Mike Hedges: 4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the development of district shopping centres within cities? OAQ(5)0586(FM)
Mike Hedges: Thank you, First Minister. Morriston and Swansea are a major district shopping centre. There are other district shopping centres in Swansea and in other cities in Wales. I’d like to stress the importance of district shopping centres, such as in Morriston, Mumbles and Whitchurch in Cardiff. In Morriston, we have lost banks, public houses and shopping diversity. Will the First Minister agree...
Mike Hedges: 2. What is the Counsel General’s assessment of the implications for Wales of the report by the justice council on increasing judicial diversity? OAQ(5)0034(CG)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the Counsel General for that response? The report concludes that a purely organic approach to increasing diversity means that change is happening far too slowly and calls for systematic and structural changes to promote change. Does the Counsel General agree? What discussions has he had in respect of how the Welsh Government can contribute to the change process? It’s not a huge...
Mike Hedges: Diolch, Llywydd. Can I say I speak as a former member of the South Wales Police Authority, which I served on for just under four years? Can I thank everyone who took part in this debate? I think it’s very useful that people have spoken against, because it gives an opportunity to test the arguments being put forward. We need people to test the arguments, and it’s our duty then to explain...
Mike Hedges: I cannot speak for the Welsh Government. I’m sure Carl Sargeant may well intervene and speak on it, but there has been no suggestion by anybody of an all-Wales police force. But if we come to that, Mark, you and I are on the same side. And I’m sure there are other people over here who argue equally forcefully for the devolution of policing who would also be on the same side. Greater...
Mike Hedges: I’ll repeat it again: what I said was—. I was comparing Wales with Northern Ireland. There are people in the Northern Ireland Assembly who are sitting there today, who, 40 years ago, were on opposite sides, and many of them may have wanted other Members there to be killed. I said that I disagree with the Conservative Party and I disagree with UKIP, but I don’t want to actually kill...
Mike Hedges: You’ve talked about a coalition of chaos; do you mean the coalition you had with the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015? Or the coalition you tried to have with Plaid Cymru and UKIP after the last election?
Mike Hedges: Can I just first of all remind people the banking crisis was caused by the United States sub-prime market where people were lending money and British banks were buying items over which they had no control? Labour in Westminster saved the banks from collapse. If the banks had collapsed, the whole of our system would have collapsed. Can I just—? [Interruption.] Certainly.
Mike Hedges: Well, that’s a matter of opinion and I haven’t got time to debate that this afternoon. I hope we have an opportunity to do it again in the future. You come out of a recession by doing two things: first, you devalue the currency and, secondly, you reflate the economy. The pound floats so it has not gone through a formal devaluation but it has been devalued by between 14 and 20 per cent...
Mike Hedges: The OECD do, as do several other economists, including some major American economists. I will write to you and give you the names. I haven’t got them with me at the moment. I didn’t expect to have to answer that. [Interruption.] Paul Krugman I’ve had mentioned to me, but there are several of them in America who believe that. You borrow for equipment and buildings. We’re not borrowing...
Mike Hedges: Will you not accept that borrowing for capital is entirely different to borrowing for revenue? It’s the equivalent of having a mortgage to buy a house and borrowing to pay for the food bill.
Mike Hedges: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the importance of professional sport to Wales? OAQ(5)0597(FM)
Mike Hedges: Can I thank the First Minister for that response? Can I highlight the importance of professional sport in promoting the identity of an area and generating wealth within the economy? I want to stress the importance of Swansea City staying in the premiership, for the economy of Swansea bay city region, for tourism in the Swansea bay city region, and for name recognition of Swansea. Will the...
Mike Hedges: Can I ask for a Government statement on the importance of universities as economic drivers, and what the Welsh Government is doing to support the university sector and to generate science parks similar to both Cambridge and Aarhus in Denmark, which have been very important in the economic success of those two areas?
Mike Hedges: Firstly, I would like to thank Dawn Bowden for giving me a minute in this debate. I want to cover two things: hair straighteners and chargers. Examples of fires from hair straighteners are: a woman had to be rescued from her burning home after a pair of hair straighteners were left switched on on her wooden floor and started a blaze. She had to be rescued by firefighters. Two young boys were...
Mike Hedges: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement regarding the importance of lifestyle in promoting good health?
Mike Hedges: Devaluation means that exports are cheaper in the purchasing currency, but the cost of imports increases in pounds. The pound has fallen from $1.5 from last June to between $1.2 and $1.3, a 14 to 20 per cent reduction. And whilst the cost of imports increases, supported exports are going to increase the cost of exports to be reliant on bringing in raw materials from abroad and producing goods...
Mike Hedges: I very much welcome the statement. And can I add my agreement with what Dai Lloyd and Jenny Rathbone said about the action of the taxi driver and private hire drivers in Manchester? Like many other people, I have friends and relatives working as taxi and private hire drivers, which is not surprising, considering the huge number of people who are employed in that industry. In many areas, taxis...
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the flood risk of the river Tawe? OAQ(5)0137(ERA)
