Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, the Governments in England and Scotland have announced that they will act to provide free access to abortion services for women from the north of Ireland. Will Wales follow suit?
Leanne Wood: I welcome your answer, First Minister, so thank you very much for that. Faced with this Westminster Government that is committed to austerity, Wales needs a Government now that is proactive on health. Almost 30,000 Welsh nurses have seen a 14 per cent cut in their wages since 2010 due to the NHS pay cap. On page 56 of your manifesto, you say that you will scrap the NHS pay cap. The Scottish...
Leanne Wood: If it’s that much of a priority, First Minister, you should be able to commit to this today. We’ve got a Labour Government in Wales, we’ve got 28 Welsh Labour MPs, and the NHS pay cap still remains. You might be happy to blame others in terms of the Westminster budgetary constraints, but you could be taking action today to protect workers, NHS nurses and NHS staff in Wales. The whole...
Leanne Wood: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I’ll give you one more chance to come clean on this now: do you have any regrets about implementing Tory austerity, and when will you commit to lifting the NHS pay cap?
Leanne Wood: It’s in the manifesto.
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, all of the opposition parties in the Assembly have called for a full independent inquiry into the decisions surrounding the Circuit of Wales project. Indeed, some of your own backbenchers have said that there are serious questions to answer. The first step in that process will be the publication of your own external due-diligence report, and you’ve agreed to...
Leanne Wood: One of the reasons that an independent inquiry has been called for is because of a series of misleading statements made by the Government, often during election campaigns. I’m sure that is coincidental, First Minister.
Leanne Wood: You were asked on 7 April 2016 why the proposal had been rejected the day before, and you said, and I quote, ‘What happened originally was that they were looking for a guarantee of £30 million from us, it then went up to £357 million.’ When asked when that happened, you said, and I quote: ‘In the last few days.’ You, again, said to Wales Online on 11 April, and I quote again: ‘It...
Leanne Wood: So, that wasn’t a long-term discussion, is that what you’re saying, that you hadn’t been in long-term discussions with that company? Are you denying that now? You said on BBC Wales on 26 April this year, in the run-up to the election, just a few days before, ‘I want the Circuit of Wales to work, end of.’ You added that, since last year, the funding model had changed, in your words:...
Leanne Wood: I’m encouraged to hear that this work will be different from previous initiatives and programmes that are focused on the Valleys, and it has to be different, because what has happened in the past hasn’t worked. So, it’s positive to see a commitment to doing things differently, and it’s also positive that you’ve recognised Ferndale, a community that feels very neglected. So, I’ve...
Leanne Wood: What about jobs?
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. Do you believe Wales is moving towards free higher education or further away from it?
Leanne Wood: I know it’s the end of term, First Minister, but that wasn’t a very convincing answer. I’ve heard a range of attempted justifications in this Chamber and outside from you and Cabinet members to the announcement that was made last week, but what I’m hearing from students is very different. The National Union of Students believes that tuition fees should be frozen and they say that the...
Leanne Wood: The Diamond review didn’t recommend a hike in fees, First Minister. And also, a number of parties signed up to participating in that review, but they didn’t sign up to implementing whatever outcome was recommended. That is down to your Government. First Minister, you’ve turned your back on students, and you must be hearing the same messages that we have been hearing. Plaid Cymru...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. That announcement was made during the summer holidays, when students had already left campus. At the end of this Assembly term, will you now give those students some well-deserved good news and abandon that tuition fee hike or does the Labour Party no longer believe in free higher education?
Leanne Wood: This debate takes place with a matter of urgency. We should be under no illusions about the UK Government’s EU withdrawal Bill—what was called the repeal Bill. It’s nothing less than an attempt to tighten London’s grip on Wales. Leaving the European Union is a matter of deciding how to implement a referendum vote. We must all remember that there have also been two referendums on...
Leanne Wood: As a regular rail passenger and commuter, I’ve taken a keen interest in the next franchise and I know there are many other Members in the Chamber that are in the same position. Now, we know that in terms of who will run the Wales and borders franchise, four private sector bidders have come forward. There’s an interest in rail nationalisation and in public ownership from all corners of...
Leanne Wood: 2. What efforts are being made by the Welsh Government to retain existing staff in the health service in Wales? OAQ(5)0196(HWS)
Leanne Wood: There’s a link between waiting times and the number of staff that you’ve got working in the service. Recent figures have shown that the number of nurses and midwives in the UK leaving the profession has risen by 51 per cent in four years. Within these figures, released by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, home-grown nurses have been found to be leaving in the largest numbers. Now, the...
Leanne Wood: Diolch, Llywydd. It’s almost 20 years to the day since the vote in 1997 to establish this institution, and with a new term must come a new chapter in the Welsh story. First Minister, I personally won’t forget the triumph, where so many of us in this Chamber, and outside, helped to deliver a victory for our nation on that night. Governing ourselves is a victory in itself. No other country...
