Carwyn Jones: Well, that's a particularly tricky question that I've been posed there by my colleague, but I do thank her for her comments and, of course, what she has said. It shows our commitment to investing in all parts of Wales. We've seen a tremendous change in the economy of Merthyr and Rhymney over the past decade, I'd argue, with Merthyr now being seen particularly as a place of investment and...
Carwyn Jones: We're delivering a range of actions, including the establishment of the Valleys taskforce, to support a stronger, fairer economy, and to allow businesses to develop, to grow and to prosper not only in Merthyr and Rhymney, of course, but across the whole of Wales.
Carwyn Jones: Yes. It was certainly very much an issue in the aftermath of the referendum that we saw a spike in hate crime. One of the things that I did was to go and visit communities around Wales—a Polish community in Llanelli, of course, and I went to a meeting in Swansea—just to reassure people that the Welsh Government and the people of Wales are welcoming, and that it wasn't the case, as some...
Carwyn Jones: Can I thank my friend and Member for the Vale of Glamorgan for her comments? We were promised that we wouldn't lose out on a single penny of funding, and that's a promise we intend to hold the UK Government to. I think one of the lost opportunities here was that the Prime Minister very much took the view before the general election that she was the one who would take this forward and did not...
Carwyn Jones: Well, yes I do. We know that there are many in the Conservative Party, and indeed we've heard it from UKIP today, who take the view that this is an opportunity to whittle away all those rights that have been hard-earned for so many years. They see it as a burden on business, whether it is a right to statutory leave, which 20 years ago didn't exist—there were workers in Wales who had no...
Carwyn Jones: It's rather strange, Llywydd, that I find myself standing up to almost defend the Prime Minister against attacks made on her rather than on me because it was all about what was happening in Westminster. I have to say that what is noticeable about Brexit is that those who smashed the window have run away and left those who didn't want the window smashed to put it back together again while...
Carwyn Jones: I thank the leader of Plaid Cymru for his comments. He asks about the strategy going forward. There will be a debate in this place either next week or the beginning of the week after. Our understanding is that the vote in Westminster will take place in the final week of Westminster sitting, which is a week after, of course, the Assembly rises, so it'll be essential that there is a debate in...
Carwyn Jones: Can I thank the leader of the opposition for his comments? He asks what the issue is with regard to the withdrawal agreement. It's longevity, really. It seems to me that the agreement kicks the can down the road. Where will we be in December 2020? Will we be in exactly the same situation again? We've already had two years, and here we find ourselves in a situation where the agreement is not...
Carwyn Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. It's symptomatic of the handling of the UK Government’s Brexit negotiations that I am providing an update to Assembly Members amidst the worst political crisis I have seen. As I will explain, it is a crisis that could have been avoided. It is a crisis rooted in a reluctance to be honest about the difficult trade-offs needed in the negotiations, and an unwillingness to build...
Carwyn Jones: I think the problem lies not necessarily in the idea, but in the implementation. And we know that there are design flaws in universal credit—that was highlighted in a recent Citizen's Advice report on the impact of universal credit on single, disabled people. So, for example, the work allowance can only be accessed through the work capability allowance. This means that someone must be...
Carwyn Jones: Well, we've repeatedly written to the UK Government, and will continue to do so, urging them to reconsider this damaging policy and to commit to targeting more support to help lift people out of poverty. We all see, of course, the flaws of universal credit, and the Member will be aware of the representations we have made.
Carwyn Jones: Well, I'm extremely concerned about the fact that many of our most vulnerable people, in the Cynon Valley and elsewhere, are struggling to deal with the complexities of universal credit. The UK Government must urgently address these issues before they move existing benefit claimants to universal credit.
Carwyn Jones: Yes. This is reflected, of course, in the This is Me campaign. I don't think we should go, as the Member said, to a situation where boys and girls are expected to behave differently. There should be respect on both sides because that suggests that girls should behave in a specific way—and the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire alluded to this—in order not to put...
Carwyn Jones: Well, we have provided, of course, funding to local authorities and third sector organisations for the implementation of the 2015 Act. We fund the Live Fear Free helpline and of course £969,000 of capital funding grant to acquire, maintain or upgrade fixed assets, such as buildings and equipment. But I take the point that what we need to be doing is making sure—well, two things: first of...
Carwyn Jones: I don't think I can add much to what the Member has said. She puts it so powerfully herself. When she mentioned the fact that women and young girls are particularly portrayed as victims, I started to rack my mind as to some of the programmes that I've seen recently, and she's right. I hadn't actually spotted it, so I'm grateful to her for raising that issue, and she's absolutely right that...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. She will see that, as if by magic, I now have a white ribbon attached. But she raises a hugely important issue and can I commend her as well for all the work that she's done in raising awareness and in combating violence against women over the years? We of course condemn all forms of abuse and violence. We work with specialist violence against women services in Wales to raise awareness...
Carwyn Jones: Yes. I've just realised I'm not wearing one, so I apologise for that first of all. To promote the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and White Ribbon Day, we are holding a Facebook live webinar, Ending VAWDASV in Wales; funding four community communication activities; and encouraging more of our male staff to become White Ribbon ambassadors.
Carwyn Jones: Well, there's always a level of cancellation that takes place beforehand in order to create the spare capacity for the winter period, given the winter pressures that we've seen over the last few years, although I would argue that certainly last year and the year before, those pressures were dealt with even though they were substantial and took up a lot of staff resources and time. Of course,...
Carwyn Jones: It's very difficult, of course, to pass comment on an individual. I have no doubt that where somebody's waiting for an operation they are in pain, and they will be anxious to know when that operation will take place. They'll also be anxious to know what resources are being made available in order that the time waiting for an operation is expedited. What I can say is that the number of...
Carwyn Jones: Tata is one example, of course, and Ford is another one. We've work very, very closely with the companies through some very difficult times, at times, to make sure that Ford with its 1,700 jobs in Bridgend is still there and looking to the future. What we have done, I believe, is replace many jobs that were low paid, low skilled, with jobs that are higher paid and higher skilled. That's where...
