Llinos Medi MP: speeches

Speeches

• 15 Oct 2025 · Pride in Place · Hansard source

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  The Government are presenting the pride in place programme as a win for communities across the UK, but the focus of this particular scheme is on neighbourhoods of around 10,000 people. On Ynys Môn, only one town even meets that population threshold. That is not unique to my constituency; it is the case across Wales. Will the Minister explain why rural communities are excluded by design from this specific programme?

• 13 Oct 2025 · Digital ID · Hansard source

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  Thirty-one per cent of children in Wales live in poverty, and 25% of households in Wales are in fuel poverty. Given the scale of the crisis facing people, does the Minister honestly believe that an intrusive and unpopular digital ID system should be a priority?

• 8 Sept 2025 · Defence Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  SMEs like Affinity at RAF Valley, in my constituency, offer apprenticeships that equip young people with crucial engineering skills. It is vital that the defence industrial strategy’s new clearing-style system for apprenticeships works with local SMEs and colleges to expand these opportunities. Can the Minister clarify how the system will operate in Wales, where apprenticeships are devolved?

• 3 Sept 2025 · Hospitality Sector · Hansard source

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  Diolch, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for hospitality, events, major food and drink businesses in Wales. The hospitality sector in Wales has enormous economic value. It contributes £4 billion to the Welsh economy and employs more than 165,000 people. It also has immense social value, creating strong communities and providing opportunities for local people, often young people whose first job is in hospitality. However, the tax changes introduced by this Government have placed huge pressure on the sector. This summer, a report by Family Business UK showed that on Ynys Môn changes to business property relief and agricultural property relief could result in a more than £10 million reduction in gross value added, as well as the loss of 167 local full-time equivalent jobs. That pattern is seen across Wales. The report also finds that Wales will see some of the steepest forecast declines in investment, turnover and employment due to the changes to BPR and APR. Beyond the statistics are the real impacts on family-run businesses, such as Kingsbridge caravan park in Beaumaris, which has been family-owned for 26 years. Those running it say that the increases to employer national insurance have already forced them to reconsider employing wardens next year and have affected their ability to reinvest in the caravan park. Analysis by UKHospitality Cymru shows that of the 164,641 job losses in the UK since the Budget last October, some 89,000 have been in hospitality. About 2,600 of those are in Wales—roughly equivalent to the number of jobs lost at Port Talbot due to the closure of the blast furnace, but spread across our communities throughout Wales. The sector is crying out for the Government to recognise the urgent situation and to acknowledge that many businesses are barely treading water, unable to invest or grow. Hospitality is an important source of skills and growth for Ynys Môn and Wales, yet this Government are putting the brakes on that growth through short-sighted decisions. Thousands of jobs have already been lost and future investment has been cut. To prevent a bad situation from getting worse, the Government must rethink their damaging increases to employer’s national insurance contributions and the upcoming changes to business property relief, and give the Welsh hospitality sector the breathing room it needs to flourish.

• 2 Sept 2025 · Solar Development: Newark · Hansard source

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  Communities in Newark are affected like communities on Ynys Môn. Productive land on Ynys Môn creates good agricultural outcomes and means a good rural economy. Productivity on Ynys Môn is £4,000 below the Welsh average, and building new large-scale solar will have an impact on that. Does the right hon. Member agree that the Government should reject projects such as Maen Hir and undertake economic impact assessments on such developments to safeguard rural economies?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Speciality Steel UK: Insolvency · Hansard source

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  The Government have made direct interventions for steel jobs in Scunthorpe and now in Rotherham. That is no comfort for steelworkers in Wales; no similar measures were taken to protect their jobs. Can the Minister explain why her Government will save jobs in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, but will only help workers in Port Talbot to write CVs and search for new jobs?

• 1 Sept 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  Ukraine needs a just peace. It also needs financial support to rebuild. The EU has said that it will allow frozen Russian assets to be used in higher risk investments to generate more money. What discussions has the Secretary of State had on supporting the EU’s latest effort to use Russia’s assets to provide vital funding for Ukraine?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Taxes · Hansard source

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  Despite promises of economic competence and a brighter future at the election, the tax choices that this Government have made have undermined economic growth in Wales. Over 99% of all businesses in Wales are small and medium sized, and the increase in employer national insurance contributions has hit them incredibly hard. It has raised operating costs, meaning that businesses are less able to weather times of hardship, and it limits their ability to invest and expand. The impact has also been felt in our hospices. Yesterday, we received the devastating news of the temporary closure of the hospice on Ynys Môn due to financial pressures. This one decision is having a direct impact on our communities. One policy that the Government could stop before it is implemented is the proposed changes to agricultural and business property relief, which are set to take effect in April 2026. Having listened to the voices of family farmers and local businesses, it is clear to me that this policy will cause huge damage. As the Farmers Union of Wales says, if the reforms to agricultural property relief remain unchanged, the consequences for farmers, rural communities and food production in Wales could be devastating and irreversible. Plaid Cymru has been clear that there should be a Wales-specific impact assessment before this policy is pursued further, given the importance of agricultural and small businesses to our economy and communities. Instead of damaging policies such as raising national insurance and cutting agricultural and business property relief, we should be making the tax system fairer. We must follow the principle that those with the broadest shoulders should carry the largest burden. Instead of taxing small businesses and trying to plunder benefits, the Government should look at a wealth tax on assets over £10 million to raise the billions in revenue that are needed to support the public finances. Taxes are a political choice. Plaid Cymru would make choices that are on the side of communities in Wales.

• 15 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Solar developers are not playing by the rules when it comes to accessing the land of people on Ynys Môn. Government guidance states that developers must act reasonably when trying to obtain permission to access the land, but my constituents have received threatening emails and there have even been cases of developers trespassing on land. Does the Minister condone such behaviour, and does he believe that current guidance is strong enough to protect constituents such as mine?

• 14 Jul 2025 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  Diolch, Madam Ddirprwy Lefarydd. Climate change is a huge threat to food security. In 2018, losses in the Welsh livestock sector due to extreme weather reached £175 million, which is equivalent to 9% of the total Welsh agricultural output. Farmers need support to protect their livestock and crops. Will the Secretary of State listen to the concerns of the farming unions about the removal of the ringfence for Welsh agricultural funding? It could mean less money for climate adaptations, at a time when they are most needed to safeguard food security.

• 10 Jul 2025 · Electricity Market Review · Hansard source

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  The strategic spatial energy plan must ensure that new large energy projects in Wales work with and not against communities. There must also be a role for local small-scale projects, as these can deliver the large amounts of clean energy we need, with far less impact on our communities and the national grid. Can the Secretary of State say how the upcoming SSEP will put the needs of communities at its heart, and how it will support the expansion of small-scale energy projects?

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

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  Diolch, Dirprwy Lefarydd. This month, Ynys Môn’s status as a UNESCO global geopark is due its revalidation process to assess the functionality and quality of its status. The island is a globally significant site for geological study and appreciation, with a vast geological history spanning four eras, twelve geological periods and 1.8 billion years. Will the Leader of the House join me in commending the trustees and volunteers at the GeoMôn centre in Porth Amlwch, whose hard work ensures that Ynys Môn maintains its world-renowned status?