Mick Antoniw: In the three minutes I have, I rise to support this motion. I do so because this is probably a motion on what may be the most important constitutional piece of legislation that we can bring to this Assembly. I don't have time to go into detail, so I'll sum up very quickly: there are two major constitutional issues that are coming before the House of Lords. One is the upholding of the...
Mick Antoniw: Leader of the house, Brexit, as you'll probably be aware, is entering a particularly acute phase. We have had Nigel Farage calling for a second referendum. We've even had the leader of UKIP in the Assembly, Neil Hamilton, saying on the radio that if facts change, you have to vote again, although I think he was referring to the UKIP leadership. But bearing in mind the phase that we're actually...
Mick Antoniw: Cabinet Secretary, thank you for the statement—hopefully, the first of many more. Transport for Wales, of course, is very tied up not just with the rail franchise but also with the metro; in fact, the two very much go hand in hand. Can I first of all welcome the basing of Transport for Wales in Pontypridd? The partnership between Welsh Government and Rhondda Cynon Taf council is already a...
Mick Antoniw: 9. What additional financial provision has been made to the economy and transport portfolio to support the development of the south Wales metro?
Mick Antoniw: Cabinet Secretary, we're aware that, of course, the funding of major infrastructure projects is going to be very adversely affected by the uncertainty over Brexit funding we might have expected in terms of structural funds, and also issues such as access to the European Investment Bank and sources such as those. What steps have been taken to actually either find an alternative for sources of...
Mick Antoniw: 4. What progress has been made towards ensuring that all staff employed directly or indirectly by the Commission are paid the real living wage? OAQ51603
Mick Antoniw: Well, thank you for that answer, and I very much welcome the work that has been done in terms of directly employed employees and the payment of the living wage—the real living wage—but there is still considerable concern with regard to those who are indirectly employed, because it is very clear that there are those who are not paid the real living wage. I wonder if it would be possible to...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: In terms of economic policy, a number of us were this morning at the launch of the report from the airport, which was taken into public ownership, which is showing really incredible performance figures but, importantly, supporting thousands of jobs. Does the Welsh Conservative party still believe it was a mistake for the Welsh Government to take that airport into public ownership?
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: Do you still—
Mick Antoniw: Thank you. Llywydd—[Interruption.] Llywydd, I intend to rise above the cheap, shouty, banter of the opposition. I have now the high—[Interruption.] I have now the high moral ground and I intend to keep it. I'd like—[Interruption.] I'd like to talk about what is actually happening on the ground because many of the matters raised in this document I believe are things that we've been...
Mick Antoniw: I will be succinct, Llywydd. Cabinet Secretary, I gave you earlier a copy of this document, 'Votes @ 16', which was really a summation of views from working groups in Y Pant School and Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School in my constituency. Can I say how incredibly enthused they were, and I think are now, about this actual proposal? Let me just focus on a couple of points, and a question at...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you. Unfortunately, the remit of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee provides less scope for such an elegant historical narrative, but I will do my best. The Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, with regard to the Land Transaction Tax (Tax Bands and Tax Rates) (Wales) Regulations 2018, considered these instruments at our meeting on 22 January. We reported...
Mick Antoniw: No, I refer to the statement I made earlier.
Mick Antoniw: What discussions has the First Minister had with the UK Government in relation to the devolution of policing to Wales?
Mick Antoniw: Cabinet Secretary, the White Paper suggested that there was a duplication of inspection roles with community health councils and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, but the community health council inspections are, in many ways, quite different. They are unannounced and can occur at any time, they include patients and relatives and they also involve follow-up visits. So, it seems to me that...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm grateful to the many Members who have supported this debate today. The level of cross-party engagement reflects the growing public and media spotlight on an issue that affects every one of the estimated 200,000 leasehold property owners in every part of Wales. Our debate here today, the action already taken in Scotland, and the proposals recently floated by the...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention? Do you agree with me, though, that, although it may be a matter of engaging with UK Government in terms of what our devolved powers precisely are on that, the concept of commonhold is really the aim we should be heading towards—proper commonhold—and an absolute end towards the concept of leasehold, which is, essentially, a property owner's device?
Mick Antoniw: First Minister, I've only got a few, relatively minor points. You know my constituency well, and over the past couple of decades you'll have been aware of the impact of the closure of the mines, the closure of heavy industry. Yet over the last five years there has been significant growth and formation of new companies. A lot of that is due to a number of the projects of Welsh Government, the...
