Jo Stevens MP: speeches

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Speeches

26 Feb 2026 · St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs · Hansard source
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No, I am going to carry on, because I do not have much time left. Just before Christmas, we announced one of the biggest public investments in Welsh history: the siting of the UK’s first fleet of small modular nuclear reactors at Wylfa, creating 3,000 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain. After a decade of inaction from the Conservatives and the inability of Plaid Cymru to agree among themselves whether they support nuclear or not, I am beyond proud that this Labour Government have made that game-changing commitment to Ynys Môn and the whole of north Wales. We have secured the most successful auction round in European history, backing the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm in north Wales, and the first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic sea, Erebus, to support thousands of jobs in our renewable energy industries. On tackling the cost of living, which lots of hon. Members mentioned, our relentless focus saw wages rise faster in the first 10 months of this Government than in 10 years of Conservative rule. Interest rates have been cut six times, meaning significant savings in mortgage payments for Welsh households and businesses. The lifting of the two-child limit will benefit 69,000 children in Wales. Well over a quarter of a million families in Wales—320,000 of them, in fact—will benefit from the first ever sustained real-terms increase in the universal credit standard allowance, which will help many working families. Our support for communities in every part of Wales includes over half a billion pounds for the new local growth fund to create jobs and put more money in people’s pockets; £143 million for the Welsh Government to ensure that coal tips remain safe, supporting families living in the shadow of the tips; and bringing economic growth and employment opportunities to some of the most deprived communities in Wales. There have been a lot of mentions of Pride in Place funding: with £280 million for 14 communities, as well as at least £1.5 million for every single one of the 22 local authorities in Wales through the Pride in Place impact fund, we are putting decision making about communities in the hands of communities. In addition, this year all our Welsh police forces will receive a real-terms funding increase to help them keep our streets safe. As we have heard, Labour is the party of devolution: we delivered it, we have protected it and we are enhancing it. We have updated the Welsh fiscal framework and worked with the Welsh Labour Government on the future of water regulation and devolution. We are devolving employment support funding and delivering in partnership our economic trailblazers and city and growth deals. We have restored the Welsh Government’s decision-making role over the local growth fund. Just two weeks ago, I announced plans to devolve new powers for the Senedd to create a vacant land tax to encourage house building. Hon. Members across the House will know that the ultimate proof of that successful partnership between our two Governments is seen in the nearly £6 billion of additional spending power that the UK Labour Government are providing to the Welsh Labour Government. Through the largest funding settlement in real terms since devolution began, we have ended Tory and Liberal Democrat austerity, making sure that Wales is funded properly and fairly, and enabling the Welsh Government to invest in our NHS and schools and across our public services. We are now less than three months away from the Senedd election, at which Wales faces an important choice. Together, the UK and Welsh Labour Governments are strengthening public services, building new infra- structure, creating new jobs, increasing wages and tackling the cost of living. We can continue to build the next chapter of Wales’s future with two Labour Governments focused entirely on the real and pressing priorities of the people of Wales, or that future can be put at risk with the division and destruction of Reform, or distraction and separation from nationalists. We on the Labour Benches will continue to campaign in the months ahead to secure the next chapter of Wales’s future with Welsh Labour. We had some fantastic contributions to the debate. The Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), gave a wide-ranging speech covering the Welsh cakes made by the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies), churches, choirs, the NHS, Pride in Place and pride in work. My hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (Gerald Jones) spoke about his campaign for fair petrol pricing in his constituency. To me, the higher prices he referred to appear completely unjustifiable. I wish him lots of luck with that good campaign. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) talked about how Newport is definitely on the up. It is Wales’s fastest growing and youngest city, in large part thanks to the dynamic leadership of its Labour council, its MPs and its MSs. My hon. Friends the Members for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) and for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) spoke about the impact of the UK Government’s child poverty strategy measures and policies on tackling the cost of living. My constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Mr Barros-Curtis), spoke powerfully about his ten-minute rule Bill and the right to have birth, marriage and death certificates issued bilingually, as well as about the Pride in Place programme in Ely and Caerau. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) talked about the incredible community response to the floods in her constituency caused by Storm Claudia. It was a real privilege to meet many of her constituents when I visited straight after the floods. My hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) gave, as she said, a niche speech on flying ring toys and their impact on grey seals on the beautiful Gower coast. That campaign sounds like a good one; I would be happy to have a conversation with her after the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger), who always gets in a mention of the football club, also talked about north Wales joining forces with northern England to bid for the 2040 Olympics. That is an exciting prospect, befitting of north Wales’s ambition and sporting prowess and a great example of the potential of collaboration across the borders of our Union. I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. All of us here are committed to serving our constituents, and we are dedicated to the continuing success of Wales. This week, on the 10th anniversary of Wales Week London—I know that many hon. Members across the House will have been to its events this week and will do so next week; it is a fantastic platform for promoting Wales not just across the United Kingdom but globally—I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, all hon. Members and everyone across Wales a very happy St David’s day on Sunday.
21 Jan 2026 · Cost of Living: Wales · Hansard source
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The Government are absolutely determined to lower the cost of living for families across Wales and the whole UK. That is why we are benefiting 69,000 children in Wales by scrapping the two-child limit. It is why we are slashing household energy bills by an average of £150 a year, and why we are again increasing the national minimum and living wage, building on the previous increase, which boosted the incomes of up to 160,000 workers in Wales.
21 Jan 2026 · Cost of Living: Wales · Hansard source
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Energy bills are a significant issue for people across the country. That is why, thanks to this Labour Government, from April this year all households will see an average £150 reduction in costs on their energy bills. Energy suppliers will pass on the savings automatically to households. My hon. Friend will have seen today the launch of our warm homes plan, which is a £15 billion fund. In Wales, it will make grants available for households to replace gas boilers with heat pumps, and it will mean stronger standards for landlords who privately rent homes, so that they are safer, warmer and more affordable to run.
21 Jan 2026 · Cost of Living: Wales · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right; this Government are supporting people across Wales and the UK with the cost of living. In comparison with when we came into government, households that take out a new mortgage are saving around £1,400 a year on their mortgage repayments. We have also increased the state pension by 4.8%, which will take effect in April, benefiting 700,000 pensioners across Wales. We have also uprated the universal credit standard allowance by over 6%—the first ever permanent real-terms increase—benefiting 320,000 households in Wales.
21 Jan 2026 · Cost of Living: Wales · Hansard source
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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.
21 Jan 2026 · Railways: Funding · Hansard source
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Heavy rail projects in both countries are classified as England and Wales whether the track is in Wales, England or both. They do not attract Barnett consequentials because heavy rail is reserved. Examples of such projects include Padeswood in north Wales and the regeneration of Cardiff Central station. Surely the hon. Lady knows that the economic corridor between north Wales and the north-west is vital for regional integration and the economic growth of north Wales. The scheme paves the way for more services, more regular services and faster services across north Wales and the north-west.
21 Jan 2026 · Railways: Funding · Hansard source
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The introduction of the £1 bus fare cap for young people, and now a £2 cap on all fares from the Welsh Labour Government, has been great news; it will help everyone with the cost of living. The 100 new bus routes right across Wales, which will be introduced if Welsh Labour are re-elected in May, will further help people take advantage of the new opportunities and jobs that we are creating across Wales. All this has been made possible because there are two Labour Governments working together for Wales. Our record-breaking Budget settlement for the Welsh Government has delivered nearly £6 billion more in spending power, enabling them to invest more in transport and other public services.
21 Jan 2026 · Railways: Funding · Hansard source
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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.
21 Jan 2026 · Railways: Funding · Hansard source
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I hold a range of discussions with Ministers in the Welsh Government, including about our crucial investment in the Welsh rail network. We are investing at least £445 million in Welsh rail to right years of underfunding by previous Tory Governments. That will mean new stations, and more and faster trains on the key lines in north and south Wales and into England to improve cross-border connectivity, create jobs and boost economic growth.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that investment in our offshore wind sector is integral to realising our potential as a clean energy superpower, and to creating thousands of high-skilled jobs in Wales and among our Celtic cousins in Cornwall. That is why last week’s auction round was such an historic moment, and why this Labour Government have announced a landmark £1 billion clean energy supply chain fund to deliver offshore wind, with £300 million from Great British Energy, £400 million from the Crown Estate and £300 million from the offshore wind industry.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I thank the right hon. Lady for raising the matter, and I really do feel for people who have found themselves in this situation, including her constituents, through absolutely no fault of their own. She will know that we inherited this scheme from the Conservative Government, and both ECO and the Great British insulation schemes had well-documented problems, which is why we took decisive action to end them. We are urgently working with scheme providers to ensure that customers of Consumer Energy Solutions are supported, and we will provide further updates as soon as possible.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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Wales is leading the UK’s clean energy mission and secured two major projects in the UK Government’s contracts for difference scheme last week: Erebus, which is Wales’s first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic sea, and Awel y Môr offshore wind farm, off the coast of north Wales. It is the most successful auction round in European history, and a huge vote of confidence in Wales’s clean energy sector, which will deliver thousands of good jobs.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This was the most successful auction round in European history, as I have mentioned. Awel y Môr is the first offshore wind project in Wales to win a contract in over a decade, and Erebus will be Wales’s first floating offshore wind farm. These projects will power almost 1 million homes and bring £2.6 billion of investment to Welsh coastal and industrial communities, but as he says, and most importantly, they will create thousands of jobs and bring down bills as we produce more, cheaper clean energy and gain our energy independence.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I would be very happy to have a conversation with the hon. Gentleman about that. We are investing in our green industries because that is how we will bring down bills for everybody, secure our energy supplies for everybody, and create jobs and improve living standards for everybody.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I simply say what I have already said to the right hon. Lady, which is that we inherited these schemes; they had well-documented problems, and that is why we have taken decisive action to end them. She will have seen our announcement today on the warm homes plan and the £15 billion fund to help people across the country.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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The Celtic sea is at the frontier of our green energy revolution. The capacity for offshore wind will support over 5,000 new jobs and bring billions of pounds of investment. Erebus is a test and demonstration project and will kick-start the early development of FLOW in Wales, ahead of larger projects being advanced through the Crown Estate’s three FLOW sites in the Celtic sea that have been leased to Equinor, Gwynt Glas and Ocean Winds. I cannot stress enough that this is a once-in-a-century opportunity for Wales, as it is for the south-west. That is why this Labour Government are doing whatever it takes to realise that potential.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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The hon. Member obviously does not want energy bills to come down, does not want jobs in mid-Wales and does not want the investment to happen. Labour is the only party committed to our renewable energy revolution. Plaid, the Greens and the Lib Dems all try to block renewable infrastructure, while the SNP rejects the jobs, as we have just heard; and now the Tories and Reform do not want this revolution, but want to scrap net zero altogether.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this issue, particularly as it is Nuclear Week this week. We have announced the new fleet of small modular reactors at Wylfa, which are expected to support 3,000 jobs at peak construction and to power up to 3 million homes, with the capacity for further fleets in the future. I am not sure why the Scottish Government refuse investment in nuclear. Not only do they waste money, but they refuse investment and jobs in their own country.
21 Jan 2026 · Clean Energy Projects · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Member for his question, but can I suggest that he raises that with Defence Ministers? If he would like to contact me afterwards, I am happy to raise that with the Secretary of State for Defence.
3 Dec 2025 · Job Creation: Wales · Hansard source
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I absolutely do not understand why the SNP Government are not willing to see the creation of jobs and opportunities for people in Scotland because of their ideology around new nuclear.
3 Dec 2025 · Job Creation: Wales · Hansard source
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I have been in discussions with Aston Martin, as have Cabinet colleagues. We are doing everything we can to protect the car industry in this country. One of the biggest problems in the car industry arises from the Conservatives’ botched Brexit deal, for which the hon. Lady and her Government were responsible.
3 Dec 2025 · Job Creation: Wales · Hansard source
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I am very pleased to hear about the new jobs created at Buttington Cross, and I should be delighted to join my hon. Friend for a milkshake—strawberry, please. Our landmark May deal with the European Union included a commitment to a comprehensive sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, which we are now actively negotiating, and which will reduce paperwork, delay and costs for Welsh farmers exporting their animals and produce to the EU. This Government are backing our farmers and food manufacturers.
3 Dec 2025 · Job Creation: Wales · Hansard source
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Announcements made over the past month demonstrate that our industrial strategy is working. In November alone, the Government announced investments to create more than 11,000 jobs in Wales, and just this week, the Wales investment summit showcased investments totalling £16 billion, which are expected to bring tens of thousands of jobs to Wales.
3 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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From April, a full-time worker on the national living wage will see their annual pay rise by £900, on top of the £1,400 increase that we announced in the previous Budget, and 18 to 20-year-olds working full time on the national minimum wage will get an annual increase of £1,500, which, when added to last year’s increase of £2,500, means £4,000 extra a year. This Labour Government are supporting the lowest-paid workers across the country, with 2.7 million workers in Stoke-on-Trent Central, Cardiff East and every other constituency directly benefiting.
3 Dec 2025 · Economic Growth · Hansard source
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The introduction of the Pride in Place programme has meant good news for Rochdale, as well as for Wales. A total of 14 communities across Wales are each benefiting from £20 million of long-term investment to enable the changes that they want to see in their neighbourhoods. This hyper-local programme will benefit areas that are doubly disadvantaged, having both the highest deprivation levels and the weakest social infrastructure. It is about investing for the long term, and creating safer, stronger and more resilient communities with the facilities and infrastructure that they need to thrive.

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