Mark Reckless: I welcome the Minister's engagement with Assembly Members but also wider civic society, who are interested in this issue, around tax devolution and, in particular, the really significant issues around the yield from the Welsh rates of income tax. I know she's speaking on Tuesday at the Wales Governance Centre, and also thank you for organising your own conference on 19 July, which I'm looking...
Mark Reckless: I don't suggest that the Minister is complacent and, clearly, the OBR has a reputation that it has developed, but I'm a little cautious of thinking just because we have the OBR rather than our own commission that necessarily its performance will be better, because we're only funding it to the tune of £100,000 a year and they do not have the specific experience of the Welsh economy and...
Mark Reckless: Gosh. Well, I shall try and contain my excitement in looking forward to seeing these numbers tomorrow—thank you for letting us know that. What I will ask, though, is: the Minister or her predecessor has increased the rate for properties over £1 million in the commercial sector from 5 per cent to 6 per cent, and that sort of increase of a fifth will not lead to higher revenues if the base...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: I just wanted to say that that is not our preferred policy. We would much prefer a deal, but it's only by being prepared to leave without a deal that there's any chance of getting a decent deal.
Mark Reckless: Does the Member recognise there has been a significant fall, as he states, in EU students in Wales, but that has not been replicated in England? So, there may be lessons for some universities in the sector in Wales rather than necessarily just blaming Brexit.
Mark Reckless: Will the Minister give way?
Mark Reckless: I've previously questioned a number of times around the Seren scheme. Can I just say from these benches that we really do appreciate the efforts that the co-ordinators have gone to and wish her and them well with the continued success of the scheme?
Mark Reckless: Could the Member explain why they're still going to England in the same numbers that they were before?
Mark Reckless: Last week, the Minister for International Relations and Welsh Language belatedly issued a statement on a visit to Dublin. She said: 'The main focus of my visit was a one-to-one meeting with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney.' She goes on: 'In all my meetings with Irish government' there was 'continued incredulity that Wales could have voted the way it did in 2016.'...
Mark Reckless: So, First Minister, you claim to want to avoid 'no deal', but the only measure that has passed the House of Commons has been one that the backstop should be replaced with alternative arrangements. And whatever your own views, surely you recognise that it is that backstop that is a massive barrier to reaching and passing an agreement that would allow us to leave the EU with a deal rather than...
Mark Reckless: It's a pleasure to speak in this debate and I'm delighted to note the report of the Welsh Affairs Committee. I read it at the time it came out. I thought it was a good report. It’s relatively short; I wouldn’t describe it as a comprehensive report. My assessment was a bit different than the Minister’s in that I didn't read its focus as being especially on the constitutional side or...
Mark Reckless: I'm glad for the clarification. I'm sure his constituents would appreciate it as well. Certainly the better offer than if Boris Johnson were to come in and raise the threshold to £80,000 and that were not to happen for them, they might wish to hold their Member to account for that. But I think he makes an important distinction around taxes. We are sceptical about the devolution of ever more...
Mark Reckless: He's proposed to raise the threshold of income tax that I raised—
Mark Reckless: I'm glad you've clarified you're not talking about that, because it wouldn't have been popular with your constituents if you had been. But the fact is—[Interruption.] That's enough, Nick, thank you. [Interruption.] Nick, can we move on? Thank you. This tax is a small tax. It's only £10 million. It was, as stated, recommended by the Silk commission. Notwithstanding our scepticism to...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: I was on the committee at the beginning when it was decided to do this report and some of the initial scoping was thought through and picked up on what the Chair described as some of the concerns that motivated the committee to do this, but I haven't had the benefit of sitting through the evidence, which, at least for some members of the committee, seems to have mitigated at least some of the...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: Could I just clarify that, when she's making generally negative conclusions around the Welsh bac, is she referring specifically to the skills challenge certificate, or is she referring to the umbrella, because all these other qualifications for the umbrella are being studied anyhow, so in what sense would you want to get rid of them?
Mark Reckless: The leading contender to be the UK's next Prime Minister said on Saturday that the decision to cancel the M4 relief road needed to be reversed. He also said, as you said earlier, First Minister, that there should be a strong Conservative influence on how the shared prosperity fund is spent. First Minister, you said that lack of money stopped you proceeding with the M4 relief road. Would you...
