Jo Stevens MP: speeches

Speeches

• 30 Apr 2025 · Brexit: Economic Impact · Hansard source

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  Welsh businesses both large and small tell us time and again that they are being held back by red tape. We need to tackle the barriers to trade in order to help drive investment, jobs and growth for both the UK and EU economies. Nationalists can continue their obsession with the constitution, putting up borders instead of breaking down barriers, and raising taxes on working people, as they have done in Scotland.

• 30 Apr 2025 · Brexit: Economic Impact · Hansard source

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  As the right hon. Lady might know, none of those reforms has actually gone into effect yet, so nobody has been affected by them. We inherited a Tory welfare system that is the worst of all worlds: it provides the wrong incentives, discouraging people from working, while the people who really need a safety net are still not getting the dignity and support they need and deserve, with the taxpayer funding an ever-spiralling bill. It is unsustainable, indefensible and unfair.

• 30 Apr 2025 · Brexit: Economic Impact · Hansard source

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  We are negotiating a new partnership with the EU and believe that securing a broad-based security partnership, bringing closer co-operation on law and order and tackling barriers to trade will boost our economies, keep us safe and improve families’ finances. Since coming into government, I have worked with UK and Welsh Government colleagues to drive more than £1.5 billion in private investment into Wales from the likes of Eren Holding and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, creating hundreds of jobs and laying the groundwork for thousands more.

• 30 Apr 2025 · Brexit: Economic Impact · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the potential for growth. This Government’s commitment to increase defence spending means that our strong defence manufacturing base in Wales and the skilled jobs it supports has real potential for growth. The top five suppliers to the Ministry of Defence all have a footprint in Wales, and alongside that is a strong supply chain. The forthcoming industrial strategy will set out more details as to how that advanced manufacturing base will get Government support.

• 30 Apr 2025 · Brexit: Economic Impact · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to support the Welsh food and farming industry, and I absolutely concur with the right hon. Lady’s comments.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  If the Conservative party cares so much about employment and business in Wales, perhaps the hon. Lady should explain why her colleagues in the Senedd voted last week to block thousands of new apprenticeships and more than £300 million of support for businesses in Wales. Her party voted against that.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  Plaid Cymru’s manifesto for the general election had £5 billion of unfunded commitments. If the right hon. Lady’s party were in power, we would be facing the same legacy that we had from the Conservative party: a £22 billion black hole that has meant that we have had to take difficult decisions. Her constituents will want more investment in our NHS, more investment in our public services and more investment to support businesses; her party voted against all that in the Welsh budget.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  The criterion for the announcement last week is publicly available; I suggest the hon. Gentleman has a look at it.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  I am sure the whole House will wish to join me in sending our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and neighbours of Joanne Penney, who was callously murdered in Talbot Green on Sunday. It is a shocking and horrific crime. We have protected the smallest businesses and more than doubled the employment allowance to £10,500, meaning that over half of small and micro businesses will pay less or no national insurance contributions at all. In Wales, small and medium-sized companies account for 99.3% of total enterprises.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  We inherited a Tory welfare system that is the worst of all worlds: it has the wrong incentives; it discourages people from working; the people who really need a safety net are still not getting the dignity and support that they need; and the taxpayer is funding an ever-spiralling bill. It is unsustainable, indefensible and unfair. Our principles for reform are clear: supporting those who need support, restoring trust and fairness in the system, fixing that broken assessment process and the disincentives and supporting people to start, stay and success in work. The right hon. Lady should support that.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employer National Insurance Contributions: Impact on Employment · Hansard source

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  I am not sure where the hon. Member has got the idea about outsourcing jobs. It was her party that told our universities across the country to go out and recruit international students, which they did. Now, because of that and because of what happened under her Government’s watch, those international students are not coming any more. She should, again, look to her colleagues in the Senedd. There is the education budget; her party voted against it. She needs to talk to her colleagues in the Senedd.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Welsh Tourism Industry · Hansard source

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  Wales has a world-class tourism offer. I fully support the Welsh Government’s support for the tourism sector through Visit Wales and other initiatives. Last month, the UK Government announced a £15 million investment for Venue Cymru in Llandudno and the Newport transporter bridge. These are two key projects that will help to boost the tourism and culture sector in Wales.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Welsh Tourism Industry · Hansard source

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  I would gently remind the hon. Gentleman that his party in government put the highest tax burden in 70 years on the people and businesses of this country, leaving a £22 billion black hole that we have had to try to sort out.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Welsh Tourism Industry · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has one of the most beautiful constituencies in Wales, and I know that tourism is critical to his local economy. Indeed, tourism probably remains the only way to see a Conservative MP in Wales after the general election. The visitor levy is set to raise up to £33 million for the tourism sector across Wales. Last week, Conservatives in the Senedd voted to block £15.6 million of support for Welsh tourism.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Welsh Tourism Industry · Hansard source

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  Last week, the hon. Lady’s colleagues in the Senedd voted against extra money for tourism— [ Interruption. ] They did! Maybe she should have a conversation with Darren Millar, her colleague in the Senedd, but I do not think they are having that sort of conversation at the moment because they are still arguing about who is leading the Tories in Wales.

• 12 Mar 2025 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Plaid Cymru Members will have to explain to their constituents why they voted against £600 million extra for the NHS last week, blocking crucial funding from reaching our hospitals, NHS staff and patients in Wales.

• 12 Mar 2025 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  We are talking about nations and regions, rather than just regions, but I would be happy to have a discussion with the hon. Gentleman outside the Chamber about that matter.

• 12 Mar 2025 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  I regularly meet the First Minister to discuss a wide range of matters, including NHS waiting lists. The latest data shows positive progress in reducing long waiting times and the size of the waiting list, thanks to investment by both the UK and Welsh Governments.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Crown Estate: Devolution · Hansard source

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  I recently met the Deputy First Minister to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Crown Estate. The UK and Welsh Governments are focused on taking maximum advantage of the opportunities that floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea presents for Wales, which could create over 5,000 jobs and £1.4 billion of investment to the UK economy in the coming years.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Crown Estate: Devolution · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Like her, I want people in Wales to benefit from those 5,300 new jobs, particularly young people, so that they do not have to leave Wales, where they have grown up, to earn or learn. I want that £1.4 billion boost to the economy. We are not prepared to put all that at risk of market fragmentation, undermining or potentially destroying developer confidence in FLOW, and have to watch that investment go elsewhere in the world.

• 12 Mar 2025 · Crown Estate: Devolution · Hansard source

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  I will not take any lectures on the Crown Estate from the hon. Member, whose party’s mismanagement of the Scottish seabed resulted in Scottish assets being sold off on the cheap. We are focused on doing whatever it takes to secure more than 5,000 jobs in Wales and the billions of pounds of investment that the Crown Estate can unlock for Wales.

• 27 Feb 2025 · St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs · Hansard source

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  I thank the Backbench Business Committee for recognising the importance of allocating time to hold this debate on Wales and Welsh affairs. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) and the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake), the chair and vice-chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee, respectively, for proposing today’s motion. It is a real honour to be the first female Labour Secretary of State for Wales and to begin delivering this Government’s plan for change. Across Wales and the whole UK we will raise living standards, make our public services fit for the future and our streets safer, secure home-grown, clean energy and ensure opportunity for all. That is the change that people across Wales need, deserve and voted for seven months ago. When we took office, I was clear that my priorities in the Wales Office included bringing investment to Wales to create well-paid jobs and economic growth, protecting and defending our steel communities and resetting the relationship between the UK Government and the Welsh Government, to be one of trust, co-operation and mutual respect. The past six months have already seen billions of pounds of investment committed and hundreds of jobs created, including at the Port of Mostyn, and at Eren Holding at Shotton Mill. The ground has been laid for thousands more in advanced manufacturing, renewable energy and other growth sectors. Just this week, I announced a £600 million investment by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners into Bute Energy and Green GEN Cymru’s onshore wind generation. That will create hundreds of new jobs and contribute significantly to the UK Government’s clean power mission and our ambition to double onshore wind, as well as the Welsh Government’s target for green electricity in Wales by 2035.

• 27 Feb 2025 · St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs · Hansard source

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  If the hon. Gentleman does not mind, I will carry on because we do not have much time. We have given the green light to Welsh freeports to unlock billions in private investment and galvanise almost 20,000 jobs in our port communities of Milford Haven, Port Talbot and Holyhead. Two investment zones, in Wrexham and Flintshire and in Cardiff and Newport, have been confirmed, with £320 million of funding to support growth in key sectors of the economy to create those new jobs. We have also secured funding for local growth projects across Wales worth £440 million, including money for Cardiff Crossrail and the recently opened Porth transport hub. We have protected key programmes that are important for local regeneration and economic growth, such as the iconic Newport transporter bridge and Venue Cymru in Llandudno. We are continuing to invest throughout Wales, with over £790 million in UK Government funding through the city and regional growth deals. Unlike the Conservative Government, whose £22 billion in unfunded commitments left many Welsh levelling-up developments at risk, our investment in these initiatives is an example of how our plan for change will lead to a decade of national renewal for people the length and breadth of Wales. Wales now has the benefit of two Labour Governments committed to the regeneration and economic growth that will put more money in people’s pockets, raising living standards. This is a partnership in power that will continue to deliver for the people of Wales. As we have heard this afternoon, the Welsh Government had a record-breaking funding settlement from the UK Government in the Budget of £21 billion, with £1.7 billion extra to spend on improving public services in Wales. The Welsh Government have committed £600 million of that extra funding to health and social care. I really welcome the recent news that waiting times in Wales are heading in the right direction. I hope that both Conservative and Plaid Cymru Members of the Senedd will reconsider their position on voting against the Welsh budget next week, because they are sending the message that they do not want that extra investment into public services in Wales.

• 27 Feb 2025 · St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs · Hansard source

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  I will not. After years of deadlock, it was this UK Government that stepped up with £25 million for the Welsh Government to keep coal tips safe. There is no better illustration of the new relationship between the two Governments than that co-operation on a matter that I know is of concern for people in former coalmining communities across Wales. Today’s debate has raised some important issues and we have had some excellent contributions from colleagues. I will run through a few, such as that of my hon. Friend the Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris). Whenever I hear the word “Neath”, I just think of the “Neath, Neath, Neath!” rugby chant. That was definitely a “Neath, Neath, Neath!” speech. On the contribution by the Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), I recognise, having grown up very near to the border, the economic, cultural and personal ties that she described. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) asked for a meeting with her colleagues to talk about Newport. I will be delighted to do that. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) talked about the 21st century schools programme, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd North (Gill German). My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire also paid tribute, which I echo, to all the public sector workers of Wales. To my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger), I was delighted to see Wrexham AFC promoted last season. I went to the game against Stockport at the end of the season and have, in my time, drunk quite a lot of that famous export, Wrexham Lager. My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Mr Barros- Curtis) talked about the political DNA in his constituency and about Ely, and I recognised his descriptions of the sports clubs. I have spent many weekends on the touchlines of pitches in Cardiff West and it is great to see the clubs going from strength to strength. My hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) gave a passionate speech about the history of his constituency, which is full of people with big hearts. He definitely has a big heart. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell) mentioned his constituency’s proud city of St Davids and the £1 million regional skills fund that we have recently announced for Pembrokeshire. I was very interested to hear mention from the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies) of her Wind Street escapades. I had some of those as well, so maybe we should have a chat outside the Chamber about that at some point. I want to wish everybody a very happy St David’s Day. I thank them for their contributions and I look forward to celebrating on Saturday.

• 27 Feb 2025 · St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs · Hansard source

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  I do not think the right hon. Lady has really listened to the list of things that have been announced for Wales in the past seven months. It is always the same with Plaid Cymru; it is always about the structures and the process and not about the outcome and the priorities of the people of Wales.