Mr Neil Hamilton: I hope the First Minister doesn't misunderstand me. I'm strongly in favour of what he proposes and very much in favour of the devolution of taxes to Wales so that we can cut them or abolish them and then give us an advantage over other parts of the United Kingdom, which compensates for the historical disadvantages that we have to fight against. What I am interested in here are the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister knows that's pure sophistry. There is another aspect to this as well that's worth consideration, because he will have seen that Monsieur Barnier, in his latest pronunciamento about Britain's future trading relationships with Europe, said a couple of days ago: 'There will be no ambitious partnership without common ground in fair competition, state aid, tax dumping'. Well, of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I am delighted to congratulate my old friend upon his assumption of office as a Minister. I've followed his progress through the several parliamentary institutions of which he's been a member over many decades, and I'm pleased that he still has the capacity to surprise us even at this late stage. And, in passing, I can say that I'm pleased that this country seems to be enjoying a kind of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The finance Secretary said a moment ago that he didn't recognise the figures that were produced by the Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr. Can he tell us what figure, then, he would recognise in this context? And, as regards value for money, when the Department for Transport did a study of the benefits of the dualling of the A465 several years ago, they suggested that they came out at...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I beg to move the motion standing in my name on the agenda. It has, as usual, been attempted to be amended by other parties by deleting our motion in its entirety and substituting their own. But there are parts of the amendments that I agree with. I certainly agree with Plaid Cymru on tax devolution to Wales, and it provides an opportunity to enhance the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I can't be responsible for the obscurity of the Conservatives' language, but I am glad to have that illumination. In the Finance Committee a few weeks ago, when the finance Secretary gave evidence to us, I was intrigued to hear Eluned Morgan in ecstatic tones say that the most exciting part of his announcement about devolved taxes at the beginning of October was that we've got a new...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I am saying that, actually. I'm saying that the proportion of the cost that consumers pay is higher in the United Kingdom than it is anywhere else in Europe. I can provide the figures for the honourable Member if he wishes, but with only three minutes to go, I don't think I have got time. But we have the highest rate of beer duty in Europe, at 52.2p a pint. That's 13 times the duty in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to follow the finance Minister. I always enjoy his donnish humour—and his reference to A.J.P. Taylor, a great historian. A.J.P. Taylor was fearless in championing unpopular people and unpopular causes, so I'm sure he would have been more sympathetic to me than the finance Secretary. His books contain many great truths; I remember once he...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure for being here at the end of this day—fortunately, it's not too late in the day, on account of the business that we've already dispatched. But this is an important issue, obviously. Exports do matter greatly to Wales, and exports to the EU matter proportionately to a greater extent in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: But, project fear is still alive and well in many parts of the country and many industries. All these fears hitherto that have been adumbrated have proved to be utterly false. We're now 18 months beyond the Brexit referendum and the cliff edge that we were supposed to fall off is still there and we haven't fallen over it. Agriculture has some particular problems to face if we don't do a deal...
Mr Neil Hamilton: So, I think there's every reason to think that the Welsh economy is going to benefit in the medium and longer term—and even in the short term—from Brexit. We have had one of the most ridiculous statements that I've seen from project fear in the last couple of years in relation to the chief executive of Aston Martin recently, who was predicting that car production would come to a complete...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 9. Will the First Minister make a statement on local authority-managed car parks in Wales? OAQ51390
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. The temperature in this Chamber may rise tomorrow, but I wonder if the First Minister's seen that the Met Office forecasts for outside show that we are likely to have sub-zero temperatures for the next week or two. I wonder if he also saw on Monday in The Guardian that there was a report saying that electricity and gas prices have risen in the last 20 years by three...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister, of course, did not answer the question. Five per cent of an electricity bill goes in profits to the electricity companies, 20 per cent in green taxes. So, the First Minister is completely wrong. But however bad things are at the minute, things are going to get worse, because the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, which accompanied the budget papers this year, show...
Mr Neil Hamilton: He refuses to answer the question: how do we justify loading poor people with these excessive charges that are going to grow and grow with every year that passes? The OBR papers—the fiscal supplementary tables—following the budget show that the cost of the Climate Change Act 2008 in 2022 will be nearly £15 billion a year. And, over the next five years, the average household will be...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that illuminating response. It was recently revealed, following a freedom of information request to all local authorities by the BBC, that councils are making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year out of pay-and-display parking machines that don't give change. Only six of the 22 local authorities were able to provide the information, but, for them, this...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Welsh Government’s bovine TB eradication programme in Mid and West Wales? OAQ51366
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Just carrying on with NVZs, as the Cabinet Secretary knows, this is causing considerable concern amongst those who might be affected by it. I would just like to support the approach that has been taken by our colleague from Preseli. It is open to the Cabinet Secretary, of course, as a consequence of this consultation, to avoid a heavy-handed approach, if she's...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm sure that everybody wants the right decision to be made at the end of the day, and if a delay results in that, nobody's going to complain. Of course, the precondition is that we get the right decision at the end of the day. But, this particular experiment that I referred to a moment ago in the Cleddau has managed to reduce the nitrate leaches into the soil and the waterways by nearly 90...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It is important, of course, that environmental concerns are taken seriously, and, therefore, that the methods employed, if they're not controlled by statute or regulation, are properly audited and therefore the results can be regarded as credible. This particular scheme in the Cleddau is being audited by Natural Resources Wales, so there again, if the regulatory bodies are working hand in...
