I’ve joined Parliamentary colleagues in signing a letter to the Chancellor of Exchequer calling on the Government to show its support for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon in the upcoming Autumn Statement.  The letter calls on the Government to ‘send a message to the world that it is not afraid of large and innovative infrastructure projects’.
                                                                                                                                                                                
A Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon would provide a substantial economic boost for South Wales, and has the potential to create a significant amount of regular, carbon-free, UK-sourced energy. It would also present an opportunity for the Government to show its support for our steel industry. As members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Steel we’ve been pushing the UK Government to look at its procurement policy on steel, and this is exactly the sort of major infrastructure project that could serve as an important vote of confidence in one of our key strategic industries.
 
It’s also really important that we treat the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon as a starting point for further investment in lagoon technologies across the UK, and as I’ve emphasised to Ministers in the past, there’s no reason why a Newport Tidal Lagoon shouldn’t be on the agenda in the near future. It would provide a great opportunity to harness the immense power of the Severn Estuary, and could create jobs that utilise the skilled local workforce we have in Newport and the wider Gwent region.