Mr Simon Thomas: What agreement exists between the Welsh Government and the UK Government regarding an agri-environment framework post-Brexit?
Mr Simon Thomas: May I recommend to Assembly Members that, if they want a vision of the future that is anticipated in the committee report, they visit Pentre Solar, in Glanrhyd in Pembrokeshire, where new social housing has been opened by the Cabinet Secretary, and I was also in attendance, last Thursday? Those are the kinds of developments that are possible now in Wales and we should see far more of that...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for bringing this statement. As she has just said, maybe we, as politicians, can’t be of assistance directly in dealing with this disease, but it is important that we discuss it so that that disseminates a strong message from the Government on the prevention zone and on food security, which is still the case in Wales. That message should be conveyed strongly....
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you to the Cabinet Secretary for opening this debate. Like him, I don’t want to reiterate what was said during the debate on the draft budget. I will also be focusing my comments on the changes since the draft budget, and also on some of the Government’s responses to the Finance Committee’s recommendations. It is a shame, although the Cabinet Secretary...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I very much welcome the tone of what the Minister has said in response to the Finance Committee’s recommendations on this Bill. I think it’s important to set out at the start that this is widely talked about as the first piece of tax legislation in Wales for 800 years. It’s very difficult to understand what tax legislation was in Wales 800 years...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m also very pleased to see the funding being restored to the environment portfolio in terms of flood prevention and mitigation. But, I would like to ask you specifically today about another additional allocation, which is the £40 million over four years of capital funding that you have allocated for energy efficiency. If I recall correctly, you said yesterday that this would be...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m very pleased to add to the agreement that has broken out in the Chamber by agreeing entirely with what Hefin said in giving his speech. We can agree on several other things if we keep away from the issue of pork. There are three things that we can do to ensure the future of the higher education sector in Wales, following the decision to exit the EU, and some of the other aspects that...
Mr Simon Thomas: Just while he’s on the point of agricultural exports, would he agree with me that we need to look at the example of where we tried to expand our dairy industry to Russia, and then Russian incursions into the Ukraine and the Crimea meant that sanctions were imposed on Russia. If we make strategic deals with our potential enemies, or at least our opponents in trade deals, we will cut off our...
Mr Simon Thomas: What will you do now, First Minister, to protect farmers in Pembrokeshire and the length and breadth of Wales now that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, has decided that we are going to be outwith the single market, that there will be tariffs on Welsh produce under the World Trade Organization rules, and that there is to be a free trade market with New Zealand, from where lamb can come in and...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’d like to thank the business Secretary for her statement, and also ask her whether she has time in Government business for a debate, first of all, on the project of the tidal lagoon in Swansea bay. We know that the Hendry review has come out in favour of this project as a pathfinder for this technology, which has huge potential in Wales. I think that a debate rather than a statement, by...
Mr Simon Thomas: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement and say that I agree with him that the fiscal framework, as agreed, does provide sufficient foundations to take these taxation powers and to see them transferred, not only those over income tax but the other two taxes that are now being considered by the Finance Committee. There’s another political decision to be made about the Wales Bill,...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m just seeking a little clarity on the issue of Brexit, because I think you’ve just intimated that we’re not in the same position as the other nations within the United Kingdom. Does the Bill have any provision at all that would safeguard any further attempts by the UK Government to take back powers as a result of Brexit, for example?
Mr Simon Thomas: Today, as has already been set out, the Plaid Cymru group will vote against this legislative consent motion for the reasons clearly set out by Leanne Wood, and reasons that I recollect Dafydd Elis-Thomas setting out in a Plaid Cymru group meeting as well. I will be voting with my group, as I respect that decision and the process and the discussion by which we have arrived at that decision....
Mr Simon Thomas: 5. What representations has the Counsel General made in relation to the Supreme Court case on Article 50? OAQ(5)0021(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: 5. What representations has the Counsel General made in relation to the Supreme Court case on Article 50? OAQ(5)0021(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: 6. What discussions has the Counsel General had with other law officers regarding the Wales Bill? OAQ(5)0020(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: Diolch. Now that you’re plugged in, Counsel General.
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for that response. I was hoping that the judgment would have been made by the time I asked this question, but may I welcome the fact that the Welsh Government has spent £84,000 to protect the interests of this place and democracy in Wales? I think it was worth every penny. I compare that expenditure with the expenditure by the Westminster Government to challenge...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Counsel General. Of course, I was expecting that kind of answer. One of the things that we discussed yesterday in approving the LCM, even by those who voted in favour of that motion, was the concern about the use of the words—in English, because the Bill is only in English—’relates to’, and that that could be a means of restricting the devolution that’s taken place in the...
Mr Simon Thomas: Diolch, Lywydd. Yesterday, in one of his final acts as a fine President of the United States, Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning. This action will be welcomed by many in Wales. Though a US citizen, Chelsea Manning was educated, as Bradley Manning, in Tasker Milward School, Haverfordwest. A school friend there described her as unique, extremely unique, very quirky,...
