Speeches by Ranger.

“I have a broader question as well. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff planned here and great things happening. Do we have the breadth and depth of resource available in terms of people, skills and materials? Is that a concern in terms of being able to deliver these projects speedily or as quickly as possible?”

“If I could take the Bidston-Wrexham-Liverpool connection as an example, is the extra benefit there mainly to Liverpool in terms of economy, or is an assessment done of benefits along the whole route?”

“I would like to probe a bit into how the decision-making process works. When you are deciding which projects to prioritise, what are the criteria that we use? Is it demand-led? Is it GVA improvements? Is it housing? How does that work? In a cross-border context as well, because for me and anyone on the Borders that is …”

“Thank you very much.”

“It does. Thank you very much. Did you want to add anything to that, Mr Millington?”

“That is really good to hear. I represent Wrexham, so many of those are really important to the people in my constituency and close by as well. Finally, Lord Hendy, in north Wales, the Government have prioritised the north Wales main line and the Borderlands line that we have talked about, but the North Wales Transport …”

“You referred in your earlier answer to the transport commissions for north and south-east Wales, and obviously your own UCR. This is a little bit on the same question, really. Can the public be sure that those recommendations are going to be delivered?”

“It is a real pleasure to speak in my first St David’s Day debate in this place, along with so many other new Members. The time around St David’s Day is always special, as so many have said. It is a moment of national and local pride for Welsh communities, a time when we celebrate everything that makes us proud of Wales…”

“One of the four priorities that you mentioned was connecting communities, which we very much welcome in north Wales. Particularly for communities such as mine, on the border, cross-border transport connections are absolutely vital to opportunity and growth. I would be interested to hear how you would assess recent…”

“I want to move on to looking at public funding in Wales. It was very welcome that in the autumn Budget, the block grant settlement for Wales was the highest in the history of devolution. In your Government’s latest draft budget, you stated that capital budgets have gone beyond what was expected. In your view, have the …”

“I remember the 21st-century schools programme. The benefits that it has given to Wrexham have been fantastic—the change it has made. There has been an on-and-off debate about HS2 for a long time now. On a wider basis, with that in the background, what other discussions have you been having with UK Government to ensure …”

“Obviously, we have got our spending review coming up later this year—in June, we think—so you may not be able to answer this question, but how should the UK Government support continued investment in Welsh infrastructure?”

“It is all about the bridges, is what you are saying.”

“Finally on that point, would you be aware or do you understand any effective bottlenecks such as further down the A55, perhaps nearer the Wrexham/Chester end or at Crewe station, for example, or Chester station that might have an impact on the port in terms of delaying traffic both ways? Is that a notable effect that a…”

“It would be interesting to see the outcome of that. To add to that, thinking about north-west England and north Wales, that whole infrastructure going across, we have touched on it in a previous question about the A55 but also rail as well. What improvements in that linkage would be the best things to help Holyhead pro…”

“Is there any chance you could send them to us if you have them?”

“Okay. I travel on the Holyhead train back from London most weeks and on Thursday nights it is very busy. There are a lot of people on their way to Holyhead, I am guessing to go to Ireland—I do not know. Do we have an idea of the reverse way, stuff going into Holyhead and where it is coming from? It is probably the same…”

“Do we have a heat map, maybe, on the travel that goes through Holyhead port and where it either originates from in Wales or goes to in Wales? I imagine there is a lot of trade that goes down the A55 route. It may stop off along the north Wales coast to businesses there or it may carry on through to Dover and on the lan…”

“I want to look at Holyhead’s importance to regional Welsh trade. To Dr Jones and Mr Browes, how important is Holyhead port to the Welsh economy, particularly in comparison to ports such as Milford Haven and Port Talbot?”

“It is a pleasure to take part in this debate on something that is fundamental to fixing the foundations of our country. It is worth repeating that public trust in our political system is in crisis. Fewer than one in three Britons believes that the UK is a well-functioning democracy. As has been said, we should be clear…”