Mr Neil Hamilton: I agree with that. The actual figure is seven extra doctors have been recruited this year, compared with the same figure last year—not all of whom, or indeed perhaps none of whom, will have come from the EU. Therefore, this seems to be rather irrelevant to the whole question of the Brexit negotiations. But what Sir Keir Starmer seemed to be trying to do was to instil some sort of fear in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It is inconceivable that any cap that is introduced is going to work in such a way as to prevent the NHS filling skills gaps, particularly of professional people. But—[Interruption.] But the First Minister will also know that, two years ago, the Bank of England did an in-depth study of the impact of migration upon wage levels at the lower end of the income scale—people like cleaners and...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply, which of course I understand. This is the opposite to the situation that we faced in Llangennech, where there’s parental opposition to the changing of the status of the school to a Welsh-medium school. There’s a feeling in the locality in Brecon that this proposal for closure has become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy because the council has,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on superfast broadband provision in Mid and West Wales? OAQ(5)0164(EI)
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Minister for that and I acknowledge the role that she’s played in rolling out this programme and improving the accessibility to broadband throughout Mid and West Wales, but she will be aware that we’ve still got quite a way to go. I spend quite a lot of time in the car traversing the region and we go in and out of signal so it’s very, very difficult to do any business by...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I also welcome the Cabinet Secretary back to her place in this Assembly and hope that her health will continue to improve. The Cabinet Secretary, I am sure, will share my disappointment that some farmers, as Paul Davies has just pointed out, have been waiting 18 months for their payments, given that by this time of the year many farmers experience cash flow difficulties at the end of the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I hope I can pour a little consensual oil on the troubled waters of the relationship between Plaid Cymru and the Labour Party. Anybody would think, from the last few speeches and interventions, that there was an election campaign going on. UKIP can agree with Plaid Cymru’s motion today, and, indeed, with the Conservative amendment. The motion itself is a standing indictment of the failure...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Not yet; I’ve only been going for less than a minute. A Government that has had one of the largest budget deficits ever, apart from Napoleonic wars and the second world war, for the last 10 years—this includes the Labour Government that preceded this one—can hardly be described as carrying on a policy of austerity. Today, we have a Government deficit of £52 billion a year—3 per cent...
Mr Neil Hamilton: [Continues.]—in coming to a decision on this. I give way.
Mr Neil Hamilton: The point is that, for all the delays, and the so-called ‘due diligence’ that has been undertaken by the Welsh Government, the auditor general made no disparaging remark about the private sector project itself, but made lots of disparaging remarks about the capacity of civil servants and advisers of the Cabinet Secretary to reach a decision on what is a minute portion of the total amount...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion in my name on the agenda. Of course, a lot of the foreign aid budget does a lot of good in the world, but only 16 per cent of the £13 billion, £14 billion, £15 billion that we spend on foreign aid goes on such projects. The overwhelming majority of it goes on what are called the Government’s other strategic long-term goals, whether...
Mr Neil Hamilton: There are only five countries in the world that spend more than we do on foreign aid, and 0.7 as a percentage of GDP is a purely arbitrary figure plucked out of the air and has no more significance than 0.5 or 1 per cent. Taking the Member’s point in a more general sense, why should we not increase the foreign aid budget by four or five times on that basis? All these things are worth doing...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. We seem to have hit a target here, from the reaction of other Members. We’ve interrupted the cosy consensus that existed before we arrived. That’s what a democratic Assembly is for. I thank those who took part in the debate: Steffan Lewis, Julie Morgan, David Melding, Caroline Jones, Gareth Bennett, David Rowlands, John Griffiths and Joyce Watson. I...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Yes.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Yes, of course. Of course I do.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Yes, of course I do. Of course I do. What you do with your own money is at the heart of the issue. And what I’m saying is that when the Government gives away taxpayers’ money no question of morality can arise, because it is somebody giving away other people’s money. There is no element of morality involved in that. So, the point of this debate is—[Interruption.] The point of this...
Mr Neil Hamilton: [Continues.]—I think I’ve reached the end of my speech for today, and I commend our motion to the house.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Will the First Minister make a statement on the process for assessing proposals for new railway stations in Wales?
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Llywydd. I would like, on behalf of my group and my party, also to repeat the condolences, which have been given to Julie and other members of Rhodri’s family. I overlapped in the House of Commons with Rhodri for 10 years, from 1987 to 1997 and despite our political differences, Rhodri was an engaging and genial companion who always had time to talk. He was a gentle man and a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Can I congratulate the First Minister on speaking so finely for us all in this Assembly in his statement at the start of today’s proceedings, and to add my condolences and the condolences of my party—Members here and members of the party in the country—to those who’ve lost their lives and been maimed in the horrible outrage in Manchester? I agree with the First Minister that it is...
