Monmouth MP David Davies has called the circuit of Wales an “outrage” and said “people are being sold a pipe dream”.

Speaking in a Welsh Affairs debate at the House of Commons today, Mr Davies said of Michael Carrick, the CEO of Heads of the Valleys Development Company – which is behind the ambitious Blaenau Gwent racetrack scheme: “Mr Carrick has persuaded the Welsh Government to put £9m into his company in order to develop this but has so far been unable to get the private sector to back it without assurance from the Welsh Government that it would provide £200m as a loan guarantee.

“He’s been involved in attempts to sell infrastructure projects… none of these have been successful. “I’ve spoken to people, many involved, who say that they feel down misled and in more than one case owed money.”

He added: “Nobody should be able to make £13m on a project before it’s even built. The whole thing is an outrage. £9m of tax-payer’s money has been wasted.”

The Circuit of Wales issued the following statement:

“The Circuit of Wales will study the David Davies speech carefully when it is published in tomorrow’s Hansard and will give its detailed response then.

“We fully respect David Davies MP’s right to Parliamentary Privilege. However, Mr Davies’ comments in the House of Commons today are just the latest example of his continued attempts to misrepresent The Circuit of Wales and its developers, based on misinformation and a misunderstanding of the financial structure of the development, despite having been provided detailed information about the project.
“It seems that, contrary both to his obligations as a local Welsh MP and as a Parliamentarian, Mr Davies has conducted a sustained campaign to undermine the efforts made by the Welsh Government to progress The Circuit of Wales, which has the potential to be one of the most significant regeneration projects that Wales has ever seen.

“The Circuit of Wales believes Mr Davies’ attacks are driven by party political motivations against the Labour-led Welsh Government. It is clear that Mr Davies does not want his political opponents to be seen to have been responsible for the success of a project that will benefit the people of Wales.”

The Heads of the Valleys Development Company plans to lodge a formal complaint about Mr Davies tomorrow to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

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