Adam Price: Thank you—Deputy Minister?
Adam Price: Acting Presiding Officer—you've had three titles already this afternoon. First Minister, this will be your final legislative statement in this Senedd. I'm grateful for you having shared a copy with us and for the opportunity to have further discussions with you during the autumn. Now, even before COVID struck, our assessment of the Bills that you as a Government decided to bring forward was...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. At the heart of this historic first debate, this parliamentary session's last debate, is the simple but fundamental proposition that the decision on whether Wales should become an independent nation must rest alone with the people of Wales. We believe that Wales's right to determine its constitutional future, including the right to become an independent country, should the...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. It's very encouraging that the number of new cases recorded in Wales is low, now consistently in the dozens and not surpassing 100. Isn't this the time, First Minister, for us to adopt a strategy of eradicating the virus—a zero-COVID strategy, as it's called—bringing us in line with the comments of the Scottish First Minister, who said that every nation in the UK must...
Adam Price: Data from the Office for National Statistics recently published showed that the mortality rate for Wales was 2.78 per cent higher than the average mortality rate between 2015 and 2019 in the first six months of this year. It's important to acknowledge that that was lower than both England and Scotland, but Wales, nevertheless, was ranked the fifth-highest country for excess deaths in Europe...
Adam Price: Diolch. First Minister, testing has been a key feature of the response to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide. Two weeks ago, researchers at Yale University secured emergency Food and Drug Administration approval for their saliva-based COVID-19 test. Now, there are two main advantages to a saliva test: it's less invasive, yet comparable in accuracy to the current test; and it costs as little...
Adam Price: First Minister, lockdown has highlighted the importance of having a safe and secure home. Shelter Cymru estimates that 42 per cent of private tenants in Wales are vulnerable to no-fault evictions, which you promised in your conference address last year that you would ban. In addition, of course, in the wake of the pandemic, 40 per cent of renters in Wales are estimated to be falling behind on...
Adam Price: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. BMA Cymru Wales has warned that a second COVID peak is highly likely this winter, and is the No. 1 concern among the medical profession, as it is, I'm sure, for all of us. Could I urge the First Minister to give serious consideration to adopting elements of the 10-point winter plan that we published today, which is designed to avoid both a second wave and a second...
Adam Price: The forecasting team at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are reporting currently their estimate, as of 11 September, of the R figure for Wales as being 1.43, which would put Wales as having the highest rate of growth currently in the UK and a doubling time of just over six days. Do you recognise those estimates, First Minister? If not, what are the Welsh Government's latest...
Adam Price: In six weeks' time, the UK Government's furlough scheme will end, and the looming cliff edge will leave thousands of workers facing the crippling uncertainty of unemployment. If a further rise in COVID cases means local lockdowns will have to be imposed in other areas over the coming months, and if the UK Government does not act, does the Welsh Government have a contingency plan to offer a...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Could the First Minister present to the Senedd the Government's proposals in terms of the changes to coronavirus restrictions, as the Prime Minister has just done as regards England in the last hour, and the First Minister of Scotland is shortly to do in the Scottish Parliament? And in doing so, could he say whether he agrees with what the opposition parties in Westminster...
Adam Price: Can I ask the First Minister that, when the Government has made a decision in terms of any changes that it's going to introduce, it does bring a statement to this Senedd later this afternoon? We've always supported as decentralised as possible an approach. It may be, of course, that you can reach a point where that is no longer possible and you need to introduce nationwide changes, but...
Adam Price: Yes, and that will be the subject of a full statement later this afternoon, First Minister—
Adam Price: Just very briefly on resilience and testing—I know we've talked about this before—in terms of the lighthouse labs, obviously building up our own capacity is absolutely critical. There's an interesting experiment in the north-east of England, where they've taken a lighthouse lab effectively into public ownership, I suppose you might call it, and also they're targeting it at local...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. During proceedings today, a number of Members from opposition parties as well as Members from the Government side had asked for a statement from the First Minister to be made in the Senedd if there is any intention to introduce any policy changes on coronavirus and restrictions today. We're given to understand that there is to be an announcement made. Have you received any...
Adam Price: I welcome this opportunity to discuss the Wales-wide measures announced yesterday by the First Minister. However, I also want to place on record how unacceptable it is that we weren't afforded this opportunity yesterday. The Senedd has been sidelined time and time again in favour of government by press briefing. It wasn't the case, as you were told, Llywydd, that we couldn't debate this...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Many of us will have been surprised and somewhat alarmed at the scenes from the top of Snowdon over the weekend, with long queues of people attempting to reach the summit with complete disregard, it would appear, for social distancing guidelines, but it raises a wider issue of course. Many of these will have been visitors and there's nothing set out in the guidelines at the...
Adam Price: First Minister, the summer has been an extremely anxious time for young people, as you know. As a consequence of the A-level debacle, many were left not knowing if they were going to university at all, let alone which one. Having arrived on campus last week, the worry now will be whether they will be allowed to return home for Christmas. Students like Meg, a first-year law student from...
Adam Price: On 4 September, First Minister, SAGE warned that there was a significant risk that higher education could amplify local and national transmission of COVID-19. The risk, they said, required national oversight, and once again, they identified testing as critically important. On 15 July, you said, 'Today we can carry out 15,000 tests a day.' On Sunday, you said, '15,000 is not a sustainable...
Adam Price: Clearly, as we've heard in the debate, the driving force for the discussion around universal basic income is the massive wave of technological change that is unfolding in front of our very eyes. There is an economic debate as to the extent to which automation, AI and related technologies are going to create mass technological unemployment permanently. There are serious economists that believe...
