Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, that is, perhaps, true, within the European Union, and this is the position that Luxembourg finds itself in, of course, presided over so successfully by Mr Juncker for so many years. It’s rather, perhaps, paradoxical that the EU Commission wants to wipe out the opportunities of that kind for the rest of Europe. But outside the EU, we do have the opportunity to be internationally...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I’m sure he’s coming my way. [Laughter.] But as pointed out in relation to corporation tax, certainly, the Irish example is a very interesting one. I’m sorry that my attempts to move the Cabinet Secretary in that direction in the past have met with rebuff. When we had the tax policy framework statement just a few weeks ago, I’m afraid he didn’t prove to be very susceptible to those...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, the Cabinet Secretary for finance is always beguilingly reasonable in what he says. I’m, perhaps, going to take a rather different tack in my speech from others who have participated in this debate, because, generally speaking, I’m not in favour of introducing new taxes, although I’m strongly in favour of having the maximum sensible devolution of taxes. We have a problem in Wales,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: But not too high, apparently, to conjure up £100 million out of the back pocket as a reaction to this failure. And, if it’s possible to find £100 million upfront, effectively, now, why is it impossible to find £8 million a year, in three years’ time, for the following 30 years? Surely—I repeat the question—with an ounce of imagination, there must be a way through this. And the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I fully understand that point and that, of course, was included in the original statement. But the idea that, for a project that would be funded privately to the tune of £375 million, a guarantee on the part of the Welsh Government that would cover less than half of that could be put on the Welsh Government’s books as entirely a public sector project is self-evidently ridiculous. And...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Llywydd. I’d like to continue this line of questioning with the First Minister, if I may. Is it not a tragedy that the Circuit of Wales project appears to have been strangled not because of any credible doubts about the viability of the racetrack project—because there was nothing in the Cabinet Secretary’s statement to that effect—but because of a technical internal accounting...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I’m very pleased to take part in this debate and to congratulate Mike Hedges on his emergence—as Tory leaders used to before elections—as Chairman of the committee. I know we didn’t have an election, but I can say that if there had been one and he was a candidate, he would have had my enthusiastic support, because I’ve seen the way that he has worked in the Public Accounts...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that reply. Most people, I think, believe that the common fisheries policy has been a total economic, environmental and social disaster, and has caused catastrophic damage to our marine ecology. [Interruption.] Only somebody who doesn’t have a coastline to his constituency could be as ignorant as the Member for Blaenau Gwent in this respect. We’ve also...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I’ll be happy to write to the Cabinet Secretary, if she would appreciate that. At the current time, a lot of uncertainty obviously exists in rural communities about the impact of Brexit, and this uncertainty is likely to continue for some time. I think it’s very important that we keep things in perspective. We all hope, of course, there will be a deal at the end of the day that will,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that reply. I’m afraid my reading list is not quite as extensive as hers; it does not extend to Conservative press releases. But—[Interruption.] But can I raise a related issue? At the moment, the European Union is considering reducing permitted levels of zinc oxide, which is an important chemical in the post-weaning of pigs to reduce problems with...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Llywydd. Last time I questioned the Cabinet Secretary on agriculture a few weeks ago, we were discussing regulations applying to agriculture post Brexit. The burden of my question was that we should reassess all regulations to see if we could reduce them where there was no substantial diminution of public benefit. Part of the Cabinet Secretary’s answer seems to have caused a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the security of the Welsh fishing industry post-Brexit? OAQ(5)0160(ERA)
Mr Neil Hamilton: Indeed. Well, for once, my former colleague talks sense—[Laughter.]—as he always used to. But that is exactly the—. We are in the era of power politics. There’s no good complaining about unfairness—life is unfair, as we know. Goodness knows, I’ve been on the receiving end of so much unfairness in the course of my life and I make no complaint about that, of course. I must be a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, the DUP are obviously better negotiators than their counterparts in those days. We have to remember that the Barnett formula itself, of course, is a product of those negotiations, something that is inherently unfair to Wales, quite regardless of these negotiations, because, on a per capita basis, of course, Wales, as the leader of Plaid Cymru very rightly pointed out, gets a very raw...
Mr Neil Hamilton: [Continues.]—in an extended display of sour grapes, I think, and is quite—I give way to Dafydd.
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister’s opening speech was full of unconscious humour and he did at least have the good grace, I think, to chuckle whilst he was talking about it being unfair, wrong and corrosive, this deal, as though it would be any different if it was Labour that had the larger number of seats and was doing a similar kind of deal with the DUP. I’m old enough to remember, as I’m not sure...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, there can be no better illustration of the dead hand of Government than this decision today, and the contrast is most instructive between what’s going on an hour away from Cardiff along the M4 by James Dyson creating an international technology park, which is going to cost between £2 billion and £3 billion, and our utter failure to be able to be the handmaiden of private finance for...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I hope I can be perhaps a little more positive in my contribution to this debate than the two contributions that we’ve just heard. There is much in the legislative programme that UKIP can support. There are, of course, things that we will oppose. I can certainly agree with what the First Minister said at the end of his statement in relation to a continuity Bill and the Brexit settlement. It...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply. We all appreciate the financial challenge that social care will pose for us in the future. We have a situation in north Ceredigion now where the council has announced the closure of a care home called Bodlondeb. This has come as a bolt from the blue. Nobody knows where the residents will be sent to. There is no social care plan for north Ceredigion,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: All the money that is going to be provided upfront to build the Circuit of Wales is private sector money. All that the Welsh Government’s being asked to do is to guarantee payments that will be made to the senior bondholders for less than half the capital employed, in a period that only starts when the whole site has been developed. So, there are physical assets then, against which the...
