Nick Ramsay: And there we have it. Plaid Cymru Members will do anything to distract from talking about a tourism tax. Fiscal vision for Wales, landfill tax—you’ll talk about anything, but you don’t want to talk about this. Now, to be fair to the Member—not the Member who intervened, but Adam Price—he was more than happy to talk about and endorse a tourism tax in the draft budget statement only a...
Nick Ramsay: So, back to the tourism tax. Scepticism is not limited to Assembly Members. Even the Bevan Foundation, who have publicly supported, to be fair to them, the tax, at least in its embryonic form, have conceded that they simply don’t know what the impact of a tourism tax in Wales would be. I’m sure that even the Cabinet Secretary would say at this point we do not have an assessment of what...
Nick Ramsay: We’ve had value added tax, we’ve had plastics tax—once again, the party opposite wants to talk about any tax but will not talk about the tourism tax. I haven’t even heard it mentioned yet. But, as I say, I look forward to your contribution later. So much for a welcome in the hillside. Will the introduction of a tourism tax send the right message of welcome to visitors? We don’t feel...
Nick Ramsay: I remember the first time I met Carl: back in 2003 in a lift. He was newly elected, in a lift in Tŷ Hywel, and he greeted me with, 'Hi, comrade'. Following that, we became good friends. He never ceased to call me 'comrade' or 'mate', as was his way. We know that politics can be a cold business, but, in contrast, friendships go to the heart of what it is to be human, and Carl was one of the...
Nick Ramsay: First Minister, you're quite right to say that the decision of Arriva to drop out of the bidding process and the franchise process does happen. We shouldn't get too worked up about a bidder deciding that it's not for them. At what point, however, did you know that they were dropping out? Was it sudden? Did they give advance warning? I'm wondering: did the Welsh Government receive any feedback...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Can I also congratulate you, leader of the house, on your appointment—well deserved—and also congratulate Jane Hutt on her maiden speech in this Chamber as a backbench AM? I’m sure that you’ll have many more, and a long career as a backbencher. I’d like to support Mohammad Asghar in his comments earlier about the A465, specifically between...
Nick Ramsay: I must also welcome the new Minister to his new role. I was going to refer to you as the Minister for fun, but perhaps Minister for joy, as Hefin David has described you, is more appropriate. I look forward to working with you in the future, Minister. As you may or may not know, my home village of Raglan in Monmouthshire is of course best known for its stunning castle, maintained by Cadw. And...
Nick Ramsay: If I can just pick up on the last aspect of your answer there, Cabinet Secretary, on value, Adam Price focused very much on the overall cost of the scheme. I've had some experience recently within my constituency of the cost of the Clydach gorge part of the scheme, from Gilwern up to Brynmawr, and I attended a meeting of local residents and councillors who, though very supportive of the...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. I've been privy to your tour around Wales—you've visited an area in my constituency and I know you've been very helpful with constituents of Trelleck Grange. Would you accept that part of their frustration was that the neighbouring village of Tintern was totally well connected, so even though they were in a rural area, actually, they were neighbouring an area that was...
Nick Ramsay: That's a very mischievous comment. I think you're misunderstanding what we meant by 'comprehensive'. We didn't mean a higher tax base, we meant a comprehensive tax base that takes into account all factors and provides a competitive environment for the economy. That's what we meant.
Nick Ramsay: Diolch. I'm pleased to move the amendment in the name of Paul Davies. This is one of those debates, I feel, where the amendments say it all. The Plaid, Welsh Conservative and Government amendments are all 'delete all', seeking to delete the motion and annihilate each other in the process. It's very generous of you, Neil Hamilton, to say that you would accept most of our amendment, given that...
Nick Ramsay: Two things, if I may, leader of the house. First of all, there wasn't time earlier for me to have my supplementary question to Neil Hamilton's question to the First Minister, despite the brevity of the answer that he received initially, on parking charges in Wales. But can I concur with Neil Hamilton's comments that it is important that councils are encouraged and given guidance to keep those...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, can I also thank you for today's statement and welcome you to your new role? Congratulations. Also, I follow other Members in paying tribute to Carl Sargeant for his important work in this area over many years. It's not an easy area to deal with, but he did it with determination and panache. It's strange him not being in this Chamber when this issue is being discussed. I just...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Cabinet Secretary explain how the provisional local government settlement for 2018/19 will protect local services?
Nick Ramsay: Can I welcome the Cabinet Secretary to his new role? I once named you the Minister Emeritus, you may remember, and it seems you're clearly fitting with that name. [Interruption.] I never called him a boomerang. You said that. Cabinet Secretary, the history of local government in Wales is one of reorganisation after reorganisation, reform after reform over very many years. I was very pleased...
Nick Ramsay: Cabinet Secretary, no-one would disagree that this is a very challenging engineering project and that it will be a very fine stretch of road when it's complete, but nonetheless there are concerns across Wales and within this Chamber, but certainly locally with local residents I've met, and I think some of their fears would have been confirmed by the recent revelation about the 23 per cent...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch. Oh, Adam, Adam, Adam, I must say, I enjoyed your speech a little bit more than the motion itself. You did at least get to the glimmer of light at the end, which made it worth while me getting up in the morning, I suppose, and coming to work, and you did mention the budget at the end. Look, referring to the motion itself, I do like to be positive about some aspects of motions and there...
Nick Ramsay: I take it back; I thought Adam Price's contribution was bidding for the depressing element. You've just mentioned the highlands and islands of Scotland. Isn't it good that the highlands and islands of north Wales are going to get a north Wales growth deal, because we finally got that commitment?
Nick Ramsay: Will you give way?
Nick Ramsay: What I actually said was that the UK Government would not describe itself as the best thing since sliced bread because I was pointing out that they're modest.
