RISHI SUNAK: Wales is proof that when Labour run something, they run it badly

Keir Starmer says that Welsh Labour is his blueprint for Britain. Let’s look at what that means: 20 miles per hour speed limits. A ban on building new roads. Tourist taxes that will devastate Welsh hospitality. Farmers taking to the streets furious at a Welsh government that refuses to listen to them.

Wales is proof that when Labour run something, they run it badly. And I am sorry that people in Wales are in Labour’s laboratory. Wales is a wonderful place, with people of great warmth, humour, and determination. They deserve better.

And that’s what the UK Government is determined to deliver.

We’re spending a billion pounds to electrify the beautiful North Wales main line.

I visited the area yesterday and saw for myself the new jobs and growth that will create. But that’s just the start of our plan for Wales.

We’re providing a record £18billion of funding for public services. We’re backing 28 levelling up projects with £440million of new money.

That’s going to fund everything from the regeneration of Aberystwyth seafront to a new engineering training campus in Blaenau Gwent, for 600 young people. We’re attracting new business, with investment zones in Cardiff, Newport, Wrexham, and Flintshire. We’re helping keep Welsh steel making alive with a £500million grant to Tata.

And of course, just like everywhere else in the UK, 1.2million workers in Wales are £450 better off this year thanks to our cut to National Insurance.

Welsh businesses are benefitting from our £11billion UK-wide tax cut on investment.

The last couple of years have been difficult. The legacy of Covid. The impact of the war in Ukraine on energy prices, conflict in the Middle East.

But we are now moving in the right direction. Inflation is down from 11 per cent to 4 per cent. Wages have been rising faster than prices for six months now. Mortgage rates are starting to come down. And in Wales, we can see businesses becoming more confident in our future.

Airbus is investing £150million into Broughton. Ipsen are pumping £75million into the local economy in Wrexham.

Yet for all the signs of improvement, Labour is holding Wales back. They’re squandering over £100million on more politicians. They’ve spent £140million on an M4 relief road that they’re never going to build.

And yet when the historic Port Talbot steelworks needed their backing, where were they? Deafening silence. When it comes to the lives and livelihoods of the people in Wales, the Labour government don’t have a plan.

Today, I believe that our Union is as strong as it’s been for a quarter of a century.

The forces of separatism are in retreat in Scotland. In Northern Ireland, power-sharing has returned after a two-year hiatus.

And we’re delivering for the people of Wales, even in the face of Labour’s attempt to holds us back.

All four nations contribute in different ways to the strength of the United Kingdom.

All four nations are better off, for being a part of it.

Ours is a remarkable union with a proud history. And together, we should have enormous confidence in our future.