, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Llywydd, may I also congratulate Urdd Gobaith Cymru on behalf of Plaid Cymru as they reach their centenary, and also on their success with the two world records? And I'd like to thank them for their incredible contribution to Welsh life over the past century…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First Minister, is there a much deeper and darker context here, with the legislation to curb the right to peaceful protest last night defeated in the House of Lords, the proposals to weaken the Human Rights Act, the attacks on an independent judiciary, the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Wouldn't turning the BBC into some British version of NPR or PBS in the United States, where expenditure per capita on public service broadcasting is only 4 per cent of what we spend here, wouldn't that have particularly grim impacts for us here in Wales, in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, is the proposal to defund the BBC anything other than a politically motivated skewering designed to throw red meat to the Prime Minister's dwindling band of supporters, and punish a public service broadcaster for doing too…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
And I think it’s perfectly reasonable, First Minister, for you to raise the issue of the implications, in terms of revenue, for both Transport for Wales and for the housing sector. I suppose the point is whether, in these particular circumstances, given the…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Given the scale of the crisis, I don't think it's an exaggeration at all to call it a cost-of-living catastrophe, then I think it's an important question that we must all ask, even within the limits of the devolution settlement: what more could we do to help…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First Minister, surging debt and the rapid and cumulative rise in the cost of living may soon overtake COVID as the biggest crisis we face over the coming year, plunging us ever more into poverty and mental ill health. Many of the key levers, of course…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Update on COVID-19
Thank you, First Minister, for the statement and also for the ability for myself and our health spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth, to be briefed by members of the technical advisory cell. Could I just say in general terms, my party believes that introducing…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
COVID is an airborne disease, of course, and we know good ventilation and air purification are very effective in combating infection. Is there more, First Minister, we could be doing on this front? Belgium has installed carbon dioxide monitors in schools and…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
First Minister, it's been reported that the Scottish Government may today be announcing some changes in social distancing around household mixing, but in the form of advice rather than regulations. I was wondering whether that is a policy option that is under…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Diolch, Llywydd. There is some optimistic news in the emerging evidence that Andrew R.T. Davies referred to, but it also finds that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine provide zero protection against the omicron variant, although the same caveats apply to…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Programme for Government—Update.
It's interesting, I think, this debate about the role of Government and opposition. It reminds me of a famous phrase by the American political scientist Robert Dahl, who once said: 'To say where the government leaves off and the opposition begins is an…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Programme for Government—Update.
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I knew that that phrase, 'a down payment on independence', would upset the Tories; they're very easily upset these days. But what I meant by that, what was on my mind, was another phrase that Raymond Williams coined where he…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
As you know, First Minister, your predecessor Rhodri Morgan was highly critical of senior leadership figures within the Welsh Development Agency having outside business interests that gave rise to negative perceptions. He said, and I quote: 'Business does not…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Well, Mr Thorley did seek board approval and also wrote to the then-Minister for the economy before taking up his paid role as the chair of Zip World. Perhaps the First Minister could confirm whether Mr Thorley's personal investment in Zip World was also…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Diolch, Llywydd. Can I start by saying how glad I am to see the leader of the Welsh Conservatives back in his place here? We've disagreed many times in this Siambr, Andrew, and I'm sure we'll disagree many times again, and sometimes passionately, but can I…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We've even recently heard some Conservatives in this Senedd raising their voices against multinational corporations buying up Welsh agricultural land. It's great to see the Tories as late converts against the unbridled operation of the free market, and I…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
One of the specific challenges facing the agricultural community at the moment is that multinational financial companies are coming into rural communities and purchasing agricultural land for the planting of trees in order to buy carbon credits. I was given…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you very much, Llywydd. As you know, First Minister, the winter fair is happening in Llanelwedd at the moment. I was there very early this morning, and it was a wonderful opportunity to speak face to face with farmers and representatives of that…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: British-Irish Council Summit Wales
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. In your written statement in response to the previous summit, I think you mentioned that the UK Prime Minister had not attended, and he didn't attend again. In fact, I don't think he's ever attended, and I don't think Theresa May…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Whatever the views of one on the content of the agreement, there are no two ways that this is a radical agreement that will deliver on some of the things that campaigners have been fighting for over decades, such as managing the housing market. But surely…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
As we say in the foreword to our agreement, the people of Wales in voting to create our democracy also wanted a new kind of politics. Now maybe we can forgive, and indeed pity, the Conservatives for being trapped in their Westminster mindset; many of them…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Diolch, Llywydd. I thought Darren Millar was remarkably reticent today about the co-operation agreement. Maybe, I don't know, he's regretting some of his attack lines overnight. But they said—and you said—that the agreement does nothing to help the people of…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
In a BBC interview just over a week ago, your counterpart in Westminster, Sir Keir Starmer, said he wants to make Brexit work. First Minister, can I ask you what you understand by that phrase or how you interpret it? Will you be advising him that, in the best…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Prif Weinidog, you mentioned Holyhead there and, of course, the Northern Ireland dimension of the UK Government's intransigence in pursuing the hardest of hard Brexits is calculated to make things much, much worse. The Westminster Government is now…
