Leanne Wood: Well, that sounds pretty complacent to me, First Minister. And I think it says quite a lot that you won’t take responsibility for the results that we’ve seen today. Now, the Labour Government has predicted improvement. We’ve heard it all before. Last year, your education Minister said a huge amount has happened since the disappointing 2012 test results. He also said, ‘I would...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, you are the Government. You are the ones who have promised improvement. The reason that I ask you about those improvements is that you’ve got a record of moving the goalposts on this. You are the ones who have chosen to fully participate in PISA and to use it as a credible benchmark. In October 2014, the target of reaching the top 20 in the world by 2016 was dropped. Labour...
Leanne Wood: Seven years ago, First Minister, the One Wales Government laid out plans to achieve self-sufficiency with energy generation within 20 years. Now, one third of that time frame has already passed, and you’re still way off target, lagging way behind Scotland when it comes to generating energy from renewable sources. According to an energy trends report from September of this year, Scotland...
Leanne Wood: 2. Will the Minister provide an update on the on-going work to ensure equality of care for NHS patients across Wales? OAQ(5)0093(HWS)
Leanne Wood: Thank you for your answer, Minister, and for your congratulations. Earlier this year, a constituent of mine, a young mother of three, lost her fight against cancer. Before dying, her partner tried desperately in vain to secure a drug for her that may well have prolonged her life. You may have seen recent media coverage of this case. Her application was rejected on the grounds that her case...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Lywydd. The struggle at Standing Rock reservation in the United States has captivated the world: the people versus the Dakota Access pipeline; an ancient and proud community versus the power of the corporations. In a year where the millionaires and billionaires seem to be winning everything, Standing Rock shows that popular resistance can still win. It shows that there are people who...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Lywydd. First Minister, can you tell us the difference between yourself and your UK Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, on immigration policy and specifically relating to the question of the free movement of people?
Leanne Wood: Well, it seems to me that there’s very little difference between yourself and your own party leader on immigration, and it’s quite heart-warming to see the Labour Party actually united on something for once. But actually, you said last week that there is a difference between yourself and your leader, when he said that he would not play the numbers game or fan the flames on immigration,...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, you should be dealing in realities and not perceptions. You shouldn’t be playing along with the myths, okay? We need to have this honest debate on immigration. You shouldn’t be implying that we’ve got a problem when we don’t have a problem. There is a migration issue in Wales. We have a problem of emigration. Too many younger and skilled workers are leaving this...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Lywydd. First Minister, as we start the new year, the familiar waiting time problems in accident and emergency, and with ambulances, show no sign of dissipating. But, there’s an urgent question on that, so I want to ask you about a crisis in waiting times that doesn’t often get the attention that it deserves. At the start of last term, I asked you about waiting times for children...
Leanne Wood: First Minister, the answer to the question that I asked you is that waiting times for CAMHS have not improved. The numbers of people waiting for over 16 weeks got slightly worse over the course of the year, and, as well as stagnating over the past year, the waiting times remain substantially worse than they were three years ago. Now, one explanation that you’ve given for this is that there...
Leanne Wood: Well, in fact, there’s no evidence—no evidence whatsoever—that children are being added to waiting lists without reason. Now, the Children, Young People and Education Committee’s report of 2014 highlighted that many children have to wait until their condition worsens to access support. The charity YoungMinds have said that many children and young people tell it how they’ve been...
Leanne Wood: Will the First Minister provide an update on efforts that are undertaken by the Welsh Government to improve knowledge of politics?
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Lywydd. On 15 December last year, figures on the performance and the value of the Welsh economy were published. Now, they haven’t received a huge amount of attention, but they show that the Welsh economy now stands at 71 per cent of the UK index, down from 71.4 per cent in 2014. Now, we need to be closing that wealth gap and not presiding over it widening. Aside from the risk that...
Leanne Wood: Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Plaid Cymru would argue that Wales is now facing a made-in-London plan for withdrawing from the European Union. I’m glad that you mentioned the question of exports. On this map, the risk to Wales from a hard Brexit is illustrated very strongly, I think. The Welsh economy is the most dependent part of the UK on exports to the EU. Manufacturing...
Leanne Wood: Yes, First Minister, and Plaid Cymru has stated that we are not prepared to sign up to a negotiation plan that has been hatched by Westminster elites if there is no regard to the devolved administrations. We both know that it makes sense for Wales to work closely with the other devolved governments. Scotland is prioritising single market membership and their economy ahead of any other...
Leanne Wood: Today’s legislative consent motion represents the latest step on a convoluted and complicated devolution journey for Wales. Plaid Cymru accepts that the Wales Bill gives with one hand but takes away with another. We are of the view that the very basis of this Bill is flawed. It gives us one step forward whilst restricting our ability to legislate, which is a significant step backwards in...
Leanne Wood: You were a block. You were the block on policing powers. You said, ‘I make policing powers a red line’, and they weren’t touched after that. You were the block.
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Lywydd. First Minister, I’m not going to ask you about article 50 or the White Paper that we jointly launched yesterday because there are statements on both those matters coming later. Instead, I’d like to ask you about matters relating to public services, for which you are responsible. Do you accept that many rail commuters on the Valleys lines in particular are facing a...
Leanne Wood: So, it’s nothing to do with the Government then? First Minister, it is a touch-and-go situation for many workers, and I know that because I face regular delays, as does everyone else who uses the service. We never know when there are going to be delays or cancellations. In fact, there was a delay to my train coming to work this morning. It’s a daily occurrence. People are feeling as...
