Wales

The Secretary of State was asked—

1. What discussions she has had with farmers in Wales on the potential impact of planned changes to inheritance tax relief on the agricultural sector.

10. What discussions she has had with farmers in Wales on the potential impact of planned changes to inheritance tax relief on the agricultural sector.

Minister, welcome.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As a proud Welsh MP I am honoured to be here for my first Welsh questions.

We fully recognise the role of farmers and the agricultural community in Wales. That is why one of the first things that I did as Minister was meet members of the Farmers’ Union of Wales at the farm of one of its members just two weeks ago. I will be meeting with the National Farmers’ Union later today to discuss important matters for its members, including inheritance tax. This Government have also made sure to protect the farm budget for Wales, ensuring that the full £337 million has been allocated to the Welsh Government.

I welcome the Minister to her place. The impact of the changes to IHT goes far beyond just farmers. Last month, a Pembrokeshire farm gathered 57 businesses from vets, machinery dealerships, and milk processors, to electricians and fencing companies, employing almost 11,000 people. Almost half of those were totally reliant on incomes from local farms. Have the Government fully considered the ripple effect of that policy on farms in Wales and across the UK, including in my constituency?

This Government want to strike a fair balance between supporting farmers and fixing our public finances on which our communities, including those important agricultural communities, rely so heavily. The vast majority of farmers will not be affected by this change, and they will be able to pass the family farm down to their children. Welsh Conservatives voted to block the support reaching Welsh farms in March, which shows that the Conservative party just does not care for farmers and the agricultural community.

I welcome the Minister to her position at the Dispatch Box. I know she will be excellent at the job. I also refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Welsh farming is central to the Welsh economy—we can all agree on that—but it is now facing a double whammy from the mad sustainable farming scheme from Labour in Cardiff, and the frankly bad family farm tax that has been dreamt up by Labour in London. The Farmers’ Union of Wales tells us that more than 85% of active farms in Wales will have IHT bills that exceed their incomes. That spells economic disaster. Why is Labour so deaf to the voice of farmers in Wales?

As I said, the Government want to strike that fair balance, and that is what they are doing. Our reforms mean that the majority of those claiming agricultural property relief will not be affected. That is a fair approach that balances fixing our public finances after the chaos of the Conservative party, and maintaining much needed support for families, farms and the wider rural agricultural community.

I welcome my hon. Friend to her place. Was she as shocked as I was last year that Plaid Cymru and Conservative Senedd Members voted against the £300 million funding for Welsh farmers? Will she join me in urging them to stop playing political games, put the people of Wales first, and work with the Welsh Government constructively to ensure that we do not have uncertainty for our farmers and our public sector, which we all depend on in Wales?

I thank my hon. Friend and pay tribute to her work in this role prior to my appointment. I completely agree: the Welsh Government published their outline draft budget earlier this month, and are working with Opposition parties to ensure that it has broad support. The question everyone in Wales wants the answer to is whether the Opposition parties will vote against billions of pounds for public services, including vital support for Welsh farmers, just like they did last year.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

I note that it takes three women to take me on now, but I very much welcome the Ministers to their places. Charles Rees, a fifth generation Pembrokeshire farmer, has bravely and moving shared his battle with cancer on the BBC’s “Countryfile”, and I know this House will send him and his family our best wishes. His illness is not his only worry; he is also seriously concerned that his son, who is running his farm, could now be facing an unaffordable inheritance tax bill of £1 million, solely due to this Government’s catastrophic family farm tax. Despite Ministers saying differently, Charles and many other farmers across the country are fearing for their livelihoods, their way of life, their futures, and for food security. Will the Government scrap the family farm tax?

I reiterate that our reforms mean that the majority of those claiming the relief will not be affected. As confirmed by the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), there will be no change and no U turn on inheritance tax. This policy strikes a fair balance and is fixing our public finances, after the chaos that the Tories left, while protecting our rural communities.

2. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing economic growth in Wales.

9. What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on increasing economic growth in Wales.

Economic growth is the No. 1 priority for this Government. The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. Wages are up, inward investment is up, inactivity is down on the year and interest rates are down. This Labour Government are delivering for working people all across Wales and the United Kingdom.

It is brilliant that last month a total of £214 million was invested in communities across Wales as part of the Government’s pride in place scheme. In my patch, I was delighted that earlier this year Scarborough was awarded £20 million through the plan for neighbourhoods. These initiatives will give local people the power to decide how funding will transform our towns. Will the Secretary of State update the House on how funds such as these will boost local economic growth and restore pride in our communities?

Through the pride in place initiative, we are putting power and resources directly into the hands of local communities, from Conwy to Carmarthenshire, giving them the ability to decide the priorities that matter most and the funding to pay for visible and lasting change. In Wales, 14 communities will benefit from £20 million of investment, alongside a further £34.5 million benefiting every single local authority across Wales. Together, the investments will help revitalise high streets and improve public spaces and community facilities, which is a central part of our mission to boost the economy and break down barriers to opportunity.

As the MP for the centre of London, including Paddington station, I know how interconnected our countries and our economies are. In stark contrast to the nationalist parties of Reform and Plaid Cymru, the Labour Government are focused on job creation. Will the Secretary of State update us on the impact of Plaid Cymru’s damaging independence plans?

Plaid Cymru’s disastrous plans for independence will cost Wales £21.5 billion every year— over £11,000 for every working age person in Wales or over £7,000 for every adult and child in Wales, every single year. The people of Wales deserve to know what public services Plaid Cymru will cut or what taxes it would raise to pay for its divisive, separatist plans?

It is not just farmers but lots of other family businesses who are terrified for their future. Under the business property relief, a company worth £20 million would have to pay £4 million in tax, yet that responsibility falls not on the business but the person who inherits it, so they will have to extract another £4 million to pay that tax, crippling family businesses, crippling investment and hurting growth in Wales. That is true, is it not?

It is certainly not. The right hon. Gentleman will have heard of tax planning, and so will the people he has been talking about. Investment is up in Wales and we have had record inward investment in Wales, with a 23% increase on the previous financial year and a 30% increase in jobs created. The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 in the first half of this year. Businesses are growing, developing and creating jobs under this Government.

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Under the watch of the current Secretary of State, opportunities for young people are now unbelievably dire. Despite what she says, unemployment is rising and employment is falling, and that situation is not good enough for the next generation in Wales. Last week, my colleague, Darren Millar, who is the Conservative leader of the Senedd group, met the Welsh First Minister—does anyone know who that is?—offering to potentially support the Welsh Government’s budget, provided Labour Ministers agree to scrapping Welsh stamp duty. That would help young people on to the property ladder in Wales, where it is the hardest to achieve that, and boost the Welsh economy. Will the Secretary of State confirm that she agrees with scrapping Welsh stamp duty? If so, what measures is she taking to persuade Baroness Morgan of Ely to scrap the tax in Wales?

I am very glad that the hon. Lady knows the name of the Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, because clearly her colleague the shadow Home Secretary, the right hon. Member for Croydon South (Chris Philp), does not. They must have ended their fight about who is the actual leader.

We are delivering for the people of Wales. We have ended Tory austerity, and we have the largest budget settlement in the history of devolution, with nearly £5 billion extra to spend on public services over the next three years. We are creating jobs, and we have increased the minimum wage and the national living wage for 160,000 Welsh workers. We are fixing the foundations and the chaos that the hon. Lady’s party left behind.

Allow me first to congratulate Lindsay Whittle on his seismic victory in Caerphilly. In doing so, I pay tribute to the late Hefin David, whose service to his community was deeply respected. As Mr Whittle has said: “He will be a hard act to follow. I will never fill his shoes but I promise you I will walk the same path that he did”.

The result shows that people in Wales seek real change. In her capacity as Secretary of State at the Wales Office, what is she doing to press the Labour Chancellor to include measures that benefit Wales in the autumn Budget?

I thank the right hon. Lady for her words about our late colleague Hefin David. I congratulate Lindsay Whittle on his victory and on becoming a Senedd Member; I am sure that he will work very hard for his Caerphilly constituency for the next six months. As she will know, I am not going to comment on discussions between myself and the Chancellor ahead of the Budget. She will have to wait and see what the Chancellor says on 26 November.

None the less, I think we all know that the autumn Budget risks falling short of tackling the deep poverty and lack of opportunities that still scar far too many Welsh communities. We need to tax income from wealth fairly, scrap the two child limit and ensure that families have the support they need to cope with rising costs. The Secretary of State tells me to wait for the Budget. Perhaps she is therefore prepared, for once, to meet with me to discuss Plaid Cymru’s proposals for a fairer, more ambitious UK Budget that actually works for Wales. Will she meet with me?

I am very happy to meet with the right hon. Lady.

I thought so.

3. What recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reducing the cost of living in Wales.

I have regular discussions with the Chancellor and Treasury Ministers on a wide range of issues, including the cost of living. This Labour Government are on the side of working people. That is why we have already taken action by increasing the national minimum wage and the national living wage for 160,000 workers across Wales. We have frozen fuel duty and extended the warm home discount. There is more to do, and we are determined to put more money into people’s pockets right across Wales.

A century of Labour taking the people of Wales for granted came crashing down last week with the sensational victory of Plaid’s Lindsay Whittle in Caerphilly, with Labour reduced to third place. Why would anybody accept any more Labour, as Labour’s cost of living soars, its Westminster perma crisis deepens, and 700,000 people in Wales live under its poverty prospectus? The Secretary of State will not say what she is going to speak to the Chancellor about, but does she think the Chancellor is ready and willing to help the people of Wales? The people of Wales feel abandoned by Labour over the last five decades.

I am not sure whether the hon. Member has ever been to Caerphilly or even to Wales. If he has, that is good; if he has not, he needs to be careful about what he says about the people in Wales. He absolutely does not know what he is talking about. His party’s record in Scotland is nothing to boast about. Nationalists will divide the United Kingdom, costing Wales £21.5 billion every single year.

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

I welcome last month’s news that Newport city council and Caerphilly county borough council will each receive £21.5 million from the UK Labour Government’s Pride in Place scheme. That funding will empower communities across my constituency to invest in community assets and their local high streets, drive local growth and create jobs, thus reducing the cost of living. Does the Secretary of State agree that at last in Wales, we have two Labour Governments delivering for the people of Wales?

My hon. Friend, the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, is absolutely right. Our pride in place programmes, the local growth fund, the city and growth deals, the investment zones and our freeports are all the result of having two Labour Governments working together for the benefit of everyone across Wales. Taken together, they will boost the economy, draw in further investment, create thousands of jobs and raise living standards across Wales. They demonstrate this Government’s commitment to growth—practical, visible, long term investment that empowers local communities and delivers real benefits for them.

4. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Welsh Government on the replacement of overhead pylons with underground cabling.

Overhead lines are much cheaper to build; according to the Institution of Engineering and Technology, undergrounding costs an estimated four and a half times more than overhead lines. Overhead lines are also quicker to build, cause less environmental damage, and are much easier to maintain. The cost of building this infrastructure is borne by electricity bill payers, and Plaid’s policy on undergrounding will not only increase bills, but suffocate the economic potential of Wales’s green industrial revolution.

My constituency is the location of two major infrastructure projects—a network of pylons of 97 km and 60 km, alongside 248 wind turbines that are 230 metres tall. The cumulative impact of these projects is significant, occupying land that could support other development, and it remains unclear whether they will lower electricity bills or improve electricity connectivity for local households or businesses. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Welsh Government to ensure that those projects deliver genuine benefits for our communities?

I have heard what the hon. Lady has said, but we do have a policy to ensure that communities that host clean energy infrastructure can directly benefit. The new community funds guidance aims to improve the consistency and amount of funding for communities that could be used for local projects. Turning to bill discounts, we are introducing a scheme that will provide household discounts to those living closest to new and significantly upgraded transmission infrastructure projects.

I like my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies), and Plaid wants to be taken seriously as a party of government, but it fails to recognise the importance of the role that renewable energy will play. Does the Secretary of State agree with RenewableUK Cymru, which recently concluded that Plaid’s approach would cost jobs and investment in communities such as mine in Pembrokeshire?

Labour is the only party that is committed to investing in renewable energy, which will bring down bills and create thousands of jobs for people right across Wales. Plaid and Reform are against renewable infrastructure, and Plaid and the SNP do not want nuclear—Plaid’s economy spokesperson in the Senedd is anti nuclear. Plaid is happy to see people pay higher bills, to spurn investment, and to see job opportunities slashed.

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

During the second world war, over 200 people were forced to leave their homes and give up their land in the Epynt when more than half of the community was taken for use by the Ministry of Defence. The people of the Epynt understood why that sacrifice had to be made, but now, Bute Energy and its wealthy investment backers want to take the rest of the Epynt. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Epynt has already sacrificed enough, and will she work with me to defend the Welsh countryside from once again having its wealth extracted from it, with no benefit to local communities?

It sounds like the Liberal Democrats in Wales have the same position as Plaid Cymru. Our priority is to drive growth, lower bills and create jobs for people through our new green energy revolution, including those in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. Investment in his constituency is something he should be welcoming.

5. What discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the adequacy of accommodation for asylum seekers in Wales.

We inherited a broken asylum system in absolute chaos from the Tories, with tens of thousands stuck in a system dependent on expensive asylum hotels. We are committed to ending the use of hotels as asylum accommodation as soon as possible and before the end of this Parliament, as part of a controlled, managed and orderly programme.

Under the Welsh Labour Government, waiting lists, educational standards and opportunities for young people have all ground to an abrupt halt. It is therefore shocking that the Welsh Labour Government are not prioritising issues that would make a real difference to the people of Wales. Instead, Labour Ministers, supported by Plaid Cymru, are ploughing tens of millions of pounds into their nation of sanctuary policy, which is believed to support services for some illegal immigrants. Does the hon. Lady agree that it is high time her colleagues scrapped this wasteful, non devolved policy and instead focused their time on lowering NHS waiting times and improving standards?

It sounds like the hon. Member does not agree with welcoming the thousands of Ukrainian refugees that the UK Government’s nation of sanctuary has supported. The scheme has been used to welcome Ukrainian families fleeing from Russian aggression. That is a cause that I understood her party supported.

I associate myself with the remarks of the leader of Plaid Cymru in paying tribute to Hefin David, my friend and colleague. He was an amazing representative for Wales and a real warrior for those who are neurodivergent or find themselves on the margins of society.

I am delighted that Caerphilly is so popular today. It seems that so many people who have either only visited several times, or not visited at all and have only read about it in the press, have become experts about my constituency.

I am also pleased that the Minister has raised the plight of Ukrainians who came to Wales to seek sanctuary, running from war, because if there was one downside to the by election, it was the talk of asylum seekers being bad people—that they are all illegal and that they do not contribute anything. Those who said such things should see the exhibition that was on at Caerphilly council and see what asylum seekers have contributed. What message does the Minister have for those Ukrainians who are still seeking asylum in Wales?

We offer sanctuary for those who desperately need it, and we are proud of that, but we inherited contracts and a broken system from the Conservatives. Hotel use has nearly halved since the last election, and we have removed 30,000 people who have no right to be here, ensuring that those who do need to be here have the welcome and support that they need. It is not job done, but work in progress. We can compare that with the 14 years of the Tory Government.[Official Report, 20 November 2025; Vol. 775, c. 7WC.] (Correction)

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

After wantonly scrapping the Rwanda scheme, the Labour Government are now overseeing record breaking figures of illegal immigrants. It is reported that the scandal is now engulfing north Wales, where more than 200 illegal immigrants have tried to gain entry to the country on ferries from Dublin to Holyhead. Meanwhile, there is talk about Penally military camp in south west Wales, which was previously condemned by the Welsh Labour Government. It appears that their policy, along with Reform’s, is from boats to barracks, as is happening in Scotland and Sussex, yet Plaid says that there is no such thing as illegal immigration. Does the Minister agree that her Government and Plaid have no idea about and no interest in how to make our borders safe?

I fear that the Conservatives forget about the chaos that they created. We inherited a broken system after 14 years of chaos, and contracts that we have to honour, but in the past year we have halved the use of hotels. We have removed 30,000 people who have no right to be here. It is not job done, as I say, but it is a work in progress. We can compare that work in just one year with 14 years of chaos under the hon. Lady’s Government.[Official Report, 20 November 2025; Vol. 775, c. 8WC.] (Correction)

6. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve cross border rail connectivity between Wales and England.

We are investing at least £445 million in Welsh rail in order to right years of underfunding by past Governments. That will mean new stations and more and faster trains along the key lines, and will improve cross border connectivity, create jobs and boost economic growth.

I thank the Minister for that £445 million investment, which will be a fundamental driver of economic growth and connectivity in south Wales. What action is she taking with Cabinet colleagues and industry partners to ensure that a new station serving my constituents in Magor and Undy is delivered without delay, getting my constituents on track, and faster, towards their destinations?

My hon. Friend has been a strong champion for this rail investment, which is the key to unlock Wales’s economic potential. It includes funds to progress the five Burns stations in Cardiff East, Newport West, Somerton, Llanwern and Magor and Undy. I will continue to work with the Wales Rail Board and the Welsh Government to ensure that the community my hon. Friend represents is given the infrastructure that it needs.

The huge potential of both the north west of England and north Wales is being held back by poor rail infra structure. The last Conservative Government committed themselves to spending at least £1 billion to upgrade and electrify the railway lines from Crewe and Warrington through Chester and into north Wales, but this Labour Government have scrapped those transformational plans, at a time when economic growth is a priority. Will the Minister seek to reinstate the vital rail infrastructure investment in the Mersey Dee and north Wales region?

That money just did not exist. We are investing a historic £445 million in Welsh rail to right years of underfunding by previous Governments, unleashing Wales’s economic potential. That will mean new stations, faster trains on key lines, and connecting people with well paid and better jobs right across Wales. Two Governments are working in partnership to deliver for the people of Wales.

Order. Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, may I welcome, in the Gallery, the honourable Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and his delegation?