Gareth Bennett: No, not today, thank you, Neil. Some commentators would claim that President Trump is indeed attempting to roll back human rights protections in the USA. But to me he is simply trying to protect the USA's southern border from illegal immigration. I'm not sure I would agree that trying to implement an immigration policy that has been constitutionally agreed by the federal Government and its...
Gareth Bennett: No thanks.
Gareth Bennett: What does intrigue me is the issue of free speech. We now seem to have—[Interruption.] Thanks, Alun. We now seem to have a situation where the concept of free speech seems to clash with minority rights. So, the political left, far from championing people's liberty to speak and broadcast their opinions, are now trying to clamp down on this and get people who say the wrong things prosecuted....
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. There are some events commemorating Carl Sargeant, your Welsh Government predecessor as the housing Minister. Of course, he did many good things in that field. I've just gone through a file of questions that I asked—[Inaudible.]—and I see that—[Inaudible.]. I was specifically asking on that date about the use of publicly owned land in Wales...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, again, Minister, and apologies if my first question sounds somewhat familiar, but the record didn't pick it up so I will rehearse it again. We have had some events today commemorating Carl Sargeant, who did much good work as your predecessor as the housing and communities Minister. I've just been looking through the file of questions from when I used to...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for the response, and it's encouraging that you are taking on this as an ongoing project, and, also, involving other parts of the public sector. There is also a UK Government scheme, whereby they're getting local councils in England to compile a register of all their available brownfield sites—the idea being that this will make it easier for developers to know what land is...
Gareth Bennett: Again, you mentioned in your statement a few weeks ago that you saw a big role for small and medium-sized enterprises in providing housing. Of course, they haven't played a major role in the housing sector in Wales in recent years, so I'm glad that you've again mentioned that today. And what you've said in that response was again encouraging. Are there any other specific incentives that...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, one of the early policies enacted by the Welsh Government was to introduce a new educational qualification, the Welsh baccalaureate, or 'Welsh bac', as it is known. The Welsh bac has come under criticism, so do you still believe it has been a worthwhile addition to the national curriculum in Wales?
Gareth Bennett: Yes, I thought you would probably endorse it, so thank you for the answer. I have to say that you didn't tell us why you think that, but perhaps that will become—[Interruption.] I didn't ask. That may perhaps become clearer as we progress. I have to say—[Interruption.] I have to say, the majority of students doing the A-level version of the Welsh bac probably don't agree with your...
Gareth Bennett: Yes, you say it prepares them better, but it also hinders them from getting onto the top courses. Now, you wanted—[Interruption.] You wanted evidence, so listen to some evidence. We know from freedom of information requests that in 2017 Oxford and Cambridge universities made 153 conditional offers to Welsh-domiciled students, none of which included the Welsh bac. Imperial College London...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for your statement today. Just a couple of points to raise. Vaccination has been mentioned a couple of times. You describe in your statement that you're now encouraging social care staff to get vaccinated, which is a good development. There was an issue a couple of years ago that there was actually a less than 50 per cent take-up of the flu vaccination from within the NHS...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, if I could take you back to the Brexit issues that you were talking about a few minutes ago, in September of this year you said, speaking about workers' rights, that, and I quote: 'In Wales we have always said, since the referendum, that all the rights we've won through our membership of the European Union must be protected. If the Tories cannot deliver a Brexit...
Gareth Bennett: Labour seems to have moved into a position whereby it's coming up with the philosophical justification for cheap labour. Now, if there is a shortage of workers, workers can be attracted by increasing wages. This is a simple relationship. As you know, it's an economic relationship. You seem to be saying that you prefer the interests of big business—you cited the CBI—over the interests...
Gareth Bennett: The example you just raised yourself two minutes ago was of hotel workers. It wasn't of high-paid consultants and high-skilled consultants, it was hotel workers. Would you consider, if you do become the next leader in this place, renaming your party 'Cheap Labour'?
Gareth Bennett: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Today's debate relates to various aspects of animal welfare—an important subject, I'm sure we would all agree. And I'm therefore happy to move today's UKIP motion. UKIP believes that the welfare of farm animals from rearing to slaughter should be an absolute priority for the UK and Welsh Governments. The UK has some of the highest standards of animal...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. Thanks to everyone who contributed to an interesting debate. If I can go through the contributions, Andrew R.T. Davies was telling us about some of the problematic aspects of the motion in that a lot of Welsh livestock actually crosses the border and goes over to England for processing. The Conservatives, in their manifesto in Wales, supported the installation of CCTV in all...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, there is an ever-increasing list of building projects in Cardiff dealing, supposedly, with student accommodation. In the last three years, there have been 23 separate developments opened, approved or put under construction in Cardiff. If you stand on the junction of City Road and Newport Road in Cardiff, you can see eight separate developments, either under...
Gareth Bennett: Well, it is, as you say, a matter for the relevant local authority in part, but I feel that this is an area where the Welsh Government should be concerned. I think you do have an important role to play in monitoring this. I have raised this issue with your housing Minister, who said she's keeping an eye on this, but she did point out that it may fall close to the remit of your planning...
Gareth Bennett: I thank you for your answer, but there has been a certain amount of concern about this, even within Cardiff council. Cardiff council's planning officer, Lawrence Dowdall, has recently stated that Cardiff may now have an oversupply of student accommodation. Planning committee member Wendy Congreve, who is a Lib Dem member, described one recent development as 'a cynical use of the planning...
Gareth Bennett: Diolch, Llywydd. A couple of weeks ago in the Assembly, I met with representatives from the Alzheimer's Society. During this meeting, I and some of my staff undertook a training and skills session to become dementia friends. The object of becoming a dementia friend is to learn some of the logistics of dementia—what dementia is, what causes is, what are the symptoms. Most importantly, it's...
