Carwyn Jones: I'm grateful to the Member. I distinctly heard the First Minister deal with the position of the Government in relation to Plaid Cymru's amendments. I don't know why he didn't hear that; perhaps he wasn't listening.
Carwyn Jones: I thank the Minister for that answer. I watched that plant being built. I watched the trains coming into the plant from the chemistry lab of Brynteg Comprehensive School it was so close. And now, it seems, there is a strong possibility that I will see the plant close. Minister, the economy of Bridgend has done well over the past few years, but this is a blow to the solar plexus of the town....
Carwyn Jones: Will the Minister make a statement on the recent announcement by Ford on the Bridgend Engine Plant? (EAQ0007)
Carwyn Jones: Yes, of course.
Carwyn Jones: Because the circumstances have changed, and I'll develop that argument in a moment, if I may. Mark Reckless can stand in this Chamber and he can argue that it was a vote to leave under any circumstances. He can make a case for that on the basis of the result in 2016, even though nobody argued it in 2016, but he can use that evidence to make a case. Similarly, I take the view that it was a...
Carwyn Jones: If I could, perhaps, return then to the actual debate, which is over a referendum—it's not about remain or leave today. I've had plenty of views on that issue; I don't propose to repeat them. What I can say, though, is that, quite rightly, Darren Millar earlier on in this Chamber drew attention to the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-day tomorrow, when 12 nations united to defeat Nazism and...
Carwyn Jones: I'm very grateful to the Member. Does he remember that his party, for eight years between 1997 and 2005, had a policy of calling for a second referendum on devolution in Wales?
Carwyn Jones: I thank the First Minister for that answer. First Minister, the Welsh Government has a strong and historic record when it comes to train transport in Wales, opening new lines, opening new stations, investment in rolling stock, electrifying some of the lines and, of course, the metro systems—more than one, of course—around Wales. This contrasts, First Minister, does it not, with the UK...
Carwyn Jones: 3. Will the First Minister provide an update on funding for rail infrastructure in Wales? OAQ53937
Carwyn Jones: I welcome that gentleman's initiative. Thank you for that, First Minister. Could I ask you to outline what further changes you think will be needed in the future to realise our shared ambition of true equality in Wales?
Carwyn Jones: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on progress towards creating a feminist government in Wales? OAQ53882
Carwyn Jones: I'm grateful to the Member for the intervention. He may not know but the Prime Minister has indicated that she's going to resign if the deal goes through—the first time in history that a leader has said that, if they get the backing of their party, they will resign, rather than the other way around. But I have to put this to him, and I'll be brief, Llywydd: in 1997, we had a referendum on...
Carwyn Jones: I apologise to the First Minister for intervening, but there is one point that has disturbed me—something that Mark Reckless said, which surprised me, I have to say, when he said that we should have the opportunity to impose large tariffs on Irish beef. If that is the case, that means tariffs between the UK and Ireland, it means customs, it means a hard border, it means the ending of the...
Carwyn Jones: Honda have said they're closing in Swindon—3,500 jobs. Of course they said they're going to leave. BMW has said it today. Unless you're saying that all those employers are lying, then somehow we are not to take any notice of what they say and it's all smoke and mirrors. Why would you stay in the UK when your market is Europe? Why wouldn't you just manufacture in Europe instead and treat the...
Carwyn Jones: I very much respect, of course, the Member and his views, but I have to say, I saw the way that the Conservative Government operated from 2016 onwards, as did others in the current Government. David Davis, as far as I can see, did absolutely nothing for a year and a half. Absolutely nothing. Boris Johnson: nothing for a year and a half, apart from the odd quip now and again. A lot of time was...
Carwyn Jones: Some weeks ago I was watching a television programme. It was a natural history programme about very curious creatures who live in the arctic, and every now and again they migrate in numbers to various different places, and their migration instinct is so strong that they often fall off the edge of a cliff believing that there is a pathway they can cross—apparently some memory that goes back...
Carwyn Jones: I'll take that as a compliment, and I thank the Member for allowing me to intervene. Does he not accept that democracy is such that the MPs who sit in the House of Commons now were elected after the referendum and are therefore a better indication of people's desires as to what they want in the future?
Carwyn Jones: I thank the Member for allowing me to intervene. If you put in the words 'Neil Hamilton' and 'South Africa', the first thing that appears is an article from The Independent in 1998, when he addressed something called the Springbok Club. The record of the meeting says, 'Mr. Hamilton gave a riveting keynote speech in which he recalled his own fond memories of South Africa during the era of...
Carwyn Jones: I thank the First Minister for that answer. Unlike the UK Government, which reneged on a promise to electrify the south Wales main line to Swansea and who have delivered a paltry 1 per cent of UK rail infrastructure funding to Wales, Welsh Labour has invested in our rail network. First Minister, could you tell me what improvements that passengers can expect to see over the next two years?
Carwyn Jones: 4. What progress is being made to improve Welsh rail services over the next five years? OAQ53445
