Leanne Wood: There have been indications from the UK Government that it may be prepared to reverse its approach to the Brexit Bill after legitimate concerns were raised about a Westminster power grab that would undermine devolution and pose a constitutional crisis. Now, this mooted u-turn from the Westminster Government is welcomed by Plaid Cymru. However, we see time and time again that Westminster...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. I move this Plaid Cymru motion in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Our motion comes when Wales needs to articulate a clear stance on the customs union as the negotiations on EU withdrawal proceed. This is a question that affects Welsh jobs, it affects the future of Welsh ports, it affects the nature of the UK's border with Ireland, which is also the Welsh border with Ireland....
Leanne Wood: I'll finish my point. Turkey's customs union is incomplete as it doesn't include agricultural goods. In a customs union, we will not be able to automatically secure additional market access via EU FTAs with third countries. These third countries will, however, have access to our markets, and that is a disadvantage.
Leanne Wood: No, I don't accept that point, and I'll explain why shortly. We also, in this debate, need to consider the crucial question of climate change. How can it be good from a climate change perspective to be travelling more goods from even further countries? That trade with closer markets must be protected if we're serious about tackling climate change. Now, I was already anticipating the question,...
Leanne Wood: The customs union refers to the travelling of goods, and the single market as a whole looks at goods and services. So, the customs union is just specific to goods. Why is the Welsh Government failing to align with a UK-fudged Labour position? We know that in the joint White Paper, as Rhun ap Iorwerth pointed out yesterday, every single positive reference to the customs union is to the...
Leanne Wood: Diolch yn fawr iawn. First Minister, the media has reported today that at least 271 highly vulnerable mental health patients have died over the last six years after failings in NHS care, and that 136 NHS bodies have been given legal warnings by coroners. As is often the case, the report refers to patients in England and Wales. Can you tell us whether any Welsh NHS body has been subject to a...
Leanne Wood: Okay, thank you for that. There have been many calls for an inquiry into these deaths, including calls from your own party. Now, we know that there have been failings in mental health care in Wales. We can all remember the Tawel Fan scandal. So, I don't think there's any room for complacency on this question. Suicide rates are higher in Wales than they are in Scotland and England, yet we also...
Leanne Wood: I think you can do much more than that, First Minister. We know that children and young people with mental health difficulties go an average of 10 years between first becoming unwell and getting any help. And many of us here in this room, I'm sure, will have casework of patients who have had to fight to get any support at all. Now, I've got reason to believe that the number of people detained...
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: In the negotiations and the JMC meetings that you have with the UK Government, will you give us an undertaking that you won't sell Wales short? And so will you only agree to withdrawing this continuity Bill if the EU withdrawal Bill either protects or enhances this devolution settlement?
Leanne Wood: Today, we vote on introducing the Law Derived from the European Union (Wales) Bill as a Government emergency Bill. This fulfils Plaid Cymru's call for the introduction of a continuity Bill and it's a significant moment for our nation and our response to the EU withdrawal process. This Bill provides the most significant leverage we have as a country in this debate at this present time. I'd...
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: Do you accept that the will of the people as conveyed in the 2011 referendum on powers should also be respected?
Leanne Wood: I too have been supporting the lecturers who've been left with no alternative other than to strike in defence of their pensions, and I too spoke in one of their rallies. The pension changes that the UCU are opposing will hit everyone hard, but it's going to affect those lecturers early in their career, and it's also going to have an impact on part-time contracts and those on insecure...
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention? I've got particular concerns around this question because there are no facilities in Wales to incarcerate women offenders. In general, I think there should be far fewer women in prison, but what can we do in terms of ensuring that we don't have to send women who have to go to prison as far away from their families—even to a different country?
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention? Do you recognise as well that there are better outcomes in public prisons as compared to private prisons?
Leanne Wood: Will you take an intervention?
Leanne Wood: We heard earlier on how, under Michael Howard, when he was Home Secretary, the prison population was 45,000 and within five or six years it had gone up to 80,000. How can that have happened if what you are saying is correct?
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, can you outline the role of Assembly Members—the role that we have—in terms of scrutiny of the south Wales metro plan and the next rail franchise?
Leanne Wood: Well, the comparison of the south Wales metro to the Loch Ness monster by one of your backbenchers sums up how many of us feel about it. Your Government won't explain what's going on, and people want clarity. You won't even publish the invitation to tender document, and that's something that's been done by every other country that makes up the UK, and it's now been confirmed that Transport...
