Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I was going to say it's a pleasure to rise to introduce this debate, but, actually, if we look at the substance of what we're discussing, then pleasure is anything but what one must feel. I was struck when I took part in the Wales Live debate on the budget that the BBC held, and they did a montage, actually, of television reports from BBC Wales news...
Adam Price: Yes, certainly.
Adam Price: Absolutely. I think there are deep structural reasons why we are in the crisis that we're currently facing and the Institute for Public Policy Research's work on the Commission on Economic Justice points to that. There's both a conventional social inequality aspect and that is also reflected in a territorial inequality. In our case, of course, they're both intermingled. Unless you address...
Adam Price: I think this debate has been very useful in that it has pointed up some of the dividing lines on the economic policy questions of our time. Clearly, we have the various versions of the irrational optimism that we heard on the opposite benches. We can quote any number of think tanks. The IFS was quoted on the Tory benches. The IFS is saying that we won't return to the pre-crisis level of...
Adam Price: I honestly think that this question, this political question, which is at the centre of global economic policy at the moment, is so important that we have to find a way. Wales has to lead on this question. We cannot be at the sidelines, using excuses. We have to show moral leadership, and we have to find a practical way of doing it in a way that, as much as possible, protects our public...
Adam Price: What consideration has the Cabinet Secretary given to including a new strategic hub covering the western valleys of the Amman and Gwendraeth as part of the ministerial taskforce for the valleys?
Adam Price: Section 2.9 of the ministerial code states that responsibility for special advisers rests with the First Minister and the First Minister alone, and that's been reflected in the First Minister's entry in the list of ministerial responsibilities, where there's an explicit reference to special advisers. That has been the case up until the amended version of ministerial responsibilities, which...
Adam Price: Can the Cabinet Secretary tell us at the moment, unless we see changes to the published Bill—that's the Trade Bill—whether the Welsh Government will refuse to give legislative consent through a legislative consent motion? Now, the Cabinet Secretary for trade in London said that they had introduced some changes to the Bill since the draft was published in October, having had discussions...
Adam Price: 1. Following the latest in a long line of local bank closure announcements, what action is the Welsh Government taking to introduce a public bank in accordance with the research conducted by the Public Policy Institute for Wales? 81
Adam Price: Well, the Cabinet Secretary will, of course, be aware of the announcements that a number of banks have made about branch closures throughout Wales, including in my constituency. With these latest announcements, the number of branches that will have closed since 2011 in Wales now extends to 186 branches, and five of the 10 areas that have faced the greatest number of branch closures are in...
Adam Price: Would the Minister accept that part of the broader context to some of the questions that Suzy Davies has been asking, over a period of some years now, and part of the challenge for the Government, is to be clear as to the policy intention in terms of the investment in the film industry? Is it to attract international companies to produce more here in Wales, or is it, from an economic...
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's an honour for me to lead this debate in the name of Plaid Cymru, which will give us a first opportunity, as a National Assembly, to express an opinion about the situation in Catalonia. I do that with passion as a Welshman, as a European and as a democrat. I will give most of my comments this afternoon in the international language of first choice of...
Adam Price: I was in Barcelona on 1 October when the independence referendum was held. It was a horrific and inspiring experience by equal measure. I never thought I would see in a western democracy a position where—. I was in a polling station, and people, ordinary citizens, were forming human chains in order to prevent the Policia Nacional and the Guardia Civil from breaking into that polling station...
Adam Price: Maybe he's going to come to this, but could he tell us what is his view and the view of the Conservative Party on the fact that it must be unprecedented that we have democratically elected members of a Government imprisoned on a charge of sedition in a western European democracy?
Adam Price: It is true to say, isn’t it, First Minister, that the Welsh Government also has to show more ambition? Given the figures that he’s just quoted, if we compare those with the corresponding figure for Scotland, they have just doubled their investment in active travel—that is, walking and cycling—from £40 million—which was far higher than our figure in the first place—up to £80...
Adam Price: First Minister, the economic action plan that's just been published says that Government will be able to 'utilise the regional approach as a glue to bring together and integrate the interventions of the Valleys Taskforce and City Deals.' Now, what that says to me is that the singular focus on the unique problems and opportunities of the Valleys will be lost. The Valleys taskforce has been...
Adam Price: There are some aspects of this economic action plan that are to be welcomed—the new focus on the foundational economy and decarbonisation, for example. But, in stepping back and looking at the economic strategy as a whole, I think it's important to benchmark it against the three key ingredients that we know, from across the world, make up successful economic strategies. A strategy needs to...
Adam Price: It's always a pleasure to have statements from the Cabinet Secretary, but—there is a 'but' here—I have to say I'm confused here and slightly disappointed, because what we had from the Cabinet Secretary—correct me if I'm wrong, by all means—was a statement about a one-policy-position statement that he has made today, Welsh transport appraisal guidance that he's going to publish...
Adam Price: The Cabinet Secretary will probably be aware of Coleg Elidyr, which is a specialist further education college in my constituency. I was wondering if the Cabinet Secretary would be prepared to look again at amending the terminology used in the draft code to describe institutions like Coleg Elidyr, which is more in line with that which the sector would prefer but also Estyn as well. I'm happy...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the introduction of a permanent small business rates relief scheme for Wales, following its announcement today through a written statement? 93
