Rhun ap Iorwerth: Can I also express my deep concern at this announcement and what it means for both the workforce at Bridgend and also the wider Welsh economy? Can I also seek assurances from Welsh Government that you will leave no stone unturned in seeking a new future for the plant at Bridgend? Can I also seek assurances about the use of public funds—both money that has already been invested at Ford...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Steff's role in public life in Wales has been cut way, way too short. In a few short years, he made a contribution that made him stand out as a politician with rare ability, with real clarity and vision for his community and his nation, and as a man of integrity, fairness, sincerity, determination and total selflessness. He brought people together, and in that, he's an example to all of us.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Today, we say, ‘Thank you, Steff'. We miss you and miss what you would have done for us. But we give thanks for everything that you did and for laying the foundations for an independent Wales. We thank you for your vision and your leadership in such a brief life. Yes, we kept your seat warm, but that wasn't to be. Now, we will do everything to keep your flame alight. Rest in peace, Steff.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: There is an empty chair behind me. It’s a chair that’s been kept warm for Steff ever since he started his battle with cancer a little over a year ago. It feels like yesterday. I was looking at his text the other day: ‘Can you come out of committee to speak to me?’ he said, and that was a dark day. But Steff was determined to continue to cast his light upon us. He would still come...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I will speak very briefly. I wasn't a member of the committee that carried out this inquiry, and, oddly enough, there was some mockery when that competition was launched for people to send in pictures of potholes to the committee. Some doubted the seriousness of that, but it was an useful step, and what was shown in people's response was just how much this touches the lives of people wherever...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The proposals before us now undermine the excellent work done in Ysbyty Gwynedd. This week, I and other elected Plaid Cymru Members in north-west Wales have asked for a full assessment from the Welsh Government of the impact of the decision taken by the Betsi Cadwaladr university health board to centralise vascular services at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd. A month ago, the board went back on its word...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on vascular services in Ysbyty Gwynedd? OAQ53125
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will the Minister make a statement on school budgets in light of the 2019-20 local government settlement?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: As David Melding said quite clearly, the Government of Wales Act states that: 'A person holding office as the First Minister, a Welsh Minister appointed under section 48 or a Deputy Welsh Minister may not be appointed as the Counsel General...and the Counsel General or a person so designated may not be appointed to any of those offices.' Now, I assume we will now be told that he wasn't...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I also rise to state that we as a group will not be supporting this motion. We will be voting against the motion. I will explain my reasons, and, like David Melding, I will explain that I have no problem at all with Jeremy Miles being Counsel General. Neither do I have a problem with Jeremy Miles being the Minister for Brexit. The question here is: how can it be appropriate for one person to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Before making some remarks or comments about the report by Professor Holtham itself, I'd like to make a few remarks about my experience and my impressions of the care that's provided at present. In my constituency, before Christmas, and at other times of the year, I've seen great care being provided to people in care homes in my constituency by people who are on very low wages, but they do it...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’m very pleased to be able to support the motion. We have come a long way, as Hefin David just said, from the arguments back in the 1990s about the value of the minimum wage at that time. It does say something about our understanding now that the party that did oppose the minimum wage back then has now introduced some kind of minimum wage themselves, although it’s not the minimum wage...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Adam Price.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: On behalf of the Plaid Cymru, I nominate Adam Price as First Minister of Wales.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I would like to ask for two statements, if I may. First of all, I would like to request a statement on the financial crisis that is deepening, I'm afraid, in higher education in Wales, and I'd like an explanation of any plans that the Welsh Government has to review that financial situation. This week, staff at Bangor University, which has an important presence in my constituency as well, tell...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: If truth be told, Anglesey Airport is reliant on Cardiff Airport and the success of Cardiff Airport, but Brexit is a threat to both of those airports in terms of public service obligations. Now, with the European Union seeming to be eager to provide more flexibility to introduce more flights, and the UK Government rejecting that—and we had a statement on this yesterday from the transport...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish the First Minister well in his final question session, and to thank him for his courtesy over the last five and a half years in answering questions on behalf of my constituents. A constituent from the Star, Gaerwen area was in tears on the phone to my office yesterday, feeling that she was under siege from the National Grid...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on recent discussions with the National Grid on the north Wales connection? OAQ53103
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It is a serious point. You've just said exactly what you tell your constituents. I agree with you entirely on the damage that has been caused by a decade of Tory austerity, but surely you cannot duck the blame and duck the responsibility of decisions taken by Welsh Government on health and other matters.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I understand, of course, what would motivate the Conservatives to table a motion such as this one. We are approaching the end of the tenure of the current First Minister—we could have presented a list of failings ourselves. But I think it says a great deal about the Conservatives that, in this lengthy list, there is no reference to child poverty,...
