King’s Speech (4th Day)

Lord Wigley Excerpts

Monday 22nd July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lords, Lord Vallance and Lord Petitgas, on their maiden speeches. I welcome the timely reminder from the noble Lord, Lord Heseltine, about the economic cost of Brexit, and indeed follow the noble Lord, Lord Birt, on that matter.

The economic mismanagement of Wales led to the Conservative Party losing every Welsh seat on 4 July. Labour won 27 seats in Wales. Plaid Cymru won four, and its vote increased by almost 30%. The latest poll for the next Senedd elections puts Plaid within a 2% swing from Labour to be the largest party.

I have no doubt that Plaid’s surge in support arises from the failure of UK Labour at the recent election to address the economic problems of Wales or to commit on key economic issues, and this led to a 23% reduction in Labour’s vote compared to 2019. Specifically, despite Welsh Labour having repeatedly demanded that the Barnett formula be replaced by a needs-based formula—something recommended by a Lords Select Committee over a decade ago—this issue was totally ignored by UK Labour, leaving Welsh Labour legless. If we are to continue with the discredited Barnett formula, why oh why have the Labour Government not taken the opportunity to ensure that Wales has full Barnett consequentials to the spending on HS2, as is enjoyed by Scotland?

We had hoped that we might have had a commitment to transferring the Crown Estate in Wales to Senedd Cymru, as happened in Scotland in 2016, and which—yes—the Welsh Labour Government have supported. But the King’s Speech, in flagging up a Crown Estates Bill, makes no such proposal.

Economic development is a devolved subject, but the Welsh Government need the tools and the resources to do the job. The EU recognised the depth of that crisis by according Wales the top level of regional support, and we were promised by Brexiteers that the UK Treasury would replace the EU aid. That just has not happened. The Welsh Government have placed the blame for this on the UK Conservative Government, so at the recent election there was an expectation that UK Labour would make a manifesto commitment on such matters to Wales. Alas, that did not materialise, and judging by the King’s Speech those economic and financial expectations are not going to materialise now, either.

Wales needs a new deal to enable the Senedd to take economic initiatives as well as maintain public services to an acceptable standard. Without such a change, the Welsh Government face a £700 million further cut in public services. Are we to see Tory austerity replaced by Labour austerity under this Government? Talking of austerity, will the Government please commit to the removal of the two-child cap, which would help 65,000 children in Wales?

Where do we now stand? The UK Government indicated in the King’s Speech their intention to legislate in matters such as transport and planning, matters that have economic significance but which are largely devolved. They did so without prior discussion with the Welsh Ministers, informing them of their intentions on the morning of the King’s Speech. Will the Minister please give an assurance that such legislation in devolved portfolios will not be applicable in Wales without the prior consent of the Senedd?

Considerable emphasis has rightly been given by the Government to the generation of electricity from renewable sources, and Wales has huge potential for offshore generation, including tidal and estuarial schemes, but the time profile of such sources may not coincide with demand. So will the Government also please press ahead with the SMR plants planned for Wylfa and Trawsfynydd, generating electricity to meet the baseload? Will the Government also speed up the programme for pump storage schemes to reschedule available electricity to the times of greatest demand?

The cost of energy is a significant factor for Tata Steel at Port Talbot. If Britain has no steel industry, it will not have a credible independent defence capability. Will the Government urgently discuss with Tata whether building new electricity generation capacity at Port Talbot could help Tata to reconsider its present plans?

Agriculture in Wales is the source of secure food supplies and the bedrock of the rural economy. Will the Government end the policy of encouraging meat imports from other continents, undermining domestic agriculture and worsening the carbon footprint generated by shipping meat half way around the world?

Finally, can we agree across this House that the key to economic improvement is to raise the economic activity rates in all parts of this island? How are the Government going to achieve this?