'Business owners in North Wales who feel they have been let down by the Welsh Government'

MS for North Wales

Speaking in the Welsh Conservative debate on Departure from the European Union, on the 5th anniversary since the people of Wales voted to leave the EU, I said today “an outward-looking, Global Britain is able to strike trade deals with new markets as a liberal, free trading, force for good in the World” and called on Welsh Government Ministers to ensure Wales is at the front of the queue to capitalise on the numerous opportunities created for Welsh businesses by the new deals.

Responding to the Statement by the Health Minister, ‘Update on Coronavirus’, I warned that although the Welsh Government had announced that Residential Outdoor Education Centres can start reopening with primary school-age children, the changes may have been too little, too late for some Centres, quoting Centres who stated ‘it seems to many of us that crisis has only been responded to with crisis’.

Following the Welsh Government’s announcement that it plans to freeze new road-building projects, I asked the Deputy Minister for Climate Change what this will mean for the proposed Flintshire Corridor ‘Red Route’, expressing my hope that this might lead to its cancellation, and asking what alternative plans the Welsh Government has to deal with its forecast traffic increase on the corridor. I also questioned him over options for easing traffic congestion crossing to and from Anglesey, where the Welsh Government had previously said it hoped to open a third Menai crossing in 2022.

I challenged the Finance Minister over business support in Wales, quoting a number of hospitality business owners in North Wales who feel they have been let down by the Welsh Government, with one describing the Welsh Government’s grant announcement as a ‘slap in the face’ and another stating the First Minister had ‘stabbed them in the back’.

Questioning the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, I highlighted the benefits of Freeports in the UK and urged the Welsh Government to engage with those working to develop an Anglesey Holyhead Freeport proposal.

It was a privilege to be elected as Chair of the Cross Party Group On Deaf Issues at its initial meeting of the 6th Senedd. I also attended meetings of the Cross Party Groups on Policing, and Housing.

Other online engagements included Motor Neurone Disease Association, BBC Cymru Wales, and a meeting with Leonard Cheshire Cymru to catch-up on their work in North Wales supporting disabled people, including their community support services for disabled people in Flintshire.

If you need my help, email Mark.Isherwood@senedd.wales or call 0300 200 7219.