Mr Neil Hamilton: I don’t think anybody on the Brexit side is foolish enough to think that Britain’s advantage and Wales’s advantage could be obtained by causing the collapse of the EU. But the big problem with the EU is that it’s fundamentally a political project not an economic project, and the politicians who are determined to try and make it succeed fear that, if we make an economic success of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I agree with what the First Minister has said, but surely the point here is that trade enriches both parties and, at the moment, the balance of trade with the EU and with individual members of the EU is very much in their favour. So, all that that does is show that it’s in their interests to enter into a free trade agreement with us to carry on the arrangements that we’ve already got....
Mr Neil Hamilton: As the Cabinet Secretary knows, I’ve been a strong supporter of this proposal all along, and whilst I do understand the necessity for doing proper due diligence in proposals of this kind, this is a transformational project. If it succeeds, then it’s going to completely transform the economy of Wales, certainly in the south-east and mid Wales. It’s important, I think, to point out that...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Lywydd. It’s quite clear that the policy of the American Government is going to change in many respects as a result of the election of President Trump, not least in respect of policies on climate change. Scott Pruitt, who is President Trump’s nominee as head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, has already caused to be removed from the department’s website the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister has sidestepped my question. My question is not to do with the argument about whether man-made climate change is a reality or not. My question relates to: what difference does it make if we sign up to targets that are going to pose enormous costs upon us, not just in terms of cost for industry but also on ordinary people? After all, nearly a quarter of the households in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister is refusing to address the issue behind my question. Wales is responsible for 0.05 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide is not a flammable gas, by the way. So, what he said about the air quality in Peking is irrelevant. Sulphur emissions are completely different. The argument about particulates in the air everybody accepts. It was a Government 60...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I accept what the Cabinet Secretary said about the nature of risk. Indeed, the First Minister said earlier on in questions that not all investments, however careful you are, are going to succeed, and it would be unreasonable to be too critical when they fail for reasons that are beyond our control. The deputy secretary said in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee that the Government’s...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, isn’t what is immoral and totally wrong the scaremongering campaign, which is still going on eight months after the referendum campaign—the ‘remain’ camp’s project fear? As the Counsel General will know, the United Kingdom is a signatory of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which refers to the acquired rights of citizens of the signatory countries, and which...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Can I congratulate my Chairman on her statement and, indeed, more widely on the high seriousness, humour and feather-light touch of chairmanship that she brings to us all? A very model Chairman of a committee, if I may say. I realise that giving compliments in the Chamber in the presence of her party leader may lead to some internal problems in Plaid Cymru for her. I certainly hope not. But...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on what the Welsh Government is doing to assist park home residents who face paying a 10 per cent commission fee on the sale of their home? OAQ(5)0471(FM)
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Lywydd. Two weeks ago at First Minister’s questions the leader of Plaid Cymru raised the dispute that’s going on in Llangennech over the conversion of their primary school from bilingual to Welsh-medium instruction only, and described the atmosphere in the village as toxic. The First Minister appealed for calm. Since then, the leader of Plaid Cymru has interpreted calmness in a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I fully accept that, but the process by which the decision was arrived at in Carmarthenshire County Council has wider implications and calls for a change in legislation. There was a consultation exercise that was carried out, which was a complete sham. There were 1,418 responses—698 responses were in support of the proposal and 720 were against it. But, one of the responses against had 757...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It is certainly true that they must comply with the legislation, but they can comply with the letter of the law whilst wholly ignoring its spirit, and that is exactly what has happened in this case. There hasn’t been a consultation, there’s been a ‘non-sultation’, because the decision was arrived at even before the consultation exercise was begun. Is it not time now for...
Mr Neil Hamilton: As the Cabinet Secretary knows, there will be a review of the 2013 legislation this year. Will the Welsh Government be contributing to that, and will the Welsh Government intend to do anything about this 10 per cent commission, which is compulsorily extracted from those who want to sell their homes, in exchange for which mobile home park owners do absolutely nothing, because, since the 2013...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I’m very happy to support this motion of Plaid Cymru today, and my party will be voting for it. I hope that leads to a spontaneous outbreak of rejoicing on Plaid Cymru benches. I’m going to be consensual today in a rather different way from yesterday, as it’s our national day. Although St David’s message to us all isn’t, perhaps, entirely to our taste, because the monastic...
Mr Neil Hamilton: What steps has the Welsh Government taken to ensure those who are deaf or have hearing loss in Wales are able to continue to benefit from assistive technology and equipment?
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Lywydd. Whilst the First Minister was away last week, he may have seen that the Cabinet Secretary for finance wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer about proposed public spending cuts in two or three years’ time, which set to amount to £3.5 billion. The Government, this year, is running a budget deficit equivalent to £60 billion. George Osborne managed the singular achievement...
Mr Neil Hamilton: But the First Minister knows that never happens. He has only to look at the recent history of the UK Government’s debt position to see what the reality is. We have a well-being of future generations Act in Wales—a very good thing it is too—but what we’re doing by carrying on with this ‘rake’s progress’ of borrowing, of course, is to hand on to the next generation a massive debt,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Of course there is a humanitarian case for aid and nobody is against that, but a lot of our aid budget actually goes to countries that are spending a huge amount of money upon projects that we wouldn’t regard for a moment as humanitarian. For example, we’re increasing our aid to Pakistan this year by £100 million to nearly £450 million a year. Pakistan, this year, is increasing its...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Lywydd. Brexit is probably going to have a greater impact on agriculture than almost any other sector, obviously because it’s regulated under the common agricultural policy and funded largely through the European Union. The Government, therefore, has to be thinking ahead very deeply about what’s going to be our agricultural regime after we’ve left the European Union. I’ve been...
