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Vital infrastructure projects in Wales are being killed off because of the damage leaving the EU is causing, an MP has said.

Electrification of the south Wales mainline west of Cardiff and tidal lagoons for the Bristol Channel were both named by Swansea West MP Geraint Davies.

An independent review gave an emphatic thumbs-up to the first lagoon, planned for Swansea Bay, in January but the UK Government has yet to publish its response.

This has triggered fears that investors will walk away from the project, which supporters hope would lead to the creation of lagoons around Wales and in other parts of the world.

'Set to burn on the great altar of Brexit fundamentalism'

Swansea West MP Geraint Davies laid bare his concerns about the impact of Brexit on the project in a Westminster Hall debate.

He said the UK Government was dropping environmentally-friendly projects such as rail electrification from Cardiff to Swansea and the tidal lagoon and instead prioritising London and the southeast of England.

He stated: “My great fear is that the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon and rail electrification to Swansea are set to burn on the altar of Brexit fundamentalism... The Government is now facing a debt from the EU of perhaps over £50bn, which translates of course to thousands of pounds for every family in Swansea, every family in Wales.”

The UK Government, he claimed was not looking to the long-term but instead focused on how to pay the divorce bill for leaving the EU, describing Brexit as a “project that people realise doesn’t resemble anything like what they voted for”.

Lagoon will help South Wales make up for 'loss of mining'

Newly elected Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi delivered a passionate call for the lagoon to get the green-light.

She said: “The conditions around the Swansea Bay make it perfect for a project of this nature. Both the River Tawe and River Neath enter the sea here and this proposal would build 16 hydro turbines and a six-mile breakwater wall around the area, generating enough energy to power 155,000 homes for the next 120 years.

“Where the Government’s short-sightedness has created a huge hole in our capacity to power our country in future years, the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon offers us a way forward.”

The Labour MP looked beyond the environmental benefits and made the case that the economy needs the boost the project would bring.

She said: “West Wales was found by the Inequality Briefing to be the poorest region in northern Europe. Large infrastructure projects are few and far between.

“The Swansea Bay tidal lagoon offers a rare glimpse of the UK Government providing hope in an area too often forgotten about by those who currently run Westminster.”

Setting out the figures, she added: “The [tidal lagoon] has a projected £1.3bn capital spend, the majority of which will be spent in Wales and across the UK. The construction period itself is expected to contribute £316m in gross value added to the Welsh economy and £76m a year thereafter.

“In an area still struggling to recover from the loss of mining and manufacturing industries, the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon offers a bright future for Wales post-Brexit.”

In another push for the UK Government to respond to the former Energy Minister Charles Hendry’s review of the project, she said: “The Government has now been sitting on the Hendry Review for longer than it took Charles to conduct it and that is not acceptable. Investors’ money will not last forever and we need to move on.”

Carolyn Harris: Why are we stalling?

Swansea East Labour MP Carolyn Harris was just as adamant the project should go ahead

She said: “It would bring an estimated 2,000 new jobs to the region, and there will be a demand for approximately 100,000 tonnes of locally sourced steel. The tidal lagoon already has 1,300 British businesses registered on its supply chain database.

“This is a golden opportunity to use British resources to develop British industry in Wales. Why are we stalling?”

Making the case that it is even more important to back the project as the country heads towards Brexit, she said: “As Britain moves into a post-Brexit world, we need to ask if we want to be leaders or followers... Are we ready to be world leaders and develop this new energy source in South Wales, or are we going to be left behind waiting, this time for someone else to steal our lead?

“We can’t afford to let this slip through our fingers. We need an answer.

“We need the lagoon, and we need it now.”

Anglesey Labour MP Albert Owen said there was the potential to have a “cluster” of lagoons around Wales, including in Colwyn Bay.

The Wales Office is arguing 'strongly' for a decision to be made

Wales Office minister and Aberconwy Conservative MP Guto Bebb defended the UK Government’s record, saying: “I think it is worth pointing out that there are 45,662 sites [in] Wales which are generating renewable energy. That is a success story we should be proud of.”

He added: “I would say to honourable members who are concerned about the wait in relation to tidal lagoon that the Wales Office continues to argue the case strongly for a decision to be made. But that decision, as has consistently been stated, must be right for both Swansea, for the people who support the tidal lagoon in Swansea, but it also has to be right in the context of our energy policy and the cost of our energy policy.

“And that’s the decision that this Government will deliver in due course.”