Steffan Lewis: I thank the First Minister for his answer, although he did make this announcement in his Labour Party conference speech back in the spring, and it’s disappointing, given developments at a UK level, that this fair work commission hasn’t been established. According to the most recent data I’ve been able to find, Wales is among the least fair nations in terms of work in these islands:...
Steffan Lewis: Will the Member give way?
Steffan Lewis: I thank the Member for giving way. As a resident of the local community myself, I was outraged at the illegal felling that has taken place and is being investigated. But doesn’t he believe that the fact that it is illegal demonstrates that it isn’t the law that is the problem; it’s what we do once the law is broken that’s the problem, and just replacing 150 to 200-year-old beech trees...
Steffan Lewis: 7. Will the First Minister make a statement on pupil and student safety on foreign field trips? OAQ(5)0585(FM)
Steffan Lewis: Will the First Minister agree with me that the kind of language being used by the Prime Minister to attack our friends and neighbours on the continent helps nobody in terms of the negotiations that are to come? It doesn’t only tarnish Theresa May’s Government, but it also threatens to tarnish the reputation of Wales. The First Minister’s asking for ideas in going forward, to mitigate...
Steffan Lewis: The issue raised by the Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd is crucial, and it’s been identified for several months now that the future governance of the UK’s internal market will give an indication of the future of the constitution of this country. So, can I ask the First Minister what progress he has made in terms of persuading his counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland to agree that...
Steffan Lewis: On several occasions, I’ve implored the Government to intervene further in the case of Glyn Summers, who lost his life on a foreign college trip to Spain. Glyn’s parents, with great dignity, have demanded full transparency in terms of the woeful investigation that followed their son’s death, and they believe that there should be an automatic right to an independent investigation in such...
Steffan Lewis: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on pupil and student safety on overseas field trips?
Steffan Lewis: Diolch, Llywydd. I’m pleased to move the motion today with colleagues Mike Hedges, Sian Gwenllian and Julie Morgan. Our motion is in three parts: firstly, noting that policing is devolved to the other two devolved nations of the UK; secondly, calling for the devolution to Wales of policing—the only nation where it is not devolved; and thirdly, expressing the view that certain specialist...
Steffan Lewis: I thank the Member for giving way. As I referred to in my contribution, there is a porous border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the mutual assistance agreements have worked there, even at times when policing hasn’t been devolved to Northern Ireland. So, would he at least recognise that porous borders, or any borders for that matter, are not a barrier for better,...
Steffan Lewis: Would the Member take an intervention?
Steffan Lewis: Obviously, at the moment, the way Wales is funded is that we are not funded as an entity in our own right because we come under and England-and-Wales entity. But, if we became a policing entity, with devolved powers over policing, then we would become a devolved entity as far as policing is concerned, and the Barnett formula would apply. That means that our budgets would increase, based on...
Steffan Lewis: I want to focus my remarks this afternoon on the implications of new customs arrangements for the national health service and other devolved matters, because whatever our differing views on the decision to leave the customs union and leave the European single market, we can all agree, whether we were leave or remain, or nationalists or unionists, that that is going to have consequences that...
Steffan Lewis: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for giving way. I know he’s repeating the line on the single market, but specifically in my contribution I asked about customs arrangements and the UK Government’s signal intention at least to partially withdraw from the European Union Customs Union. Therefore, with that in mind, what, as a Cabinet Secretary in the Welsh Government, is your view of future...
Steffan Lewis: Would the Member give way?
Steffan Lewis: Can he tell me on how many occasions in the last 100 years the UK has been in surplus and has had no national debt at all?
Steffan Lewis: 9. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for the manufacturing industry? OAQ(5)0606(FM)
Steffan Lewis: Figures released last week show that UK industrial output shrank for a third month in a row, with the manufacturing sector falling by 0.6 per cent, and the UK’s trade deficit doubling to more than £10.5 billion. As a country here in Wales with a proud industrial and manufacturing past, it’s sad that the proportion of apprenticeships in manufacturing fell from 6 per cent in 2006 to a...
Steffan Lewis: 6. What impact has recent currency fluctuations had on Welsh exports? OAQ(5)0168(EI)
Steffan Lewis: I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. I’d be very interested to hear what specifically ‘redoubling’ actually means. I think it’s fair to say that when negotiations begin between the UK and the EU on our withdrawal from the European Union there might be market volatility, there might be further currency fluctuations as every angle of the negotiations is analysed, and the...
