lesson to be learned for a Government—in Wales or elsewhere—trying to pursue something that the general public quite clearly do not want at all?
David T. C. Davies
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. He raises a very good point, because this was clearly done against the wishes of almost half a million people—a record number of people—who signed a petition on this matter. The most recent announcement by the Welsh Government, which raises the possibility of their doing a screeching U-turn on the policy, suggests to me that they might be more interested in deflecting national press attention from the scandal involving the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay.