Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, obviously, we all want a deal if one is available, but it takes two to tango and, if the EU is not prepared to do a deal, and is not prepared to carry on talking, until we pay the ransom demand, then that’s what a ‘no deal’ looks like. That wasn’t the purpose behind my question today. It’s to look at the future of Welsh farming and fishing. Further to Michelle Brown’s...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Returning to the theme mentioned by the leader of Plaid Cymru earlier on today—the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Bill—how can the First Minister possibly support a measure that is so regressive in the way it works? This is a measure that is explicitly designed, disproportionately, to target those drinks that are consumed in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I didn’t say that people on low incomes buy more alcohol; I said the opposite actually—that people on low incomes buy less alcohol overall than people on higher incomes, but more of the alcohol that they do drink is cheaper brands, not more expensive brands, so it’s going to have a disproportionately tough effect upon people on low incomes. The Centre for Economics and Business Research...
Mr Neil Hamilton: There is a problem with a relatively small number of people who overindulge. And, of course, we do want to target those. The problem with a measure of this kind is that it’s so scattergun in its approach that it actually penalises the many who are moderate drinkers whilst not actually having any measurable effect upon those whom we do want to help.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, unlike previous speakers to this statement, as the Minister will have anticipated from my question to the First Minister earlier on, my party will not be supporting this measure. That’s not to say that we don’t support the aim, which is to cut the problems that flow from excessive drinking. But we do not think that this measure is likely to achieve that, and even to the extent that...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I’m grateful to the First Minister for his statement, but to be honest, and this is no criticism of him, it’s a bit of a non-event, because what he’s reported is modest progress within the United Kingdom on the future relationship that the Welsh Government will have and this Assembly will have with the British Government and the United Kingdom Parliament. And as the First Minister...
Mr Neil Hamilton: To follow up that question—I understand that the finance Secretary is obviously not going to be able to rule in our out any of these taxes at the moment—will he bear in mind, in making up his mind, the report of the World Economic Forum on travel, which ranks the United Kingdom 140 out of 141 countries in the world for cost competitiveness in the tourism industry? Only one country in the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I’m delighted to support the Conservative motion today. I can also say that I can support the Government amendment to it, basically because it doesn’t really say anything. But it’s a good turnout that we have, at least on this side of the Chamber today. There is, of course, what we might call an aching void in front of us on my left, apart from the few distinguished sentinels of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, indeed. We were, of course, clearing up the mess that was left to us in 1979. [Interruption.] Many Members in this Assembly, of course, are not old enough to remember those dark days of the 1970s, but there are some of us with long, long memories indeed. But this is an important debate because tourism is massively important to Wales, and as one of the Members for Mid and West Wales—of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Carl Sargeant was a gentle giant and I am saddened beyond measure by the tragedy which occasions this tribute. Although the full story is yet to be established, Carl did not deserve to suffer as he did. I know from bitter personal experience the anguish that must have engulfed Carl and his family just over a week ago in the wake of the allegations against him....
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm sure the First Minister will have seen this morning, on WalesOnline, that Martin Shipton has written a piece about the subject that the leader of the opposition has raised. He said that he was invited to a dinner in late 2014 at a friend's home, where Carl Sargeant and other senior Welsh Labour figures gave him a disturbing insight into an aspect of the Welsh Government...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm sure the First Minister will agree that, out of the tragedy of the last few days, it's important that we should learn lessons arising out of Carl Sargeant's dismissal and the processes that were involved in that. The First Minister, as a barrister experienced in criminal law and procedure, said that he acted 'by the book'. Now, Carl Sargeant was given no opportunity to answer to him the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I, of course, have personal experience of being sacked, and I can confirm it's not pleasant, but nobody who is in politics can actually complain with any justice about being sacked, because there's no justice about appointments in the first place. But the point in this particular instance was that the sacking was associated with the allegations that have been made against him. There is...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I would like to start also by congratulating my fellow Member for Mid and West Wales on her assumption of office. She does, of course, have a large void to fill, because her predecessor was certainly a substantial figure in the Welsh Government and in Welsh politics, and I hope I don't alarm her too much in saying that I look forward to supporting her with as much vigour as I supported her...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on social care in Mid and West Wales? OAQ51275
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Minister for that answer, congratulate him on his appointment and welcome him to his new role. He will know from his briefing, if he wasn't aware already, that the case of the Bodlondeb care home in Aberystwyth has been raised several times in this Chamber—not least by my colleague Simon Thomas—and outside, by no less exalted a figure than the Llywydd herself. Ceredigion...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Can I first of all welcome the Cabinet Secretary to his new responsibilities and congratulate him on his promotion? In relation to Aston Martin, is this not one of the most absurd aspects of project fear? The evidence that was given yesterday by Mark Wilson, the finance director of Aston Martin, that production could stop at Aston Martin if there were no type-approval certificates granted for...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement on unemployment rates in Mid and West Wales? OAQ51339
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply. He will know that the Swansea travel-to-work area includes large parts of Carmarthenshire and, therefore, the announcement by Amazon recently that they were creating 2,000 jobs for the Christmas trade will be very welcome. But less welcome is the fact that they're doing a lot of their recruitment through a company called the Central European...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. I hope that the First Minister will feel that he owes the Assembly a duty of candour on this issue, but clearly we're going to get no further on it today and we'll have to wait for the debate next week to see whether we can make progress, so I would like to turn to another issue. The First Minister said recently that he would like to see air passenger duty...
