Mims Davies
Main Page: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)Department Debates - View all Mims Davies's debates with the Cabinet Office
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Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Following a freedom of information request, several questions at the Dispatch Box and my pre-Christmas letter to the Secretary of State, a serious explanation of railway funding in Wales is still lacking. Previously, she said in the Chamber:
“We are investing…to right the years of underfunding”—[Official Report, 16 July 2025; Vol. 771, c. 282.]
She told the Welsh Affairs Committee that there was
“widespread agreement… and many others have expressed similar sentiments.”
That is not evidence of underfunding; it is an opinion. Will she finally tell the House what method she is using to form her opinion, and will she outline how much Network Rail intends to invest in Welsh railways?
Jo Stevens
The hon. Member will know very well from my reply to her letter that her assertion is fundamentally wrong, because she is using a combination of operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancement funding to reach the total figure provided under Conservative Governments. The Labour Government have announced nearly £500 million of investment in Welsh rail, specifically and solely in enhancement funding. That money is being front-loaded in this spending review period to deliver new stations and more and faster trains as soon as possible. She should carry on trying desperately to defend her party’s appalling record in government, because all she is doing is reminding everybody about it.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Wales could be disproportionately affected by US tariffs, which could be a challenge for many Welsh businesses—the words of Labour First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan in correspondence to the Prime Minister. There has been lots of talk about traitors, but over the past 27 years we, the Conservatives, are the ones who have seriously scrutinised, challenged and exposed the failings of Welsh Labour, which is clearly propped up by Plaid and the Lib Dems. Will the Secretary of State confirm that it is the two fabled Labour Governments who simply cannot work together who are making the cost of living and unemployment worse in Wales?
Jo Stevens
Wages are up, and inward investment is up. Inactivity is down on the year, and unemployment is down on the year. We have also had six cuts in interest rates, meaning that families taking out a new mortgage are £1,400 a year better off than they were under the Tories.