Llinos Medi: MP on her first year representing Ynys Môn

North Wales Chronicle

12 hours ago

In the 12 months that have passed since her election, she has repeatedly urged the Government for clarity on its plans for a new nuclear power station on the island at Wylfa, requested emergency government support after the Port of Holyhead's closure due to storm damage, called for devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales, voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and made her debut appearance on BBC's Question Time.
Reporter Matthew Chandler met Ms Medi last week to reflect on her first year in Parliament.
LM: It's quite amazing how quickly the year has gone. I would say in this last week or so, I've started to feel like I've got my head around the building, the expectations of me in the chamber, and of the mechanisms of this place.
But it's about how you strike the balance, because I am here to represent my constituents, and when the workload is so heavy here, and you're not in your constituency enough, that isn't good, either.
Sometimes, constituents contact me wanting to meet with me, and I've got to push them back a few weeks. I'm uncomfortable about that, especially when they're about serious matters.
I still feel new here, and I think I'll still feel new for the next three years.
Llinos Medi (first from left) with her Plaid Cymru colleagues in Westminster (Image: Submitted)
LM: It's totally dependent on the workload here. The last three weeks, I've been in London much more than on the island.
I've had to make decisions to go home midweek to meet some constituents who had serious matters that I needed to speak to them about. So, it's been quite challenging to get the balance right.
Sometimes, you make the decision to stay in London, and then you're in the chamber for four hours and are not called to speak, so you've not been able to contribute.
Being on Ynys Môn is really important, because I need to be able to be in touch with the people on the island.
LM: I would say the amount of emails and casework we get at the moment shows that we are accessible. We have had lots of good outcomes through our casework for individuals on the island.
We have surgeries, and have tried to arrange them in small rural villages, as well - not just the towns - so that people there feel they're accessible to them, too.
Also, the fact that I live on the island, I know the people there, I've brought up my children there, I've spent 43 years there… hopefully, that increases accessibility, as well.
LM: There was one piece of casework where the outcome on someone's quality of life was dramatic. She worked for a charity and had asked for support for some work she was doing.
I was at an event, and this individual came up to me and just gave me a massive hug. I had to hold back tears, because I knew my team and I were able to have a dramatic impact on somebody's future.
There have been other instances; somebody came to me and thanked me for helping with his benefits - his words were: 'I've been trying for 10 months, and you've sorted it in 10 days.'
There are other stories, where you meet people for whom the system just hasn't worked. They're trying so, so hard to succeed in life, but every barrier has been put in front of them, and the state hasn't supported them. Obviously, I have empathy for them.
Sometimes, people have just said to me: 'It's so nice that you understand how I feel.' One person said: 'You've given me the strength to be able to just battle through for a few more weeks.
It isn't about social media, or having pictures taken, it's about having that direct impact on someone's quality of life.
It's a team approach. I've got an amazing team on the island; my staff are very experienced, so I'm really, really lucky.
Having that knowledge of what's going on in your constituency impacts what you say and do here in London, and definitely motivates you more. It's always the most vulnerable who usually don't have a voice. I want to make sure they feel they have somewhere to turn to, and someone who can support them.
LM: Definitely. We all understand that the spend is increasing, and that we need to manage that. I totally get that.
But you don't take away a lifeline and expect people to just be able to manage. That's ridiculous.
Plaid Cymru have opposed Labour's welfare plans from the start, as we could see the dramatic impact they would have on our communities.
Poverty exists in our communities, and disabled people feel its effects worse than anyone else. pic.twitter.com/mXxduD0h3B
We know poverty is worse in Wales, and is 10 per cent higher among disabled people than in England. Some people use Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to plug the gap for housing allowance, so what you might have is more homeless people - so the state will be paying for homelessness.
They are trying to make out that they're going to make these savings, but in reality, it will cost more in the end. They're talking about getting people into work, but there's no clear plan about how they're going to help the employers to give those jobs.
I just find it really short-sighted. It just looks like sums on a paper, without any work done on the impact and the additional costs. It's giving with one hand and taking away with the other.
It's not just for people out of work, either. Some people use their PIP to pay for public transport to get to work.
We asked for a Welsh impact assessment because of the deprivation in Wales. Especially in areas like ours, where maybe some of the jobs are just seasonal work, it isn't as easy as they make out.
LM: Devolving the Crown Estate would just give us parity with Scotland. It gives you an extra lever on how you want to spend.
By 2029, child poverty will be at nearly 35 per cent in Wales. One country in the UK where it's coming down is Scotland - it'll be 19 per cent by 2029.
We've seen Wales' natural resources being drained from our communities, and the profits going with it… the only thing that we're asking for is that we have the profits in our hands, to be able to spend them in a way that will benefit our communities, and poverty is one of them for us that could have a dramatic impact.
Child poverty is just one example of what you could do with that. It is a problem for us all, because where children are in poverty, their educational outcomes are lower, so it becomes a long-term issue.
The government has tried to say that devolution of the Crown Estate would fragment the market. My amendment was for a two-year transition, anyway, and Scotland hasn't seen any fragmentation of the market.
This is a very weak argument. What they do know is that Wales will be producing a lot of energy, but they want the profits to go back to the treasury.
LM: I'd say that's quite challenging, because you've still got that same narrative there.
I was speaking to a young person last weekend who had lost his job, and his initial thought was: 'Oh gosh, I'm going to have to move away.' But when he started looking, he got a job instantly (on Ynys Môn).
LM: I did - it was because of this narrative. I think we've told our young people to think in that way. We need to make sure that everything is aligned on the island for our young people.
You will still hear me going on about Wylfa. I'm on the nuclear energy All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and the small modular reactors APPG, and I'm vice-chair of the marine energy APPG because of Morlais (tidal energy project). I'm still in contact with the local authority, Stena Line and the Freeport, and am constantly in contact with Menai Science Park (M-SParc).
LM: The decision on Sizewell C (a £14.2billion Suffolk nuclear plant given the go-ahead by the government in early June) is a positive step forward, because this government has shown they are in support of new nuclear, and have made financial decisions to show that support.
What I'm still doing now is pushing the government to give us a clear indication on what they think is going to happen at the site so that we can prepare ourselves.
If Wylfa comes, I want to make sure that we as an island, and also North Wales, maximise the benefits of the development. To do that, we need to work together and plan ahead.
The skills side is one thing, the supply chain is another. How do we make sure that local businesses can get into the supply chain, and can benefit and thrive? They can offer apprenticeships and grow as businesses, as well.
We just need that clear indication from the government that they will develop on Wylfa, and then we need a timeframe. As it is, people are disheartened.
LM: I do now. The last question I asked Ed Miliband (secretary of state for energy security and net zero), I felt his response was much warmer towards me.
The energy minister (Graham Stuart) has said himself in the chamber that I've raised this several times, so they definitely have heard me.
I think I've been heard, but what we want is the government to understand the importance of giving us that clear indication, so we can plan ahead and can fully benefit from Wylfa when the decision is made.
LM: I now have an office on the island which we struggled to get, and hopefully, it'll be opening soon.
We've got a phone line, and our email system, but it's not an exaggeration to say we have thousands of emails. We try our best to be accessible.
LM: I still feel, when I'm in that chamber representing Ynys Môn, that I've been given an amazing job to speak on behalf of its people.
What I've got the most pride in is my accent. When I'm stood there, I think about the young children of Ynys Môn hearing their accent in that chamber.
That's we why have democracy; so that we're represented by people from our communities.