'Impact of pandemic and accompanying economic contraction will clearly be felt for years to come'

MS for Alyn and Deeside

The impact of this pandemic and the accompanying economic contraction will clearly be felt for years to come. Whole industries have been hit and the UK Government has too often refused to heed their calls for sector specific support. This is something we certainly understand in this area, with the refusal to listen to calls to support local manufacturing.

I am pleased however that the Welsh Labour Government seem to have a much firmer grasp of what is needed. In particular, the recognition of what past significant downturns have seen real problems with youth unemployment. I grew up in Deeside and everyone talked about the recessions of the 1980s and the accompanying levels of youth unemployment. The damage that previous Tory governments have done remains raw.

This is why I welcome the Welsh Labour Government's Young Person's Jobs Guarantee. The Welsh Government's plan to provide everyone under 25 with the offer of work, education, training, or self-employment through its new Young Person’s Guarantee will help ensure there is no lost generation in Alyn and Deeside following the COVID-19 pandemic

Our young people hold the key to Wales’ future success. Their talents, skills and creativity are essential to ensuring our country’s economic success. This guarantee is about ensuring that happens.

This is a community built on high skilled manufacturing and we need to maintain that skill set if we are to produce the next generation of carbon neutral products here. As a trained engineer I know how important supporting training is to that task.

It is good to know that the Welsh Government are on the side of young people and I will do all I can to urge the UK government to change course and support important industries like our aerospace sector in Alyn and Deeside.