Adam Price: By the way, I have no objection to Members chewing gum—it works for Chris Coleman; maybe we should all start. Look, I figure we should concentrate on the Welsh national interest, and particularly in terms of the economy, I have to say that I think many of us are right to be afraid. Because, you know, it’s a fact, isn’t it—the sectoral composition of the Welsh economy is different? We...
Adam Price: Last week shows us to be a politically divided country, but the economic divisions perhaps run even deeper, which may be one of the underlying reasons for the result. The financial Secretary has signalled his determination to win full financial recompense for Wales in the wake of our leaving the EU and he’s just referred to the need to revise the Barnett formula. Can I ask if he or his...
Adam Price: It is right that Wales, of course, should not lose a penny as a result of the loss of the structural funds. But is it also not the case that this level of funding was necessary, but insufficient? Because, I mean, over the course of the last 17 years since we’ve had Objective 1, the prosperity gap got bigger. What Wales needs, surely, is not the equivalent level of regional aid, but more. A...
Adam Price: Well, the finance Secretary speaks of a race to the bottom—I have to say to him that economically, it’s a race that we in Wales comprehensively won. And that’s the problem that we have to address. Now, asking Westminster for new fiscal levers is an important response to the economic challenges we’ll undoubtedly face, but so is using the ones we have now more effectively. Currently,...
Adam Price: Following on from that point, has the Welsh Government had an opportunity to make an initial analysis at least of the relative merits of the various—a rather bewildering array, possibly—Brexit options that have been mentioned: Norway, Switzerland, Canada and Singapore, even, bizarrely? Particularly because of the importance of preservation of access to the single market, as he’s just...
Adam Price: May I also thank the Cabinet Secretary for this statement? It’s right to say that it is a historic statement. The Secretary follows in the footsteps of Richard of Mold, who was the last treasurer of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1283. However, it wasn’t possible for the Owain Glyndŵr parliament to raise taxes, because it’s quite difficult to raise taxes when at war, but at least the...
Adam Price: I welcome the statement, and I think he’s right, I think, to connect this with the expression of alienation that crystallised for so many in our communities in the ‘leave’ vote. I’m just wondering whether this is an opportunity for a fundamental rethink, because the pattern that we saw, of course, was heavy ‘remain’ votes in metropolitan areas, and in the old coalfield communities...
Adam Price: Surely, the fact that the highest percentage of people who don’t pay the tax live in our poorest areas reflects the fact that this tax is fundamentally unfair. The burden weighs most heavily on those people who are least able to pay. So, isn’t it now time for us to reform this tax so that it is fairer, as Plaid Cymru argued, of course, during the election campaign back in May?
Adam Price: I don’t doubt the sincerity of the Cabinet Secretary, but I’m afraid that answer didn’t give the clarity that the Member for Aberavon was looking for and, even more importantly, as he would also agree, the clarity that steelworkers and their families are looking for. We’ve had a situation now where the chief financial officer of Tata Steel last night refused to give a guarantee over...
Adam Price: The technical nature of this supplementary budget has already been noted—thank you; that’s what I call collaboration—and, as we heard, it’s a budget that reflects ministerial changes and portfolio changes within Government and applies the allocations in that regard. So, we in Plaid Cymru will support the motion. I think we’ve had enough political drama over the past few days, so I...
Adam Price: The Cabinet Secretary has already said that securing inward investment and higher exports for Wales is going to be more challenging, at least in the short term, as a result of the referendum result. He’s referred to the need for confidence-building measures and has announced a new export initiative. Now, that export initiative, as I understand it, is going to be delivered essentially by the...
Adam Price: Maybe I can help the Cabinet Secretary out. There is only one other European country that lacks a dedicated trade and investment agency, and that’s the Ukraine. To be fair to them, they are a country currently under military occupation. The reason that countries have dedicated agencies is that they work. The World Bank says that. The OECD says that. All the published evidence says that....
Adam Price: I’m grateful to the Cabinet Secretary for placing that on the record. Following on from the question from Russell George, the Welsh Government, in response to the feasibility study in 2015 on the development bank, said that its preferred approach was one that specifically prescribed a management and organisational structure different to that currently managed by Finance Wales, i.e. not...
Adam Price: The Cabinet Secretary has twice said that the Circuit of Wales now accept his 50/50 split in terms of the guarantee. Can I invite him to say a little more explicitly if they have agreed to a 50/50 split immediately, or whether they have agreed to work towards reducing the exposure of the public sector to that 50 per cent level over time? Can I ask him this as well? He’s said, of course,...
Adam Price: I have to ask the Cabinet Secretary: if he believes that there is a high probability of this project failing, why has he even been having the conversation for five years in any case? And, isn’t it true that his own Government’s due diligence shows there is almost a negligible scenario where the guarantee will be called in? Because it’s a strong project; that’s why. There is a strong...
Adam Price: Thank you, madam deputy speaker. As the tectonic plates are shifting around us, I wonder whether this is an opportunity for a paradigm shift in our thinking as well. It is absolutely right—and there is broad consensus, clearly—that Wales should not be further impoverished by the decision made through the referendum. But I think it’s also true that, while ensuring that we receive the...
Adam Price: I was hoping that the position of the Welsh Government would be clarified, but I’m more confused than ever now. The First Minister seemed to be adopting the policy of UKIP wholesale, leapfrogging the Conservatives and coming out in favour of a free trade agreement, because membership of the European Economic Area would require freedom of movement. That doesn’t sound like leadership; that...
Adam Price: First of all, I’d like to thank the finance Secretary for his statement and for sharing it with us prior to making that statement. There’s been a great deal of talk over the past few days, and some excitement, even—at least amongst some—about the historic nature of this Bill that will, along with the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016 and the Bill on landfill disposals...
Adam Price: Diolch, Lywydd. This debate, in the name of Plaid Cymru, focuses on probably, I think, one of the key challenges—the central challenge—for this Assembly, which is meeting the demands of the new economic topography, if you like, of the post-Brexit landscape. The first pre-requisite for good policy is a common understanding: we’re all on the same page. I think that that is part of the...
Adam Price: And finally, I think the Government needs a massive injection of creativity, some big ideas that can inspire Wales. We saw over the summer the cancellation of the Wales bid for the Commonwealth Games, but what have we put in there to replace it that will actually inspire our country and create the foundations for a different economy? About the same time as the economy Secretary was announcing...
