Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank the Minister for her opening remarks regarding the issue of flooding, and also add my words of thanks to the emergency services for all their hard work and commitment during those difficult times, which may, of course, not be over yet? I am pleased, Minister, that you started your contribution with the issue of flooding and with climate change. I seem to...
Nick Ramsay: Yes, sure.
Nick Ramsay: I do remember Gordon Brown putting forward an alternative budget many years ago, and I think the Labour Party was out of power for many years after that. It wasn't Gordon Brown, sorry, I take that back—Mike Hedges will correct me—it was John Smith. The problem with putting forward an alternative budget is, as the Minister knows, an economic situation is fast-moving, and, actually, it is...
Nick Ramsay: I didn't quite catch the question at the end of that, but on the Public Accounts Committee, we've been looking at the loans situation of Cardiff Airport, and there are some confusions there that need to be cleared up on the committee. I think what we would be afraid of is, yes, it's fine to give loans to a project, but those loans should not amount to a blank cheque. Those loans should not be...
Nick Ramsay: Will you be putting forward an alternative budget?
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister take an intervention? I'm pleased that you were listening, Minister, and have taken things on board. Would you agree with me that, given the growing powers of this place and the growing fiscal devolution, perhaps this debate itself—the final budget debate—is something that could be looked at in terms of the scope of the debate? I got the feeling today that many Members...
Nick Ramsay: The Chair of the Finance Committee has pretty much covered comprehensively all aspects of the supplementary budget that were referred to. Can I concur with the comments that Llyr Gruffydd made with regard to the issue of the HS2 funding? I think that was something that the committee was eager to find out: what the exact lay of the land was in terms of funding for Wales. I know it doesn't work...
Nick Ramsay: As a member of the Finance Committee and speaking with one voice, yes, I do agree with you on that, Mike Hedges, and I think that whenever there's a large infrastructure—. Well, the way the Barnett formula works, whenever there's a large infrastructure project going on on a UK level that benefits one area, like Crossrail, for instance, benefits London, then I think that there's a natural...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister make a statement on the support available to farmers post-Brexit?
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister give way?
Nick Ramsay: It wouldn't be an international strategy debate without me giving a plug for Love Zimbabwe, of course, which I'm sure you're expecting. You know the hard work that that charity does in Monmouthshire, and you've had meetings with them yourself. So, can you give an assurance that Zimbabwe and Africa as a whole, as a developing part of the world, will feature highly in the Welsh Government's...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way, Julie. You mentioned at the start of your contribution the work of the Public Accounts Committee in this area that looked at all of these areas. As you'll know, we made a point of taking evidence from the young people themselves, and one of the overriding messages that we got from those young people was the importance of stability, particularly when it comes to...
Nick Ramsay: You just took me back to 2007, and I think your cross-party group on eating disorders was one of the first CPGs that I attended, and you brought a young man along with you to that meeting who had been suffering from an eating disorder. So, I think the point you made there, about, often, men don't want to own up to the fact that they've got an eating disorder or a wider mental health issue, is...
Nick Ramsay: I appreciate time is short, so I'll be brief. First of all, an issue raised by a number of Members in this Chamber today: that of flooding. Can I concur with those previous comments in terms of support that's available to businesses and homes, indeed, across Wales? Particularly those homes that may not have access to conventional flood insurance. I visited one home in Monmouthshire, in the...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister, for taking the intervention. As you know, as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which has been looking at this issue recently, we as a committee certainly have no interest in talking Wales down or being negative for negative's sake. You will know, however, that we have asked officials, in terms of those loans and those repayable loans—we accept that loans are...
Nick Ramsay: It's a pleasure to contribute to this debate. I was a bit overeager earlier in that I made one of my substantive points, actually, to the Minister not long after he started speaking. He enthused me so much that he knows where I'm coming from on this.
Nick Ramsay: It's quite clear that an airport such as Cardiff is an important piece of not just Welsh transport infrastructure, but also of the UK transport infrastructure as well and, indeed, of course, as a link to other parts of the world and, more recently, to Qatar through the links made with that airline, of course, becoming a global hub as well. And the issue of funding is, I don't think, in doubt....
Nick Ramsay: Will you give way, Jenny?
Nick Ramsay: Just on your previous point there, the statistic I've got in front of me is definitely that the Welsh Government has now fully drawn down that £38 million, but I'm willing to discuss that with you later. It may be that I've got the wrong end of the stick, but I think that that money has been drawn down.
Nick Ramsay: Minister, you've just given a perhaps understandably clinical analysis—certainly at the start of your answer there—as to the effect on revenues of income tax changes. What you've said is, of course, totally technically correct, but increasing or reducing taxes does, of course, have other effects, which UK Government has been dealing with for a long time: behavioural changes, for instance....
