Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. I think it's fair to say that Ford's decision appeared to be a genuine shock to the Welsh Government on Friday. The combination of factors that contributed to the decision, though, would have been less of a surprise, because of Ford's previous statements, especially its announcement in January that it was shedding over 1,000 jobs at the factory. The economy Minister referred...
Adam Price: The first line of defence here, of course, is to fight this unconscionable proposal by Ford and we, on this side obviously, as Bethan Jenkins said, wish to express our total solidarity with the members of the GMB and Unite unions who will be balloting for industrial action on Friday. But, obviously, the Government's—. One of the Government's roles is to prepare contingency plans, and I was...
Adam Price: Finally, if I can turn to another matter, First Minister, interviewed during your leadership campaign on 19 November last year, you said, 'I think we've reached the point where we need more Assembly Members to discharge all the responsibilities that the Assembly now has.' You went on to say, 'There is never a good time to go out and say to people that you want to expand the number of people...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. First Minister, I have a right to ask you a question in Welsh in this Parliament, but my 84-year-old father doesn’t have a right to ask a question in Welsh to his GP, his optician, his pharmacist or his dentist. Now, five years ago, you said personally that the core of the case for improving the use of the Welsh language in primary care is the possibility that it’s...
Adam Price: But, Minister, you yourself have identified this as a huge vacuum five years ago. Where have you been? The committee itself says that we are still as far away from delivering equality in terms of language choice as we were at the beginning of this Assembly. There's been no progress. And may I turn to another issue that is centrally important to the future of the language, namely employment?...
Adam Price: Many people will feel particularly uncomfortable in seeing universities in Wales making hundreds of staff redundant while at the same time paying salaries to their vice-chancellors, who, according to the latest HEFCW figures, earn £254,000 on average. Now, outwith the university sector, the salary of the chief executive of the Development Bank of Wales is among the highest in the public...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, why did the taskforce the Welsh Government established to save Ford Bridgend in October 2017 meet 10 times in the first 10 months of its existence and then meet just once in the last 11 months, in March of this year, nearly two months after the company announced 1,000 job losses? How did you move from an average of one meeting a month to around one meeting a...
Adam Price: In your own list of ministerial engagements and meetings for last year, there is only one meeting listed there with Ford during that entire crucial year. Now, when I asked earlier this month if you would fly out to the Michigan headquarters of the Ford Motor Company, you said your preferred plan of action was to meet very soon with senior Ford Europe decision makers, because this was a Ford...
Adam Price: In terms of what happens now, have you studied recent developments around Ford's closure of its French plant in Blanquefort announced last year, with the loss of 850 jobs? A buyer was found by the French Government that put together an investment package, but the Ford Motor Company blocked the sale on commercial grounds, leading to the loss of those 850 jobs. Would you support a policy of...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, the ministerial code says Ministers should apologise if they say something that is wrong. Why should your Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport have to apologise for saying something that is right? [Laughter.]
Adam Price: Which bit? Are you denying—? The BBC is reporting that the economy Minister apologises for his comments about the Welsh economy. I must say, reading the report—reading Ken Skates re-interpreting for us what Lee Waters really meant—was a bit like reading that famous tweet by Andrew Adonis extolling the virtues of Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit policy. Now, I can understand your difficulty with...
Adam Price: Look, if you are saying you welcome, actually, critical challenge for Ministers and going off script, why has he been asked or has he felt it necessary to issue an apology? Talking about automation, the last thing we want is Ministers that act like robots. Lee Waters is correct in his analysis, and actually, as you mention Ieuan Wyn Jones, Ieuan, when he was Minister, published an economic...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, earlier this year, Machynlleth town council, seat of the first Welsh Parliament, of course, became the first council in Wales to declare a climate emergency, and a few months later, this Parliament and your Government followed suit. Two months ago, Machynlleth town council became the first council in Wales to declare its support for independence. I think you...
Adam Price: So, if I can summarise your answer, we're unambiguously in favour of independence, you're ambiguously in favour of it. It's a definite maybe from the First Minister.
Adam Price: But one policy area—[Interruption.] One policy area in which there has been some—[Interruption.]
Adam Price: I think I've touched a nerve here maybe. One policy area in which there has been evolution is Brexit. Today, the Labour Party's put out a statement confirming it would campaign for remain in the event of a referendum called by a Tory Prime Minister, but it leaves open the question as to whether it would do the same if Labour were in Government. Do you support that position, or are you able to...
Adam Price: I think that's the second question I haven't had a clear answer for, but it does beg the question if you are claiming to be an out-and-out remain party why you are the only one that hasn't stood down to maximise the chances of defeating a pro-Brexit party in Brecon and Radnor. [Interruption.] Could I finally turn to some news that has broken in the last few hours, which is the interim...
Adam Price: I welcome the statement and the general framework that the First Minister has set out. I’d be interested to hear from the First Minister, in developing this model of social partnership, what other models across Europe or even further afield the Government has looked at. Of course, we classically are very familiar with the model of social partnership in Germany, for example, and in...
Adam Price: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to rise to move the motion in the name of my party and, indeed, to build upon the previous debate's discussion of where we've come from, how we've developed as a Parliament, and how we could develop further. I think, in thinking about this arc of Welsh democracy, if you like, one way of seeing it is that we started as a Parliament that was small in size and...
Adam Price: But the essence of the argument that I'm presenting is that we cannot afford to wait until 2026. This is not a problem that can be put off until tomorrow, let alone another five years’ time—it’s a crisis in our democracy that we have to put right today. And we can do it today if we support this motion. And for those who are in any doubt about whether we have the time, I’d just remind...
