Darren Millar: I don't believe it's necessary to raise taxes to do it.
Darren Millar: Have you produced your alternative?
Darren Millar: Can I just—will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: There was a report, of course, an independent report into the Welsh ambulance service a number of years ago that recommended splitting the ambulance service up between emergency transport and routine transport to hospitals. It was welcomed on all sides of this Chamber, but no progress has been made, actually—[Interruption.] No progress has been made. It was supposed to be split completely....
Darren Millar: I think you'll find that, if you look at the average funding settlements over the past 20 years, the evidence is pretty clear in terms of which areas tend to get the larger increases or smaller reductions in the revenue support grant versus those that don't. It's for the Welsh Government to explain, but would you agree with me that one thing that we do need to try to bring, in order to have...
Darren Millar: I'm grateful to you for taking an intervention. Will you take the opportunity—
Darren Millar: Well, that was very uncharitable of you.
Darren Millar: The Minister's inviting me to accompany her to her constituency; I'd love to have you accompany me to my constituency to meet patients who have been waiting 12 hours plus for attention in emergency departments, individuals who've been waiting two years for their hip, knee and shoulder operations, and to see the many people in schools who are concerned about the level of disparity between...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I thank the Minister for an advance copy of her statement today? I'm a little surprised by the tone of the statement, because, of course, you say you want a close working relationship with the UK Government and yet you do everything that you can to offend them in terms of the things, frankly, that you have just said. To start your statement by...
Darren Millar: 2. Will the Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's draft budget for 2020-21? OAQ54865
Darren Millar: 1. What action is the Welsh Government taking to promote human rights through its international relations strategy? OAQ54866
Darren Millar: Well, thanks to the UK Government, of course, you've got an extra £600 million in the budget for 2021—2020, is that right—2020-21, compared to the previous financial year. And that gives you some great opportunities. One of those opportunities, of course, is to mitigate the impact of climate change, particularly around the coasts of Wales, which are at risk of flooding. Now, I do welcome...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, can you tell us how your budget for the year 2020-2021 is going to support Welsh businesses?
Darren Millar: Well, of course, we welcome any business rate relief, but the fact of the matter is that, in spite of that relief, which you are extending, we've still got the most punitive business rates regime in the whole of the United Kingdom. And, of course, in addition to having the highest business rates in Great Britain, we also have very high land transaction tax for non-commercial properties, and...
Darren Millar: Well, you had a golden opportunity, Minister—and you've missed it, frankly—to reduce the business rate multiplier and to make it more attractive for people to come here and invest in Wales—an extra £600 million provided by the UK Government, a Welsh block grant at a record high level. And, of course, in spite of this, you expect us to believe that there's nothing that you can do in...
Darren Millar: Can I applaud the commitment shown by the Welsh Government and indeed the UK Government on human rights and championing those rights around the world? Having said that, I am a little concerned that the Welsh Government has been cosying up to the communist Vietnamese Government in recent years, particularly through the Wales-Vietnam education link. Now, indeed—[Interruption.] Indeed, the...
Darren Millar: Are you challenging them on their human rights record?
Darren Millar: Are you challenging them on their human rights record?
Darren Millar: It's not that we don't recognise, of course, that there is poverty outside of seaside towns and market towns. It's just that there are very often peculiar challenges that are faced by seaside towns and market towns that we want to shine attention on, and bring some regeneration focus to. Very often, those have been overlooked in the past by previous Welsh Governments, and it's something that...
Darren Millar: I just wanted to congratulate Suzy on a tremendous opening speech and simply to say that, of course, school isn't the only opportunity to learn a second language. I'm using an app at the moment, Mango Languages, to try and brush up on a bit of Levantine Arabic in order that I can communicate with some of my friends out in the middle east, and I have to say I think that the technology that we...
