Joyce Watson: My question is, to you, Counsel General: therefore, do you think that it would be unwise for the UK Government to try and take that action here in Wales and cause all that mayhem?
Joyce Watson: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. And thank you, Chair, for taking on what is an extremely complex and difficult thing to do. But I do have one question and it's about the removal of the appeals provision by majority decision. I had, as you well know, extreme difficulty in appealing a decision that went in favour of Gareth Bennett in the last Senedd and against me. It resulted in having to bring in...
Joyce Watson: Diolch, Cefin. Whilst I would love to rejoin the single market—I’d do it tomorrow, I’d go back to the European Union tomorrow and I’m sure that other people would—and I agree with everything that you’ve said, don’t you accept that, at the moment, we cannot just automatically go back into the single market? And what we actually need to do is make a better condition for those...
Joyce Watson: First Minister, nuclear is a small part of our energy-generation prospect in Wales. With our natural resources, we can offer great potential to generate renewable energy from wind, wave and tide. With that in mind, First Minister, would you agree with me how very disappointing it was to see only four projects from Wales finding success in the latest UK Government Contracts for Difference...
Joyce Watson: I want to thank the committee for what is an interesting report. I remember being elected in 2007, and there were serious concerns around bovine TB in Wales then, but the data shows how far we have come. There’s a new picture now, as the Minister put it in her most recent statement. New herd incidents are down 56 per cent since 2008, and we’ve got here by the Government and also the...
Joyce Watson: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, and of course I welcome the Bill. We've all seen the unnecessary devastating impact that single-use plastics have on our environment and our wildlife. So, what are we talking about? Well, currently, 11 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is entering our ocean every year. If we keep on as we are now, that will double by 2040. And, according to the Pew Charitable...
Joyce Watson: Minister, there's been significant interest in the reported consultation on school uniforms, and the First Minister spoke about this yesterday. The Welsh Government, of course, has extended the pupil development grant to support more families with the cost of uniforms and school kit to the extent of £200, but the Children's Society have said that the average cost of school uniform is still...
Joyce Watson: Research has shown that many children simply opt out of getting their free school dinner—there’s been a lot of work done on that—and that’s because they face stigma from their peers. But this policy, this universal free school meal policy, removes that stigma, and that is really something to be proud of. We know that children like to fit in, and I believe that having universal free...
Joyce Watson: In 2015, the UK environment Secretary, Liz Truss, boasted of cutting 34,000 farm inspections. It effectively allowed farmers in England to dump waste like pesticide and animal faeces directly into rivers, including the Wye valley, where research by Lancaster University found there were 3,000 tonnes of excess phosphorus, caused by agriculture, seeping into the valley's waterways. Do you agree...
Joyce Watson: Diolch, Llywydd, and I’m going to speak to welcome the inclusion of the ban on snares and glue traps, and the fact that Wales will be the very first nation to completely ban them. As you know, I've spoken on this many times. I'm really pleased, Minister, that you have listened to the wider audience here that has maintained that this is inhumane and arrived at the same decision yourself that...
Joyce Watson: 10. Pa asesiad y mae'r Gweinidog wedi'i wneud o'r effaith y caiff datganiad cyllidol Llywodraeth y DU ar Gymru? OQ58452
Joyce Watson: 5. What plans does the Welsh Government have to increase the supply of locally sourced foods? OQ58450
Joyce Watson: I thank you for that answer, Minister. I had to call it a fiscal statement because that’s what the UK Government have called it, rather than a mini budget, seemingly in order to prevent scrutiny from the Office for Budget Responsibility. But it was a budget, and it is anything but responsible. By unleashing the economically illiterate splurge of tax cuts for the rich, unlimited bankers’...
Joyce Watson: I thank you for that answer. Of course, there are two sides to producing food—it's supply and demand. I think we're coming fast-forward to Christmas, and people will be buying locally sourced food, and I think that there's a real opportunity here, perhaps more than ever, to focus people's minds on buying local—those people, of course, who have any money left to buy anything whatsoever...
Joyce Watson: I thank the Conservatives for bringing this debate today. In recent years, there have been huge strides in the prevention of cervical cancer through the introduction of the human papillomavirus vaccine programme. That vaccine was first rolled out in schools in the UK for teenage girls in 2008 and has been available for boys since 2019. It has had a hugely positive impact on cervical cancer...
Joyce Watson: Thank you for bringing this debate forward—an important debate, and the history lesson behind it. We've had a summer of sewage on our shores; we've had record-high temperatures; a winter ahead of us with unpayable energy bills; record unearned profits for the big energy companies; and an energy system exposed to dictators. These crises are connected, so we do need long-term solutions to...
Joyce Watson: I very much welcome your statement, Minister, and especially the headline commitment to triple peatland restoration. It's fantastic. For the record, I'm a long-standing RSPB member, so I'm especially pleased about what that's going to mean for ground-nesting species like black and red grouse and hen harriers, should they survive. But as well as being a unique habitat, peatlands are critical...
Joyce Watson: 2. What discussions has the First Minister had with the UK Prime Minister regarding the cost-of-living crisis facing residents in mid and west Wales? OQ58550
Joyce Watson: Well, I just think that's ridiculous. On this International Day of the Girl Child, perhaps Liz Truss should reflect on what we teach our children about the importance of open dialogue and debate. When you do manage to catch her, would you press the Prime Minister for an answer on the three cost-of-living actions the devolved administrations are calling for: the £25 uplift to all means-tested...
Joyce Watson: I have read the report with interest. I've made my views very clear on agricultural pollution many times over many years here in this Chamber. I contrasted the tough, but necessary, action that we've taken in Wales with the regime of negligence in England only last week. That has enabled a proliferation of agricultural pollution in our waterways with devastating environmental consequences....
