Mike Hedges: I intend to examine how two European cities, Aarhus in Denmark and Mannheim in Germany, promote entrepreneurship. People often talk about some of the great cities of the world—and sometimes about Cambridge and sometimes about areas around Harvard—but these are two medium-sized European cities. I'm going to talk about barriers to growth for medium-sized businesses, because Wales is very...
Mike Hedges: Do you not accept that the problem could be solved overnight if the Treasury allowed local authorities to borrow against the value of their housing stock in order to build houses, which they did in the 1950s and the 1960s, but the Treasury and the Tories don't let them do now?
Mike Hedges: 4. What action is being taken by the Welsh Government to protect peatlands? OAQ51359
Mike Hedges: Can I just remind you, and perhaps everybody else, that I did congratulate you when you came to committee? So I will add a further congratulations in here, but it has already been done. What I was going to ask is: what progress has been made towards the target of getting all peatlands in Wales into restoration management by 2020, and do you expect that to be done on a linear basis, or do you...
Mike Hedges: Can I remind Members how overwhelmingly the alternative vote form of proportional representation was rejected in the referendum, and how the single transferable vote is based on 'guess how many seats you can win'? Will the Welsh Government legislate that a supermajority vote by councillors and councils of two thirds will be necessary if councils want to change their voting system?
Mike Hedges: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Well, we know this stretches the length and breadth of Wales. We've had Siân Gwenllian from the north, we've had Jayne Bryant from the east, we've had Dawn Bowden, Mick Antoniw and David Melding from South Wales Central, we've had Russell George from mid Wales and me from Swansea. It is a problem throughout the whole of Wales, and that's a point that I...
Mike Hedges: The Conservative Government in Westminster now appears to accept low growth, low productivity increase and stagnation or a reduction in real wages for the many as a new form of economic reality. Can I say, from the start, I don't accept that? Low productivity is a direct result of Government policies. Pay is low; it's easy to reduce the hours or terminate the employment of workers;...
Mike Hedges: Well, that's not true, is it? I don't think anybody believes that—the bequeathing austerity bit. I mean—
Mike Hedges: It was a general election manifesto, and if we'd won the general election, it would have been raised. It would have been raised in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. That's the point—
Mike Hedges: Because, if you do it, you're going to bring redundancies. I think the Welsh Government have got it absolutely right in asking for support that it should be raised and the money should come from Westminster. We were going to—. Sorry to—
Mike Hedges: Labour were going to do these things if we'd won the general election. You put a lot of things in your manifesto for the last Assembly election. Shall we hold you to account for the all the ones you haven't achieved because you're not in power? Can I just make one very important final point? Following on from yesterday’s debate on entrepreneurship, unless the contracts are made small enough...
Mike Hedges: Does that mean Hinkley Point?
Mike Hedges: I was going to ask: does that also go for the deal between the Conservatives and the DUP?
Mike Hedges: Whilst supporting the Welsh Government budget, I acknowledge the budget is inadequate for the needs of Wales. This is not a criticism of either the finance Secretary or the Welsh Government; this is due to the inadequate block grant from the Tories in Westminster. As the year progresses—and we've heard some of it already—I expect Tory calls for, 'More money for health', 'More money for...
Mike Hedges: Will you take an intervention?
Mike Hedges: Have you ever discovered where the cross-over point is?
Mike Hedges: Will the Leader of the House provide an update on broadband provision in Swansea East?
Mike Hedges: I'm not sure he would agree with you.
Mike Hedges: 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on what constitutes a Welsh speaker in the plans to achieve a million Welsh speakers by 2050? OAQ51445
Mike Hedges: Thank you for that response, First Minister. I’ll turn to English now.
