Rhys ab Owen: I am looking forward to seeing this commission engaging with people constructively across Wales. It is important to ensure that the future of Wales is in the hands of the Welsh people. Plaid Cymru, of course, still believes Wales can and Wales will be an independent nation one day. It's not a matter of if but when we become independent, but, for now, let our journey continue. And on that...
Rhys ab Owen: This is a very striking collection of commissioners who have broad ranging experience. I'm very pleased that this is the most diverse commission that we have seen in Wales to date, and it's encouraging to see more women than men as members of the commission. If I could just name a few members specifically: Dr Anwen Elias brings great academic experience to the commission. She's written...
Rhys ab Owen: —Counsel General, a more deliberative democracy does cost money. So, will the Counsel General commit to making sure that the commission is resourced sufficiently to enable the wider conversation that we want to happen to happen? Lauren McEvatt, the Conservative nominee, is welcome, and, obviously, a constructive Conservative. We still have a few of them left. And she has considerable...
Rhys ab Owen: I'd like to thank you, Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution, for your statement this afternoon.
Rhys ab Owen: There is no doubt that devolution in Wales has been a journey; it's been a long one. If you think of it for a moment, with our environmental hats on, as a rail journey from London—and the Llywydd will be pleased with this—to Aberystwyth. Now, there are very few who want us to stay in Paddington. There are even fewer who want direct rule from a viceroy-type John Redwood in a Whitehall...
Rhys ab Owen: Prif Weinidog, I share Mike Hedges's ambition, and agree with you with regard to the economic benefit of the real living wage. I'm dismayed by the Conservatives' comments, always trying to pit people against each other—it's sad and it's totally unnecessary. Prif Weinidog, there are 300 accredited living wage employers in Wales, including every single higher education sector in Wales—the...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you, Minister, for your responses so far. As you know, 20 per cent of the people of Cardiff come from BAME backgrounds, and, as you've already mentioned, it's crucial that children in these communities are represented in the curriculum and within the education sector. It demonstrates the importance of things such as the Betty Campbell award. On 13 December, I'm sponsoring an event here...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you for your answer, Minister. On a visit yesterday with Cardiff port, we discussed the amazing possibilities that Wales has in the area of renewable energy, and the conversation went on to devolving the Crown Estate to Wales as has happened in Scotland already. As the First Minister said recently and as you have suggested today, the managers of the port also believed that devolving...
Rhys ab Owen: 5. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the potential impact of devolving control over the Crown Estate in Wales on renewable energy? OQ57138
Rhys ab Owen: —but the figure was much higher in other areas, such as Ceredigion. So, are you looking to see how Ceredigion worked far more effectively? And also, there is no data on foreign nationals living in Wales. Where can we get that data? But, ultimately, it's a responsibility on us all here. It is a disgrace that 50 per cent of people in Wales don't vote in Welsh Parliament elections, so each and...
Rhys ab Owen: I'm pleased, Counsel General, to see this pilot. I am pleased to see the four areas extending the ability to vote, but I note that they are all urban, highly populated areas. Wouldn't it be better to have included at least one rural area? How did you come to a decision as to where to locate those four areas? Research commissioned by Welsh Government published in March 2020 states that one...
Rhys ab Owen: Well, we haven't had the vote yet, Darren, but—
Rhys ab Owen: Darren, what the Conservatives fail here is that this not an issue. It has not been an issue with elections in England and Wales in the same way as it was in Northern Ireland in the 1983 general election. We don't have compulsory IDs in this country as they do in Europe. Do you want that, Darren Millar? Do you want the civil liberties of people being taken away, that they need compulsory IDs...
Rhys ab Owen: While Welsh elections are becoming more and more inclusive and democratic, Westminster elections will see a step back with this Elections Bill, taking us back to the Victorian way of elections, with fewer people being able to vote. The work of voting reform should be in the realm of inclusion, not exclusion as you're doing at the moment.
Rhys ab Owen: According to the pilot—
Rhys ab Owen: Okay, Darren. Yes.
Rhys ab Owen: The health of our democracy is based on trust—trust that has been severely tested recently, yet again, by the antics of MPs at Westminster and corruption—and I use my words carefully—corruption at the very heart of Government. If the numerous well-paid second jobs aren't enough, the Westminster Government also are putting people off from voting by forcing compulsory voter ID. It is...
Rhys ab Owen: The Westminster Government itself has shown that 2 million people, including 100,000 people here in Wales, could lose the ability to vote because of the introduction of voter ID. Forty-eight per cent of black people in the UK don't have a driver's licence, and all of this, as the Counsel General said, is being done despite the evidence that there is no problem to resolve. Northern Ireland is...
Rhys ab Owen: Trefnydd, many in this Siambr will know that this Senedd has been built on a dry dock, and it's probably right to say that this building wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for the port of Cardiff and the coal of the Valleys. Therefore, it's apt for me to ask for a statement today from the Welsh Government about their ports and maritime strategy. As during the industrial revolution, our port...
Rhys ab Owen: Tomorrow, First Minister, the cross-party group on dementia will publish a report on hospital care, and at this point, I would like to pay a very deserved tribute to Lynne Neagle for her excellent work on this report before she joined Government. First Minister, the pandemic has once again demonstrated the huge importance of close collaboration between the health and social care sectors....
