Ann Davies

We all know that the hon. Member for Clacton supports coalmining companies that have left our communities vulnerable, in the same way that he supports privatising our precious national health service. We will continue to campaign to make all coal tips safe and ensure that Westminster rights the wrongs of the past by paying in full to do so. The failure to replace coalmining with an economic alternative has left communities in decline. Many people are now without hope and are angry at Governments in both London and Cardiff for not listening or caring. Other parties want to blame these problems on others in society, rather than on the politicians and private companies that have caused them. This debate is about justice and dignity. It is about ensuring that the people of Wales are not left to carry the cost, financial or emotional, of decisions made generations ago. Let us act now, not when the next storm hits or when the next landslide slips. Let us act because it is right and just, and because our communities deserve nothing less. This Government must revisit their approach to coal tip safety in Wales to fully support the communities who, after decades since the last coal was hewn from our valleys, still bear the burden of its legacy. Diolch, Gadeirydd.