Darren Millar: I know of your personal commitment to human rights, Minister, and I'm very pleased that the Welsh Government is at least talking about trying to take something forward, in order to emphasise and underscore the commitment through legislation here in Wales. As you will know, I introduced an older people's Bill, which, effectively, was voted down by the Government, because of your intention to...
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I request a statement from the Minister for Health and Social Services on mental health services in north Wales, please? It's been over four and a half years since the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was placed into special measures, for, amongst other things, significant challenges in its governance, and mental health services. We are repeatedly told in this Chamber...
Darren Millar: Can I thank the Minister for the way in which she has sought to reassure parents, and indeed educators, about the approach that she wants to take in this new curriculum, particularly to sex and relationships education, and indeed to religious education? I speak as a person of faith with an interest in faith and who partners with faith groups of all different types on all sorts of different...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. On 23 June 2016, to the surprise of the Welsh establishment and many in this Chamber, the majority of Welsh voters cast their votes in favour of leaving the European Union. It was a mandate to deliver Brexit. The 2016 referendum saw the highest turnout in any ballot in Wales since the 1997 general election, with 854,572 people across the country voting to leave the EU. That's...
Darren Millar: I think I'll make some more progress with my speech. A trade deal will ensure, of course, that businesses in Wales can have a smooth trading relationship and full access to the EU market, but Boris Johnson has also made clear that, even in negotiating that trade deal, access to public services—and this is in future trade deals with other nations, too—access to public services such as the...
Darren Millar: What I'm saying is that it has failed to deliver what it promised to deliver, which was to get that GDP up beyond the seventy-fifth percentile. And I think that you should be acknowledging the failure of successive Labour Governments to actually deliver on what it was supposed to deliver. And, of course, Pontypridd still voted to leave, in spite of the cash spent because it hasn't delivered...
Darren Millar: You need to play catch-up. The Fisheries Bill, which has been published today in Westminster, takes into account those precise concerns and addresses them. So, I just wish you'd pay a little bit more attention to what the UK Conservative Government is actually doing on Brexit rather than aimlessly criticising, as you often do, from the backbenches. So, we will have also the opportunity to...
Darren Millar: I'm terribly sorry, I haven't got a lot of time left. The UK's new global immigration system will address public concerns over immigration while still meeting the needs of our economy and our public services, including our public services here in Wales. And, of course, once we've delivered on this referendum result, once we get through Friday, it means that we can start to focus our...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: It's just on that very point. We've made it quite clear that we do think that there needs to be discussion with the Welsh Government in any future trade arrangements and deals. What we have also said though is that the UK Government is there to act in the best interests of the UK as a whole and it will be the body that signs on the dotted line as it were, with those trade deals, and therefore...
Darren Millar: Are you taking an intervention?
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call for two statements today—the first from the Minister for Health and Social Services, in relation to the NHS redress system? I'm having increasing problems getting responses, in a timely fashion, to concerns that I'm raising on behalf of my constituents in north Wales, with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. I've got a very tragic case at the moment, of a woman...
Darren Millar: As a frequent visitor to Israel and the West Bank in recent years, I know just what a difficult conflict this is going to be to resolve, but I think we all need to be honest with ourselves in acknowledging that our ability to resolve this particular conflict is very limited. So, I ask the international relations Minister: what action can the Welsh Government take, in addition to that which...
Darren Millar: I have to say, Minister, I'm a little surprised by some of the comments that you've made in response to this urgent question today. For many of us in north Wales, it feels very much—
Darren Millar: Sorry?
Darren Millar: Pardon me. For many of us in north Wales, this feels very much like groundhog day and as though we are absolutely going right back to square one. We've got the same interim chief executive that was appointed on the day that special measures were initially imposed, almost four and a half years ago—almost five years ago now. We were told by Simon Dean at that time that there were 100-day...
Darren Millar: 6. What assessment has the First Minister made of the effectiveness of Welsh Government intervention in the NHS? OAQ55075
Darren Millar: Minister, flooding is obviously very devastating, and having lived through the Towyn floods—the anniversary of which will be the thirtieth anniversary, just later this month—I can testify to the huge impact that it has and the lasting legacy that it has on any families, homes and businesses that have been affected. The people of Llanfair Talhaiarn, in my constituency, have been affected...
Darren Millar: I'm very grateful for your response, First Minister. You'll be aware that we're into the fifth year of special measures in respect of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in north Wales. And, in many respects, people feel as though the recent departure of the chief executive is taking us back pretty much to square one in terms of the improvement that we need to see in our mental health...
