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Comprehensive Spending Review

I make no apology for talking about rail electrification today. My background is very much steeped in rail; one could say that I am gamekeeper turned poacher. As I have worked for the industry, made every excuse possible, including the well-known hackneyed phrase, ““leaves on the line,”” and explained to irate people how members of their family have got lost on the Welsh rail network, I have got to know the industry very well. Swansea is a rail city. That might not mean a great deal in today’s terminology, but it means a great deal to us in Swansea. We have inherited the mantle of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He built this railway to last—a legacy that would continue long into the future. The news that the finances for the electrification of the south Wales main line had been shelved was a bitter disappointment to us in Swansea. I was bitterly disappointed that another prestigious project in Wales had been shelved, and the decision did not meet great acceptance in Swansea. We have all heard about the battles between Cardiff and Swansea, about how we have to have what Cardiff has, and that we have to have everything that is going because we are Swansea—the second major city in Wales. But it is important. We are the gateway to west Wales. There are Government Members who rely on the service. They have to make the journey down to Pembrokeshire and beyond, and it is not easy. When I joined the rail industry, we had a regular service to Fishguard and further west—I mean to the west [ Laughter. ] My mistake, but we would have gone further if we could have. We saw that wither on the vine. I am afraid that if we do not stand up for Swansea and if I do not stand up for rail electrification in Swansea, we will in effect become that extra bit at the end of the line. The thought of people hopping off electric trains when they get to Cardiff and then hopping on to tired old rolling stock and making a further, longer journey on older trains cannot be contemplated and must not be allowed to happen.