Ann Davies MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 22 Oct 2025 · Coal Tip Safety and New Extraction Licences · Hansard source

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  That is true. It is ironic that the two incidents happened on exactly the same date—a few years apart, but on 21 October. We must never forget either.

• 22 Oct 2025 · Coal Tip Safety and New Extraction Licences · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 22 Oct 2025 · Coal Tip Safety and New Extraction Licences · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered coal tip safety and the prohibition of new coal extraction licences. Diolch yn fawr, Gadeirydd. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. Just as coal ran in rich veins beneath the Welsh valleys and mountains, it also runs deep through the history of the people of Wales. Around this industry, thriving and vibrant communities developed all across the south Wales valleys. Miners’ institutes, public libraries, trade unions and public healthcare all bloomed in the Welsh coalfields. Those institutions were founded and funded by miners, laying the foundation for the modern welfare state. Despite this dynamism, we should not forget that those communities were exploited, with vast amounts of wealth from coal profiting Westminster, not Wales. Mining was also dangerous work and took a terrible toll on the health of far too many men and young boys. When Margaret Thatcher began closing the mines in the 1980s without replacing those jobs, she destroyed livelihoods and left communities that once powered the world bearing economic and social scars that would pass on through generations. Thatcher’s decision to kick-start deindustrialisation in Wales—and the acceptance of this decline by both Labour and Conservative Governments—means that west Wales and the valleys are now among the poorest parts of Europe. The economic legacy is compounded by a physical one, too. The valleys are now littered with coal tips—black monuments from the past that cast long shadows over the present. Also known as spoil tips or slag heaps, these are the waste materials removed from the mines and left abandoned above ground. Today, over 50% of all coal tips in the UK are in Wales, despite our nation making up just 8.5% of the UK’s total land mass. Of the 2,590 coal tips, many are considered dangerous to the public. There is a risk that a significant number may collapse due to increasingly extreme weather, and that is not hypothetical, as history has shown us. Today’s debate is taking place just a day after the 59th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, which involved the collapse of a colliery spoil tip in 1966, killing 28 adults and 116 children.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Electricity Infrastructure: Rural Communities · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, pylon proposals are causing huge distress among our rural communities. They will not bring any real benefit to those communities. In fact, developers often bypass the rights of landowners, and the proposed developments will ruin our beautiful landscape. Does the hon. Member agree that electricity infrastructure anywhere must be done with communities, not to them?

• 20 Oct 2025 · Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy · Hansard source

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  The Education Secretary’s focus today is on the new vocational qualification training, which will be welcome for students in England. In Wales, however, where her party has led the Government for the past 25 years, the apprenticeship budget has been cut by 14%. Will she be lobbying the Chancellor ahead of the Budget to ensure that Wales has a fair funding settlement that would support apprenticeships?

• 14 Oct 2025 · COP30: Food System Transformation · Hansard source

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  COP30, as with past COPs, requires us to be more sustainable, and that includes food production, as the hon. Member said. In Caerfyrddin, we have a public farm producing vegetables for schools and residential homes, so public land is being used for public benefit. Why can all local authorities not follow suit, supported as we were by shared prosperity fund funding, and use public funds and public land for the public plate?

• 14 Oct 2025 · COP30: Food System Transformation · Hansard source

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  No, it is not a speech. Thank you, Mrs Harris; I appreciate your guidance. Does the hon. Member agree with that sustainable and seasonal way of reducing food miles by using public land?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The images of ceasefire and families reunited are deeply heartening and a moment of relief and celebration amid such immense suffering, yet this fragile peace remains vulnerable, particularly to the corrosive effects of misinformation. True and lasting peace must be built on openness, transparency and the free flow of information. What steps is the Prime Minister taking to press Israel to grant journalists access to Gaza as part of a broader commitment to truth, accountability and a just peace?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Future of Terrestrial Television · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. As the right hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) has set out, the future of terrestrial TV is uncertain once current licences expire in the 2030s. While some industry figureheads advocate for switch-off, I call on the UK Government to ensure that terrestrial TV retains its place as part of a hybrid approach that places the needs of our communities first, rather than business profits and that all-important bottom line. That is because switching to a digital-only model will not be easy for many people in our communities, including older people, as the hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) said. In Wales, more than a fifth of our population is over 65. As it stands, 21% of those over 65 have no internet access at home, and 23% of Welsh homes rely solely on terrestrial to watch TV, lacking any other means to do so. Let us not forget why people watch television in the first place. Beyond its importance in providing trusted news and information, 75% of people in the UK say that the availability of free-to-air terrestrial TV helps to reduce loneliness or isolation, which is a significant challenge in older, more rural areas such as my constituency. That rurality does make a difference. I was quite jealous when the hon. Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) said that 99.3% of his area had digital; I think we are at 49% in my constituency. According to Ofcom’s 2024 “Connected Nations” report, full-fibre broadband was available to 71% of all urban premises, but only 52% of rural premises and 48% of rural premises in Wales. As of January 2025, the figure is only 49% in Caerfyrddin. We do not have that digital connectivity, and many are unable to get decent broadband at all. Storm Darragh at the end of last year made our vulnerability crystal clear, when 745,000 homes were impacted across south and west Wales. Thousands were without power and water for a whole week. Communication issues in the storm’s aftermath were particularly shocking. Constituents had difficulty using alerting systems and receiving news and information that would have historically been provided by local radio stations, since turned digital. That drilled home the importance of non-digital infrastructure when things go wrong, including critical national infrastructure such masts. With numerous sites in Caerfyrddin alone, including Carmel, which serves 72,000 homes in my constituency, the terrestrial TV network has become a vital link for critical services such as emergency communications and utilities. The economic operational viability of this infrastructure should not be put at stake. Terrestrial TV should be made part of future emergency planning. I reiterate the calls made in this debate and ask for the UK Government to provide concrete certainty for terrestrial TV beyond 2034. It is clear that a hybrid TV model remains the best option, and one that works for everybody.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. After the insolvency of Allied Steel and Wire, money that workers paid into their pension schemes before April 1997 was not fully inflation-proofed through the financial assistance scheme. The previous Work and Pensions Committee recommended that the UK Government legislate to provide pre-1997 indexation. I have tabled two amendments to the Pension Schemes Bill to do exactly that. Can the Leader of the House allow Government time to update the House on actions to rectify that scandal and others, such as the British Coal staff superannuation scheme scandal?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  Absolutely, and I will come on to that in a minute. In Wales, between 75% and 90% of farmers will be affected by the policy, according to NFU Cymru and FUW. It is clear that this Government’s APR changes will not hit tax-avoiding wealthy land hoarders. Instead, they will punish working farmers in Wales, whose income dropped by an average of 34% last year, forcing many to sell what their parents and grandparents spent lifetimes building. And it is not just farm business owners. Family Business UK estimates that the changes will cause a £15.5 million reduction in GVA in my constituency of Caerfyrddin alone, along with the loss of 282 full-time jobs. The new inheritance tax rules will be introduced amid mounting financial pressures on our farmers, from the financial implications of bluetongue restrictions and testing requirements to the effect of Wales’s hottest summer on record on crops and pasture. Our rural businesses will also suffer, with car garages, food wholesale businesses and uPVC project businesses among those in my constituency that are hard hit by this Government’s BPR changes. All employ hundreds of my constituents. We cannot afford to lose our rural businesses or our family farms. We cannot lose the knowledge, the heritage and the community—the work that sustains and feeds our nation. Ahead of the autumn Budget at the end of November, I call on the Government once again: please reverse these changes before it is too late. Diolch yn fawr.

• 3 Sept 2025 · Property Taxes · Hansard source

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  I begin by referring the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I represent a rural, agricultural community. As we look forward to a Budget for Christmas, this Labour UK Government’s last autumn Budget remains of significant concern. The wide divide between rural Wales and Westminster was made clear as day last year when the Chancellor announced plans to restrict full inheritance tax relief from April next year to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Combining APR and BPR means that the asset value of the tools and the machinery necessary to operate a farming business are affected, as well as the agricultural land and property. While the Government maintain that this policy will affect only about 500 estates a year and that small family farms will not be affected, the calculations of the Farmers’ Union of Wales and NFU Cymru show otherwise. When I told the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs that 92% of one local accountancy firm’s clients would be hit, it was totally dismissed, but now even the producers of the research used by this Government to justify their plans have conceded that working farmers are more likely to suffer under the policy than the wealthy.

• 1 Sept 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  Data from the Israeli military shows that 83% of people killed in Gaza since October 2023 have been civilians. Killing at this mass scale for months on end is unparalleled in modern conflict. Will the Foreign Secretary act to place far more pressure on Israel to end the mass killing of civilians by suspending the UK’s current trade agreement with Israel and sanctioning those responsible for breaching international law?

• 17 Jul 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Coming from a rural background and constituency, and having visited London only a handful of times before becoming an MP, it was a massive culture shock to come here last July. Representing our constituents would not be possible without the kindness and consideration of the whole of the House, including the Speaker’s Office, the Table Office, the Vote Office, the Tea Room, the catering staff and those who ensure our offices are clean and tidy in the morning. All the staff play their part in ensuring that we are able to do our work. On behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) and myself from Plaid Cymru, as well as all the 2024 intake, I thank them for all the help we have received over the past year. I hope that the Leader of the House will join me in thanking everybody who ensures that the cogs of this place run so efficiently. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I stand to support new clauses 8 and 11, and amendments 12, 38 and 39, among others, which I will mention as I go through my speech. I promise to keep to the unofficial four-minute time limit. A week after the cruel Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill and its arbitrary eligibility cut-offs was first discussed, we are today being asked to amend and pass this deeply flawed Bill in a couple of hours. Of course, it is now a completely different Bill from what was first introduced—even the title will be changed. I am not alone in welcoming the removal of clause 5, which means that no one will lose vital personal independence payments so that the Government can save some money. However, unlike other hon. Members, I do not believe that the UK Government’s concessions make the Bill any more worthy to become legislation. The Government have conceded that placing an arbitrary cut-off date on PIP eligibility is unsupportable, so why on earth do they continue to do exactly that for claimants of the health element of universal credit? I commend the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) for amendment (a) to amendment 2, which would keep the health element of universal credit at £423.27 for all new claimants, rather than lowering the rate for people who are unlucky enough to require that support after 2026, which will cause real hardship. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that, without further changes, over 700,000 disabled people will still face a cut to their income of up to £3,000 a year by 2030. We do not know what data has informed that approach or how it will impact on the great people of Wales. An assessment of the specific impacts on Wales has been necessary since the UK Government first announced their welfare cuts months ago. Now that their plans have changed considerably, that impact assessment is all the more crucial. People in Wales need transparency and certainty about how the changes will affect their lives. In what functioning democracy does a Government Bill get fundamentally altered in the middle of the first debate on that very Bill, and then elected representatives are given only a few hours to scrutinise it before it is passed? We need time to scrutinise the Bill fully and effectively. We need time to co-produce it with the constituents whose lives it will affect. This is a chaotic and shameful state of affairs, especially in the light of the substantial impact that the Bill will have on thousands of disabled people on the lowest incomes.

• 9 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I am just coming to the end of my remarks, if the hon. Member does not mind. I am keeping to my four-minute time limit. The Bill should be scrapped. It is neither fair nor compassionate welfare reform. It is not fit for our constituents.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Road and Rail Projects · Hansard source

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  Spiralling costs mean that Wales is owed at least £4 billion from HS2, yet, as the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) said, we are set to receive just £445 million over a 10-year period, which will be used for five stations, with nothing west of Cardiff. St Clears in my constituency has been promised a station for years. Can the Secretary of State say if there will be any additional money for this vital project, or are we expected to be grateful for the continued underfunding of Welsh railways?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I have heard some really passionate, personal speeches in the Chamber today, and I thank all hon. Members for their testimonies and contributions. The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill is a direct attack on ill and disabled people, just to cut costs. Arbitrarily restricting eligibility for PIP, and cutting the health element of universal credit, will have devastating and lasting consequences. Whatever this Labour Government claim, there is neither fairness nor compassion in their approach to welfare. It is certainly not fair or compassionate for the people of Wales, who will be disproportionately impacted by these measures. I thank organisations such as Policy in Practice and the Bevan Foundation for their vital work in filling the absence of data for Wales, which the UK Government have all but refused to provide. Four of the 10 local authorities that are worst hit by the welfare cuts are in Wales, impacting on 6.1% of the Welsh population at a cost of £470 million for our communities. In Carmarthenshire alone, the economic impact will be nearly £17.5 million, and too many people will suffer. My constituents will suffer.

• 1 Jul 2025 · Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill · Hansard source

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  I will allow the Minister to answer that in his closing statement. I could not possibly comment. My constituent Clare Jacques has several disabilities, including arthritis. She currently receives PIP, which has helped her to build on her master’s degree in equality and diversity in work and allowed additional support, such as the ability to have a carer accompany her when necessary. Ms Jacques does not have four points in any one part of the daily living component. Versus Arthritis has calculated that 79% of people who claim PIP in Wales for arthritis alone score fewer than four points, which is nearly 17,000 people. This is not just about claimants. Mencap, which has been mentioned, has estimated that over 13,000 carers may lose their carer’s allowance in Wales due to caring for people with fewer than four points. The Government’s justification for this suffering is completely flawed. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found that 60% of recipients scoring four or fewer points are already in employment in England and Wales, rising to 63% in my constituency of Caerfyrddin. The UK Government claim that their amendments to the Bill will lessen the blow—we will have to wait until after Second Reading to see them—but they are set to penalise people who become disabled after the arbitrary cut-off date of November 2026. What data has informed these concessions, and what specific evidence suggests that people can pick and choose when they become sick or disabled, because that to me looks like discrimination? Legal experts for the Equity union agree that it could be “unlawful on the grounds of arbitrariness.” Such arbitrariness looks half-baked considering the PIP assessment review will be published only in autumn 2026. The UK Government’s amendments to the Bill do not address the fundamental injustice at the heart of these measures. Is plunging 150,000 people into poverty rather than 250,000 really a marker of success? Is only punishing people who will get ill or disabled in future, or those who turn 18 later, really a sign of a fair and compassionate welfare reform? I call on hon. Members across this House, and particularly my friends on the Labour Benches, to vote against this cruel Bill. The Labour UK Government must abandon these damaging plans entirely, and instead create a welfare system founded on dignity, equity and compassion, and one developed with disabled people and representative organisations. Plaid Cymru Members will be voting for the reasoned amendment moved by the hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) and against the Second Reading of the Bill.

• 30 Jun 2025 · Welfare Reform · Hansard source

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  The UK Government’s amendments to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill were not included in the initial statement on the Bill’s compatibility with the European convention on human rights. Discrimination is a real concern, given that two people with the same condition could receive different support, based on when they become sick or turn 18. Will the Secretary of State make an updated statement on compatibility and confirm that her Department has complied with the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act 2010?

• 19 Jun 2025 · UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy · Hansard source

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  The Chief Secretary’s statement made no mention of rural areas. When it comes to infrastructure, Welsh rural communities have for decades lost out, with a lack of investment in both our physical and digital infrastructure. Unfortunately, the £445 million on rail does not come anywhere near rural Wales. What are the Government doing to prioritise investment in disadvantaged rural areas in Wales?

• 18 Jun 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q9. Diolch, Mr Llefarydd. Welsh farmers are taking hit after hit, from Tory trade deals to Labour taxes. Now, on top of that, bluetongue restrictions affecting Wales and England will hamper cross-border trade. Over 550 farms on the border and key livestock markets rely on summer trading. Once-in-a-year opportunities like the Royal Welsh Show are crucial, and the disruption will be devastating. Will the Deputy Prime Minister commit to working with the Welsh Government on a scheme to compensate the losses?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Disabled People in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr iawn. Analysis from Policy in Practice has found that four of the 10 UK local authority areas worst hit by the welfare cuts are in Wales—and we only have 22 local authorities—impacting 6.1% of our population at a cost of £470 million. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s “Poverty in Wales” report, which was published last week, found that 37% of disabled working-age adults in Wales are already in poverty, compared with 19% of non-disabled working-age people. According to the report, relative poverty increases by 219% among households affected by the loss of both personal independence payments and the healthcare element of universal credit in Wales, with the average depth of poverty among affected households increasing by 65% to £538 per month. If the administration of the social security system were devolved to Wales, the needs and experiences of disabled people in Wales, rather than cost savings, could be placed at the root of welfare provision. More than four in 10 PIP claimants are already in the bottom fifth of the income distribution; the removal of this lifeline, at an average financial cost of £4,500 a year, will inevitably increase the rate of poverty in Wales and across the UK. The UK Government must urgently stop their welfare plans and instead listen and work with disabled people to address the challenges they face, rather than exacerbate them.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My constituent Mr Wayne Arnold has compiled a dossier of faults following an ECO4 upgrade at his home last year. I have the lever arch file here—it is two inches thick and well worth looking at. It has taken 62 weeks for the works to be completed. Another constituent, Judie Haines, cannot find local engineers to service the ECO4 system that has been put into her home. The company has become insolvent, meaning that my constituents cannot get remedial works completed. Will the Leader of the House allow a debate in Government time on the poor work that has been carried out under ECO4, the effect that that has had on vulnerable households and the lessons learned as we move on towards ECO5?

• 11 Jun 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q1. If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 11 June.