PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Job Creation - 22 April 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)
Debate Detail
Contributions from Rebecca Smith, are highlighted with a yellow border.
Feryal Clark
Enfield North
11:49:59
Jo Stevens
The Secretary of State for Wales
Creating high-quality jobs across Wales is a priority for this Government. Wales is now punching above its weight in attracting investment, with 65 new foreign direct investment projects creating nearly 2,500 jobs in 2024-25. That includes more than 500 jobs in north Wales from Eren Holding, Knauf Insulation and Kellogg’s, alongside hundreds more in south Wales driven by Vishay’s £250 million semiconductor cluster investment.
Feryal Clark
One of the issues that set Labour apart from other parties is the sheer number of new jobs we are creating in priority areas such as tech, defence and our green industries in constituencies such as mine, Enfield North, as well as across Wales and the rest of the UK. Can the Secretary of State update the House on the new jobs being created in Wales and the opportunities that will provide for every family?
Jo Stevens
I thank my hon. Friend for recognising the scale of the opportunities and new jobs that this Government are creating in Wales and across the UK. Whether it is 3,000 jobs in new nuclear, 5,000 jobs in floating offshore wind, 8,000 jobs in our two AI growth zones, 12,000 jobs with our historic £14 billion commitment for Welsh rail, or 25,000 jobs in our freeports and investment zones, we are delivering generational change for people in Wales.
Rebecca Smith
South West Devon
In Wales, the south-west and across the UK, nearly 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training. Labour’s jobs tax, failed welfare reforms and damaging energy policies will worsen that crisis. Does the Minister recognise that when the Labour Government’s first response to any crisis is to tax business, businesses stop hiring, and it is young people in Wales who suffer most?
11:54:44
Jo Stevens
The hon. Lady might like to know that unemployment in Wales is lower than the UK average and has fallen since this time last year. Youth unemployment is also lower than the UK average, which shows that our plan to boost the Welsh economy is working. We are creating jobs and helping people into them right across Wales.
Mims Davies
The bedrock of our country’s defence rests on our crucial membership of NATO. The defence industry in Wales employs more than 15,000 people in well-paid and important roles. Yet the separatist Plaid, along with the Greens, opposes full membership of this deterrent, while Reform bizarrely claims all sorts of things like blaming NATO for provoking the war in Ukraine. Will the Secretary of State stand up for NATO, for more Welsh defence jobs and for the thousands in Welsh communities who rely on growing employment in this crucial sector?
Jo Stevens
That is exactly what we are doing. I refer the hon. Lady to the earlier answers to defence questions.
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