Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for that response, but, eight years ago, Peter Hain and Jane Davidson announced that the M4 would become a hydrogen highway for Wales and, by now—for two years, in fact—there would have been a list of places where hydrogen could be stored and used as part of decarbonised transport. We haven’t seen that dream realised and we’ve seen virtually no progress over the past few...
Mr Simon Thomas: 4. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to support the hydrogen economy in Wales? OAQ52431
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Member give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm grateful. He's touched on a very important thing, which, as he's quite rightly said, hasn't been—apart from a short contribution from Dai Lloyd there—aired in this debate. He may be aware—well, he is aware, I know, but I just wanted to get it on record as well—in his own area, of course, there is the start of some of the answers to this twin dilemma of vehicle emissions and...
Mr Simon Thomas: Just on that point—reminding us of legislation in the past—one implication from the London Clean Air Act was opening the phurnacite plant in Cwm Cynon in order to clean the coal to be used in London, and it was the people in the Valleys who had that smoke. That’s what we need to avoid, and that’s why modern technology is so important.
Mr Simon Thomas: Now I can be political, Chair. [Laughter.] Thank you very much. I'm very pleased to open this debate, which, of course, is a cross-party debate, supported by Members from all parts of the Chamber on Clean Air Day, which is tomorrow, and we, as Plaid Cymru, have used it as a good way of making a clean air action week, but, whichever way you approach it, I know that there is great interest in...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank Mark Reckless. I'm not going to be tempted to a debate on austerity, wearing a more political hat, and I'll just deal specifically with his questions. I think there's a slight confusion here, if I may be clear around it. The overall budget that the Finance Committee considered, presented by the Commission, included that sum of money for the remuneration board, in effect. As there is...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thanks, Suzy Davies. And, of course, I'm always open to debate; I enjoy debates as much as anyone here, but I thought we'd try a different approach on this occasion. I'll take feedback and see whether it is the best way, but it has allowed her to make her points, to be fair. I really can't, I think, do more than reiterate what I said to Mike Hedges, which is, to be quite clear, that I think...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank Mike Hedges for his comments, which have the value of being consistent. He's consistently said this, and they've been consistently clear and transparent as well, so I thank him for that. I don't disagree with him, and he reflects the points that I was making earlier that in our own spending and our own budget setting we have to act like the rest of the public sector in Wales. We're...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank Nick Ramsay for his comments. As he suggested, this may be the bubble debate to end all bubble debates, but I think it is actually quite important, because how we budget and spend our own money—because I talked in the statement about the Commission, the Commission is the Assembly, of course—so how we spend and budget our own money has to look and feel like how we expect other...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. For some months, the Finance Committee has been undertaking work in relation to the Assembly Commission’s use of the underspend resulting from the remuneration board’s determination. We've published a report, but the situation has changed during the last few weeks. So, we were hoping that a statement and questions would be a better way of...
Mr Simon Thomas: I think that was an answer to the previous question. [Laughter.] Now, it’s very possible, in light of what the Llywydd has said, that she won’t be able to answer this question, but she will be able to convey the message to the Commission side on the board. I noticed recently that the future generations commissioner had written to all pension funds in the public sector in Wales outlining...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m grateful to the Llywydd for that response. She will be aware, of course, that it’s been common practice for Assembly Members to use this ability to engage and to meet fellow parliamentarians, not only in Brussels, but in countries that are member states of the European Union, with some flexibility under the Commonwealth approach in order to visit countries that are further afield,...
Mr Simon Thomas: I think this one will run and run, and we'll see the reality of the agreement as other things emerge. One of the things that will be emerging today in Westminster, of course, is the final vote, in my view, to uphold parliamentary sovereignty and to make sure that Parliament, not Government, has the final meaningful say on the Brexit deal agreed and negotiated with the European Union. In March...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his reply. The difficulty, I think, is that I can see this as part of a pattern of behaviour by several Conservative Ministers now, which, I'm afraid, I think that the Welsh Government is facilitating rather than preventing—inadvertently, perhaps. I'll give you another example of this that's emerged in the last couple of weeks. As you know, you have an...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Llywydd. And as we’ve just heard during this session, structural funds have been extremely important for Wales and for the Welsh economy. As part of the preparations for withdrawing from the European Union, the Finance Committee has started an inquiry into the structural funds, for example, what will replace them: the shared prosperity fund, Horizon 2020, which has just...
Mr Simon Thomas: 2. What support will the Commission provide to Assembly Members to maintain international networks if the UK leaves the European Union? OAQ52371
Mr Simon Thomas: What additional funding will the Cabinet Secretary provide to the energy, planning and rural affairs portfolio to support decarbonising the public sector?
Mr Simon Thomas: What discussions has the Leader of the House held regarding ensuring more support for victims of stalking?
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm not sure if I completely agree because we'll wait and see what happens tomorrow with the further iteration of this process. What I was referring to, however, was the idea that the Prime Minister can actually get away with saying something as radical as that. I'm very interested in this because I have a Westminster and a Wales view in these sorts of things sometimes, and I just look at it...
