Adam Price: I think, at the outset of the debate, it is worth reiterating how disastrous a 'no deal' scenario would be. It's of course difficult to predict with absolute certainty the consequences of a scenario that, by definition, is as yet unspecified in all its permutations. But I think it's reasonable to come to a conclusion about the nature of the impacts on the economy, and in the short to medium...
Adam Price: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I ask the First Minister: what is the Welsh Government's strategy for capital investment in our economy, when the three biggest projects set out originally in 'Prosperity for All' are now unlikely to proceed? The tidal lagoon in Swansea has been rejected by the UK Government. Wylfa Newydd, as we heard earlier, in Ynys Môn has been suspended by the Japanese. The...
Adam Price: I didn't hear any recognition there in the First Minister's response to much of the analysis that we saw from the media in response to the latest announcement, that Wales has a reputation, doesn't it, as the country where major projects go to die? There’s a seeming inability to actually bring forward major transformational projects. We heard the language of transformation again from the...
Adam Price: Well, in the spirit of a kinder politics, maybe I can help the First Minister. Later this afternoon, we'll have a whole series of statements on planning to mitigate the impact of a ‘no deal’ Brexit. There’s one area that is curiously absent, which is the economy. Now, the Chancellor in Westminster has confirmed that there would be an emergency fiscal stimulus in the event of a ‘no...
Adam Price: While there is some disagreement, clearly, across this Chamber, substantively in relation to Brexit policy, I'm sure that there's wider agreement about the chaos and confusion that currently characterise Westminster, and the monumental failure of politics in that Chamber that is driving us towards the brink of a catastrophic 'no deal', the reality that has made necessary the contingency...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. First Minister, during your first winter in charge as health Minister, 80 per cent of those attending accident and emergency departments were accepted, transferred or released within 24 hours. That is, of course, lower than the target of 95 per cent. Last month, only 77.8 per cent of people were seen within four hours. This is the worst record for any December to date. Can...
Adam Price: I have to say that I regret the First Minister’s answer. The performance in England, which is already ahead of Wales, has continued to improve over the last 12 months, whilst the performance figures for Scotland are consistently over 90 per cent in terms of people being seen within the target time. Now, in looking under the surface and looking underneath that national figure, then we see...
Adam Price: Well, I asked you, First Minister, whether this situation puts lives at risk. Well, over the—you didn’t answer that point, and over the last year, the coroner in north Wales has presented a notice to the NHS in Wales in order to prevent deaths in the future on four different occasions. In these reports, the coroner draws specific attention to concerns about ambulances being held back, a...
Adam Price: 5. What is the Welsh Government's vision for fostering relations with stateless nations? OAQ53316
Adam Price: What discussions has the Minister held regarding the Welsh Government's response to the situation of political prisoners in Catalonia?
Adam Price: I understand that the Welsh Government intends to extend its network of embassies, as it were, within the Spanish state. Can I ask you whether it’s an intention to look specifically at Catalonia, and the Basque Country, of course, where there is a close relationship between Wales and those nations already? I raised these issues specifically because in a recent visit by a delegation from the...
Adam Price: It's difficult not to be a little depressed at this point, particularly after that speech, but it's our responsibility in this place to offer at least some direction and some hope. Brexit started with people offering false and contradictory promises: we could leave the EU and still have unfettered access to its markets without being subject to its laws. Now, Parliament yesterday succumbed to...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, can you assure the Senedd that your leading civil servant, Permanent secretary Dame Shan Morgan, has not indicated in conversation with you, or Cabinet or other colleagues that she is willing to leave her position before her contract ends in 2022?
Adam Price: First Minister, I'm afraid I have to press you again on this point, and this is because of the nature of the way this alleged departure has emerged in the media, as reported last Thursday by the Western Mail's chief reporter, Martin Shipton. He refers to a number of senior, and, as he puts it, well-placed sources in the Welsh Government providing him with the information that there have been...
Adam Price: First Minister, when John Howard famously sacked all his departmental heads 20 years ago in Australia, it was dubbed 'the night of the long knives'. Now your Government is denying all knowledge of conversations several senior sources have maintained did happen. It seems to be a night of the short memories. Now, it said in the article that you're anxious to have a fresh start, but to give what...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Natural Resources Wales directly manages 80 per cent of Wales's forests and regulates the remaining 20 per cent. As a body itself, it produces 800,000 tonnes of timber each year. Yet, astonishingly, as we heard yesterday from the chief executive of NRW, no-one on the current board has either knowledge or experience in timber or forestry. In their report into the problems at...
Adam Price: It does beg the question why it's taken six years and four separate reports for these deep failings to be uncovered in this way. Now, the standard response we've heard from the Government in situations like this is that this is an autonomous body for which you only have arm's-length responsibility, but you do have direct responsibility for your own Government's strategy for forestry and...
Adam Price: I think the idea of a national forest is all well and good and to be welcomed, but you have to ask the First Minister: you've been part of the furniture in this institution in different shapes or forms—part of the furniture whether it's made out of Welsh wood or not—and where have you been in terms of these targets? You weren't able to answer, and there's a very good reason, maybe,...
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Returning to the question raised by my colleague Helen Mary Jones, has the work that you referred to in identifying the medicines and medical equipment that are at risk of becoming scarce if there were a 'no deal' Brexit been completed? Is that work completed? How many medicines and what medical equipment have you identified on that list? Is it less than...
Adam Price: May I ask the Minister, with just a few weeks to go, isn’t it going to be a cause of concern for people that that work hasn’t been completed? We’ve known for some time that there was a possibility of a no-deal exit, and, with just a few weeks remaining, we still don’t know what goods and medicines we are talking about. May I also ask him whether he is aware of any contingency plans by...
