Mark Reckless: I do not believe I myself have used that word. If I'm incorrect and you'd like to draw to me to anywhere when I've ever used that word in a political context to condemn anyone, then please do. But I don't believe I've said it.
Mark Reckless: Sorry, I don't want to take—
Mark Reckless: I need to—. I would like to correct what I just said. I don't believe I've used the word 'traitor'. That is not a word I use.
Mark Reckless: The word 'betray' I may use in some contexts. But we should think very carefully how we use words, I agree.
Mark Reckless: My denial—. I don't deny using that.
Mark Reckless: I should declare for the context, I do—. I haven't used the word 'traitor'.
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way? We haven't proposed cutting all tariffs to zero. Broadly, we thought the Government tariff schedule was a sensible one. On clothing and footwear there's a strong case. On food, we would see the case for a degree of protection for domestic producers.
Mark Reckless: First Minister, your Liberal Democrat Minister published on Thursday a statement further watering down school accountability in Wales. Her new measures will remove the emphasis on the level 2 inclusive measure for GCSE, despite that grade C to D boundary being so important for school and university, particularly in maths and English, when people consider future employment. Measure-specific...
Mark Reckless: But if you don't publish the results, if you treat league tables as a dirty phrase, if you tell each school to measure what they like and hold themselves to account, how are parents possibly going to judge what schools are delivering and make decisions about where they want their children to go to school? The fact is that accountability measures in Wales—. Let's take primary schools, Kirsty...
Mark Reckless: When was that?
Mark Reckless: On climate change.
Mark Reckless: You say in your statement, Minister, at least in the written version, that you've committed us to going even further, in achieving net zero emissions no later than 2050, yet you said in reply to Llyr Gruffydd that that was downgraded to an ambition, and we're legislating just for a 95 per cent cut, not for net zero. In what sense, then, are you committed to net zero instead of the 95 per cent...
Mark Reckless: The Labour Party manifesto promised to build a relief road for the M4. Now, First Minister, to adopt your language from earlier, you have betrayed that commitment. [Interruption.] Yes, that's what you said earlier, wasn't it—'betrayed'? That is what you have done. It was perhaps the most important, largest spending and most significant infrastructure project ever seen in Wales—
Mark Reckless: I'm not sure if you were here, Alun, but it was the First Minister's language to me earlier at First Minister's questions, and it is the appropriate language for what you have done in respect of your commitment for that absolutely crucial project in your manifesto. Everything you put out now is cover for that—the cost-benefit ratio over two for that. Now, we'll look at other projects....
Mark Reckless: But a lower priority than even the Labour Government—which has breached its manifesto commitment—intends to give to it. I was astonished by Jenny Rathbone's contribution. She said there'd been a 20 per cent spike in traffic—that's a higher number than I've seen from other studies of this—and she describes scrapping the tolls as a deliberate ploy by the Secretary of State for Wales...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: He says that this measure is proven to work, but it was only last week that his ministerial colleague said the evidence was mixed and inconclusive. Which is it?
Mark Reckless: I'd like to support the amendment in the name of Suzy Davies. I think it's very important that we do everything we can to make Welsh law accessible, both to facilitate and support our own debates, but, at least as importantly, for those who are out practically dealing with this law, namely the legal profession still of England and Wales. And we have a Commission on Justice for Wales, chaired...
Mark Reckless: 5. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's assessment of the effect of the higher 6 per cent land transaction tax rate in respect of commercial property? OAQ54112
Mark Reckless: I, too, would like to give a warm welcome to our Members of the Welsh Youth Parliament. I strongly suspect that some of you here today will be elected to join us in the Assembly in due course. Unfortunately, too often, the positive cross-party work that goes on in the committees, in the adjacent rooms to this Chamber, is not widely reported. Headlines are made when cross words are exchanged...
