Mr Neil Hamilton: Whilst I share the Welsh Government's reservations about having a line drawn in the middle of the Irish sea, and therefore making Northern Ireland effectively part of the EU, rather than the UK, for trade purposes, isn't the real problem here that the Labour Party, and indeed all of the remainer-supporting parties in the House of Commons, fundamentally will do everything they possibly...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister probably knows that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have calculated that Wales contributes approximately £5,800 per head in tax, and Her Majesty's Treasury calculates that public expenditure, at all levels in Wales, amounts to about £10,300 per head. And so that, in effect, is a massive subsidy, largely by the taxpayers of London and the south-east. Therefore, the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I have—[Interruption.]
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've selected this topic for debate this afternoon because I believe that the 'National Development Framework 2020-2040', which was published recently, poses, for Mid and West Wales in particular, the environmental equivalent of Henry VIII's despoliation of churches and monasteries. In the foreword to this document, the First Minister says that, by 2040,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It appears that talking climate change, decarbonisation and creating more renewable energy sources are the key aim, regardless of economic growth supporting tourism or indeed changing landscapes. On page 36 of the document, it says that the Government aims to tackle the causes of climate change and has a key commitment to carbonisation. It also says that the Welsh Government will work with...
Mr Neil Hamilton: So, last year, China had a nearly 5 per cent increase in its global emissions, and India 7 per cent. India, in 2018, increased its global emissions by 10 times Wales's total annual output of carbon dioxide. So, even if we were able to close down the entire Welsh economy and, indeed, if Wales didn't exist on the planet and suddenly was vapourised, India would make up the gain to the word in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on the governance arrangements for health boards in Wales? OAQ54757
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm sure that the Minister will agree with me that, ultimately, governance arrangements can't be separated from those appointed to perform the acts of governance themselves that are needed. The Minister himself, in the case of Betsi Cadwaladr, of course, plays a very active personal role. He's chaired the monthly accountability meetings since July 2018 and the chief executive, Gary Doherty,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Minister said in her statement: 'for the first time ever, we are performing at the OECD average in all three domains: in reading, in science, and in mathematics.' But will she acknowledge that there's less cause for self-congratulation here, perhaps, than meets the eye? Because her own graphs show that the OECD average is itself falling; it's getting...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I accept what the First Minister said in the sober and serious answers that he has given to earlier questions, and in contrast very effectively with the pantomime that we had at the beginning of questions today. The fact remains that Wales does have one of the lowest cancer survival rates in the world amongst countries of comparable data. For surviving five years we're thirty fourth out of 36...
Mr Neil Hamilton: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government on implementing the decision made in the EU referendum?
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister said in the statement that we must, in the UK, build a shared vision of the kind of economy and future trading relationships that we want with the EU. Of course, I applaud the sentiment, but it doesn't really bear much scrutiny because all the language of the statement and the attitudes that the Minister herself, in particular, has adopted in recent years, point in the opposite...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the Minister provide an update on how the Welsh Government is managing its resources to ensure value for money and effectiveness? OAQ54857
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister will know there's no shortage of candidates for increased spending where there is a real need, whether it's the health service or reducing fuel poverty or whatever. I think most Welsh taxpayers will scratch their heads, therefore, when they discover that £1.2 million is to be spent on organisations like the Welsh Centre for International Affairs—two thirds of whose income is...
Mr Neil Hamilton: We have these heart-searching sessions so often because of extraordinary pressures on the health service, but that indicates that the extraordinary pressures have in some ways become routine and that's the systemic problem that we've got here. Operations have been cancelled now for the third consecutive day in Hywel Dda and people might be forgiven, therefore, for thinking we should change...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Rape is second only to murder in the catalogues of crime, and it is rightly condemned and rightly severely punished when perpetrators are convicted. But the one thing that this motion neglects is, on the other hand, if rape is so serious a crime, accusing somebody falsely of rape is a very serious matter as well. Everybody knows the stigma that attaches to allegations of that kind. And I do...
Mr Neil Hamilton: In her impassioned speech earlier on, Lynne Neagle talked about this Bill riding roughshod over democracy. But of course, it's not riding roughshod over democracy, it's a fulfilment of democracy. In the course of the professorial disquisition to which we've just listened, Carwyn Jones referred to the declaration of Arbroath as saying in Scottish law that sovereignty lies in the hands of the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: No. I don't think I'm going to spend much time arguing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. These kinds of academic pursuits lie ahead for the Member for Bridgend; a seat that was lost, of course, in the Westminster election just a few weeks ago. These facts don't seem to have impinged upon the consciousness of Labour Members, and possibly Plaid Cymru Members, at all. There was, I...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, we delivered on the results of the referenda in 1997 and 2011. And I'm perfectly happy to see the Labour Party commit itself to going back into the EU once we've left; what it did not have the moral right to do was to attempt to frustrate the result of the referendum before it had actually been delivered. It's a perfectly honourable role for other parties to say, 'We are better off...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 8. Will the Minister make a statement on how Transport for Wales responds to railway line disruptions in Mid and West Wales? OAQ54967
