Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for your response, Minister, on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary. I’m sure you will be aware that a number of general questions are being asked in the sphere of education on this issue at the moment, particularly in Scotland, where there are efforts to make these products available free of charge in all schools, and there is a petition before Parliament in Westminster, as I...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Counsel General. You are slightly better on the supplementaries as well. So, I’ll see if I can tempt you. Since I tabled this question, there’s been a very important report from the Justice Committee of the House of Commons, which has a specific recommendation with regard to the work of the Court of Justice of the European Union following Brexit. It says very clearly that the...
Mr Simon Thomas: Well, I thank the Counsel General for confirming the Welsh Government’s position, and I’m sure, like me, he has frequent, and I mean weekly, if not daily, contact with constituents who are very concerned, either that they themselves are EU citizens, or, particularly—in the cases I deal with—that their parents are. They are Welsh citizens, with parents who came sometime in the past,...
Mr Simon Thomas: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I, at the outset, say that I am personally relieved to have had messages that my own family and colleagues in London are safe, but very much saddened to hear of an attack on a fellow Parliament, and hope that everyone will be well and that things will turn out to be controlled? It’s a very shocking thing, and it’s very relevant to the fact that we are debating...
Mr Simon Thomas: It does raise the question of what happens if the great reform Bill, proposed in Parliament, does not actually address the devolution of powers that come to Wales. We believe that there’s a good argument, as the Welsh Government’s own White Paper sets out, for a continuity or continuation Bill of these powers. That could provide two benefits. It defends our current constitutional status,...
Mr Simon Thomas: 2. What discussions has the Welsh Government held with Newsquest regarding public money that was used to establish the company's sub-editing centre in Newport? OAQ(5)0542(FM)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the £150 million overspends forecast by local health boards this year? EAQ(5)0153(HWS)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for that response. Will you, therefore, confirm that you will actually try and recoup very penny if the full terms and conditions have been breached, and will you reconsider the way that you support the local press? This is a National Union of Journalists campaign, as you know, in terms of Local News Matters. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for the Welsh Government to establish an...
Mr Simon Thomas: First Minister, ports are a very important part of transport in Pembrokeshire, and particularly the link between Wales and Ireland. With Brexit happening this week, I am concerned that we will see less transport in terms of goods carried between Britain and Ireland, and also in terms of passengers, with a lot of talk about developing more direct links between France and the Republic of...
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that statement, which didn’t actually say what he was going to do about it, however, which I hope he will now tell us. First of all, can he just clarify the situation? Because I think there could be some confusion, following the leader of the Conservative party’s questions earlier on, that though the health boards have not been bailed out, his department...
Mr Simon Thomas: Can I raise two issues, please, with the business manager, first of all to welcome the fact that the debate for today, later on, on landscapes has been withdrawn? Had it not been withdrawn, I would have certainly have argued that it was out of order, as our Standing Orders say very clearly that any debate that relates to a report should have the report with that debate, and the constituents...
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Member give way on that point?
Mr Simon Thomas: I just wanted to make the point that the report from the cross-party committee makes reference to the Welsh Government’s own White Paper, which, yes, was agreed with Plaid Cymru. But it makes reference to it, it gives evidence to it, and surely we don’t have time to wait always for the next report; we have to get our negotiating position in there early.
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm not quite sure if Mark Reckless was offering that, if we supported this amendment, he would come across to the issue of independence for Wales. I think UKIP are casting round for a new mission and a new meaning for the word ‘independence’, so—. It seems to mean all kinds of things from Nathan Gill to Douglas Carswell and no doubt something new from Mark Reckless. But we’ll wait...
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m particularly interested in cycle safety in my region. Can I draw your attention, Minister, to the active travel route map for Aberystwyth, which doesn’t include the Ystwyth trail? Now, the Ystwyth trail is the only traffic-free route from Aberystwyth out to suburbs like Rhydyfelin and Llanfarian. I know it well and it’s a very well-used route. However, it can’t be mapped,...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you for accepting the request. I’m grateful to the First Minister for the statement that he brought before the Assembly today, but, of course, there is more to a parliament than just listening to the view of Government and asking questions of Government. A parliament is supposed to be a national, democratic forum where we discuss urgent issues and issues of...
Mr Simon Thomas: I just have one specific question about the current governance of Sport Wales. This is not meant as a criticism of the individual concerned, who has been a work colleague of mine in the past, and I respect him very much, but I am concerned that we have a public body now that has an interim chair, but this interim chair is actually going on—in your written statement—for at least the rest...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, Llywydd. I follow Darren Millar and endorse what he said, and welcome his contribution to this debate, which has been very positive, if I may say so. We’ve heard this afternoon just how positive the leader of UKIP can be to our debates here. During the course of a 10-minute speech, he didn’t mention a single policy that would lead to an increase in the number of Welsh...
Mr Simon Thomas: Just on that point, does he not agree with me, therefore, that the White Paper does not, in fact, take that interpretation that he has just set out and with which I agree, but rather takes an alternative interpretation that it’s been the UK, i.e. the English Government, that has led on these issues?
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Member give way on that one?
