Dame Nia Griffith

A very happy St David’s day to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to everyone here. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) on taking the initiative for this debate. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity in the St David’s day debate to highlight some of the very positive steps that this UK Labour Government are taking to drive economic growth in Wales, create more and better jobs, and help people cope with the cost of living crisis. Of course, it is our job as politicians to face up to the problems and tackle them, but too often we overlook the success stories—the real drive and determination of factory managers and business owners whose enterprises are doing well in spite of what are often challenging circumstances. Just in the last couple of weeks, I visited three such businesses. It was inspiring to see Shufflebottom Ltd in Cross Hands. Well known locally for its steel-framed agricultural buildings, it is now winning contracts for school buildings, the Ministry of Defence and leisure centres, including the splendid new Pentre Awel building in Llanelli, a Swansea bay city region project financed by both the UK and Welsh Governments. Then we have Dave Timbrell-Hill, whose Beer Park located at Dafen trade park in Llanelli—