Mark Reckless: We think it should be built. We campaigned for an M4 relief road. The colour of it or the exact route is a subsidiary issue to Wales needing it to be built.
Mark Reckless: I welcome the Finance Minister to her covering First Minister's questions this week, and trust that the First Minister has been as successful promoting Wales off the pitch as the team so far has been on the pitch in Japan. The Government has set aside today's agenda to update us on its preparations should we leave the European Union without an overarching agreement, and it's right that a...
Mark Reckless: The Minister promised us an update on that economic assessment, but what we've seen is the republication of reports that the Government has previously referred to. We have here the Government's own estimates—this is in the executive summary—that suggest that with a 'no deal' Brexit, the economy will be around 9 per cent smaller in 15 years' time than it otherwise would have been. That...
Mark Reckless: I formally move amendment 5, which Caroline Jones has put down. I congratulate Suzy Davies on opening this debate, and Siân on her speech just now. I agree with what Siân Gwenllian says about the need for more funding. I think that we have the finance Minister here and a budget coming up, and we have had a significant increase in education spending in England announced, and I do hope that...
Mark Reckless: I would be delighted to, Suzy.
Mark Reckless: I think that is the core trend. I agree with you and broadly what the Conservatives have been pushing in that area—that in education in Wales, the results seem to have got significantly worse over that period, and that has been the substantial trend. If there is some improvement this year, I think that we should recognise that, but I think the trend is still the dominant matter. With the...
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. My grandfather was a Member of it—I think is called the Dáil. Llywydd, you worked very hard on trying to get a version of the Bill that we're debating tomorrow that has as close to a consensus as we could find, and you worked no harder, I think, than on the naming of our institution. Now, I wonder, First Minister, if you recall that there was a stage in the process where...
Mark Reckless: I know the Government's not the sponsor, but you, First Minister, as an individual Member, were responsible for the representations that you made, and that was why I asked was it not the case that we have the version the Llywydd put forward because of those representations, and because of how strongly and forcefully you put forward that having 'Senedd' on a monolingual basis would command a...
Mark Reckless: 2. Will the Minister confirm the financial savings which have been forgone as a result of the Welsh Government's decision to abandon proposals to reduce the number of councils in Wales? OAQ54494
Mark Reckless: The Minister's response seems significantly different from those I recall from her predecessors on similar subjects, but their speeches about suggestions that bigger is better in general are not ones that have led to councils, or councillors at least, wanting to merge. I just wonder, is Welsh Government not able to offer an estimate or some analysis or something to assist in what are the...
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. You pronounced yesterday that Spain should be suspended from the EU, so I'd like to ask the First Minister about his position. The Welsh Government has a Minister for international relations, although these are not devolved, and it’s a socialist Prime Minister in Spain who asked us to respect the independent judicial decisions of their Supreme Court. Here, we're told by...
Mark Reckless: I commend you, First Minister, on this document and your interesting propositions, and also your desire to engage in a UK-wide debate rather than narrow this to the specifics of Welsh devolution. You say Plaid Cymru will never see the risks as outweighing the rewards of independence—at least they do, potentially, to 2030, which I think is the date they vaunt for their referendum. But you've...
Mark Reckless: Diolch, Llywydd. Finance Minister, you describe the increase in the Public Works Loan Board interest rates as a retrograde move. In doing that, were you reflecting the Treasury's press release, saying that, by increasing the margin that applies to new loans by 100 basis points, it was restoring interest rates to levels available in 2018? And would you agree with my assessment that the...
Mark Reckless: Minister, you referred to regeneration activities and social housing as positive examples where local government in Wales might be borrowing money, but there are also—there's some evidence, at least, of local government borrowing in Wales motivated by the commercial property portfolio investment. One example is Monmouthshire, and we've heard in this Chamber quite frequently how tough...
Mark Reckless: The Local Government Finance Act 1988 section 66 is very complex. There have been all manner of changes to it, and I'm concerned that an assumption made by Plaid Members, and potentially also by Mike, is not correct. I don't believe that there is this carve-out for self-contained self-catering accommodation provided commercially. I think that comes from subsection (2), which is the hotels,...
Mark Reckless: Yes, Mike, you did come up with a different solution. I accept that, but I think you did also mention the carve-out, as we'd heard earlier, before. I don't think any of us are proposing a hotel, B&B change to what subsection (2) says, and I think it's important to recognise subsection (2B) and that reference to non-self-contained self-catering accommodation provided commercially just—
Mark Reckless: No, I want to carry on, actually. It just applies to the hotels and B&Bs. The problem we have is essentially a lot of these issues go back to when council tax was introduced and there was a 50 per cent compulsory discount for second homes, and at that point, when business reliefs for small businesses were much smaller—both in Wales and England, they were the same at that time—there was...
Mark Reckless: I will take the intervention now.
Mark Reckless: The Member’s put his point on the record. I need to complete the point I was trying to make to conclude my argument, which is, yes, as the motion says, if it’s a second home, you should pay council tax—that’s appropriate, and you shouldn’t have an exploitation of a loophole. However, if the tax system is designed to say, actually, if it’s not a second home and you’re really...
Mark Reckless: The Telegraph article and the provision mentioned there does actually only apply to England. It is (2B) and it's incredibly loose—it just says you need to intend to let it for 140 days. In Wales, at least, we then say, 'And you have to have done so—had it available for the last year—and you then actually have to do it for the 70 days.' So, it's better than the English liberalisation,...
