Island seat worthy of Protected Status
LAST Saturday marked Armed Forces Day across the United Kingdom. I would like to give huge thanks to our brave service men and women for their continued hard work and sacrifice.
Not only do they keep us safe and free from very real threats to our way of life, during this crisis they have provided invaluable support for our NHS.
They have provided invaluable logistical support in ensuring vital supplies are delivered to where they need to be, they led in the construction of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals and, as we witnessed recently here in on Ynys Môn, they have helped to increase testing capacity when and where it is most needed.
As your Member of Parliament for Ynys Môn I would like to pay particular tribute to the Royal Air Force personnel serving at RAF Valley, along with all those who work at the station in their support.
I send my profound wishes to the military community, both serving and veterans, who live on Ynys Môn.
As I am sure you will agree, it is impossible not to feel an enormous sense of pride in being able to call Ynys Môn, our island of unrivalled natural beauty, home. I am sure that you will also agree that, although our island is an integral part of Wales and of the UK, a heartland of the Welsh language and of Welsh culture, Ynys Môn is also unique.
Our island faces unique challenges.
Ynys Môn has vast economic potential and yet, tragically, over the last two decades people and communities across the island have been forced to endure an economic decline that should never have been allowed to happen.
Two decades after devolution, with all the promises that came with the establishment of the Welsh Assembly, we must ask why is Ynys Môn the most dependent local authority in the UK on tourism and one of the most economically deprived? It is essential that we ask ourselves why so many of our young people have been forced to move away in order to pursue their careers – a scenario that has been hugely damaging to both the vitality and long-term viability of the precious Welsh language and culture locally.
Ynys Môn should be a global leader in renewable energy production and, with the UK Government’s ambitious drive to end our contribution to global warming, we must seize the opportunity to develop a truly world leading renewable energy sector.
The delivery of Wylfa Newydd could help to create thousands of jobs and could ensure that Ynys Môn makes a hugely disproportionate contribution to the decarbonisation of our economy.
The Port of Holyhead, already one of the busiest ports in the UK and the gateway to Ireland, could become home to new and expanding businesses with the granting of Freeport Status.
Our farmers, who produce the finest agricultural produce in the world, to the highest of standards, should be exporting to markets around the globe.
Since 2010 it has been UK Government policy to reduce the number of MPs and to make the size of constituencies roughly equal in terms of the size of the electorate.
Although this is a noble course of action it would have meant that the constituency of Ynys Môn would need to be fused with part of the Arfon constituency – most likely with Bangor.
Given the scale of the challenges facing our island, and the uniqueness of these challenges, many people from across the island rightly believe that we need an MP who can concentrate solely on delivering for the people of Ynys Môn.
They believe that, like other islands around the UK, such as the Isle of Wight, we should be accorded Protected Status as a constituency.
I agree, strongly, with this point of view.
‘Protected Status’ will pave the way to preserve the unique nature of our island in the forthcoming boundary changes and will enable your MP to focus on overcoming the challenges and seizing the opportunities that we face.
It is something I have championed with Ministers on behalf of so many of you and I am delighted that, last Tuesday, a Conservative amendment to the Parliamentary Constituencies Bill giving Ynys Môn protected status as a constituency was unanimously accepted by MPs.
Under the amended Bill, Ynys Môn will enjoy the same status already afforded to Orkney and Shetland, the Western Isles and the Isle of Wight.
In proposing the amendment Conservative MP for Basingstoke, the Rt Hon Maria Miller, noted that “the people of Ynys Môn retain a strong sense of independence borne of centuries of separation from the mainland” and referred to Ynys Môn’s historic position at Môn Mam Cymru.
She added that “Ynys Môn possesses the same exceptional qualities of geography seen in the existing protected island constituencies” and that the amendment recognised “Ynys Môn’s distinctive geography, history and culture”.
I am delighted that this Conservative amendment has been accepted and that Ynys Môn is one step closer to becoming a protected constituency.
I know just how important this is to the people of Ynys Môn and I have actively supported the amendment on their behalf.
Although non-essential retail in Wales was permitted to open last month many businesses across our island decided, commendably, to delay opening as a result of the outbreak at the 2 Sisters plant in Llangefni.
I wish all those businesses that are beginning to reopen, having endured such a difficult 2020 so far, all the luck and success that they deserve.
I know how much work has gone in to making businesses safe for their customers and I encourage you to do all that you can to support our local employers and entrepreneurs.
‘Rwyf wrthi’n dysgu Cymraeg, ac mi fuaswn yn gwerthfawrogi eich cymorth, ynghyd a’r cyfle i gael ymarfer.
Pan fydd y cyfyngiadau ar symud trosodd, a petaech yn fy ngweld o gwmpas Ynys Môn, a fuasech mor garedig a fy nghyfarch yn y Gymraeg.
Diolch o galon.