Adam Price: I also thank the First Minister for his statement. It is an update on the situation and provides an analysis of a situation that is complex and, as we've heard, very concerning for us in Wales. What we need more than anything, of course, at the moment, with only 80 days to go until we depart the European Union, is two things, I suppose, from the Welsh Government: clarity on the Welsh...
Adam Price: single market participation and participation in a customs union.
Adam Price: Now, I asked him how this could be reconciled with the motion that he's referred to already this afternoon, which was passed on 4 December, because that motion was quite clear, and I will read it: 'Calls on the UK Government to seek UK membership of both the European Single Market and Customs Union.'
Adam Price: 'The European Single Market and Customs Union.'
Adam Price: And, again, we've seen Labour politicians in Westminster today saying that the UK Government has to respect motions and amendments to the motion that are to be tabled next week. Well, surely the Welsh Government should then respect the same principle here. The policy has been decided, and this isn't a semantic difference, as the First Minister argued yesterday, as far as the customs union is...
Adam Price: Thank you Llywydd. Wales is a small nation, but every now and then we breed giants. I got to know Steffan Lewis first over 20 years ago in light of the Islwyn by-election. We heard talk of this incredible young boy from the Gwent valleys who was not only a member of Plaid Cymru, but of the SNP and Mebyon Kernow too, and had managed to get the WRU to note this in the programme for the...
Adam Price: Steffan was every bit the definition of a passionate Welshman. But he was also a man of Gwent, and he saw in the triumphs and tragedies of that great county the key to understanding the problems and possibilities of the nation as a whole. It was Gwent who brought the first blossoming of Welsh nationalism in the form of Cymru Fydd to a shuddering halt in a stormy meeting in Newport in 1896....
Adam Price: Our thanks is unending to you, Steffan, to your mother for giving you to us, and to Shona for sharing you with us all.
Adam Price: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'd like to take this opportunity to further put on record the huge contribution made by our friend and colleague Steffan Lewis to our national life by asking about three of those issues that were very close to his heart.
Adam Price: Steffan Lewis's first contribution in this Parliament was in support of mining communities across Wales and, in particular, the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme. As the First Minister will no doubt be aware, a deal in the 1990s saw the UK Government agree to underwrite mineworkers' pensions, but in exchange it can receive 50 per cent of the surplus each year. Over the decades, the...
Adam Price: I'm very grateful to the First Minister. As part of the 2018-19 budget, Plaid Cymru, at Steffan's behest, negotiated and secured a commitment from the Welsh Government to reinstate an in-patient perinatal mental health ward in Wales. Steffan was so passionate about perinatal mental health services that the First Minister, during his time as finance Minister, included funding for the...
Adam Price: Well, certainly, from our side, we would be grateful for opportunities, perhaps, to sit down with the First Minister and the health Minister to continue this discussion. We’ve heard earlier, of course, just how much influence Steffan had in terms of shaping this place’s response, the Government’s response, and Wales’s response to Brexit. He was a voice of great authority, of course,...
Adam Price: I’m very grateful to the Counsel General for the statement, and I welcome also the Government’s endorsement, and its appeal to the Government of the United Kingdom to extend article 50 on the basis of the motion passed before Christmas. Just on that point, it’s one thing to appeal to the United Kingdom Government, even though there’s been no hearing given to that at present, but...
Adam Price: 2. What discussions has the Counsel General had with the Irish Government regarding Brexit? OAQ53208
Adam Price: I’m grateful to the Counsel General for that response, and may I encourage him to continue to engage with the Irish Government? As I mentioned yesterday, myself and Rhun ap Iorwerth were able to meet politicians from across the political spectrum in the Republic of Ireland last week, including Helen McEntee, the Brexit Minister. May I ask him, and I touched upon this yesterday, about...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. My party will be supporting the vote of no confidence tonight in Westminster. Indeed, we are signatories of the motion that will be voted on in a few hours' time. But I think it's widely accepted that the motion is unlikely to succeed. Given your Government's stated support either for a general election or a public vote as a means of breaking the parliamentary logjam, if the...
Adam Price: I can understand generally why Ministers at the despatch box don't want to be tempted into speculation on hypotheticals, but this is a binary in relation to a vote that's only a few hours away, in the broader context of a ticking clock, down to, what is it, 73 days. So, I think the Minister will understand why we do need clarity as to what the Welsh Government is going to do in response to...
Adam Price: The UK Government has already said, following last night's vote, that it remains a red line for them—that they will refuse to accept a customs union. So, effectively, they're ruling out the kind of policy outlined in 'Securing Wales' Future'. And this is why, isn't it, that, generally, the consensus view emerging—in your party now as well; we've seen the MPs, the nine Welsh Labour MPs,...
Adam Price: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm very pleased to be able to move the motion in our party's name and also pleased to note that the Government is supporting our motion in the debate this afternoon. We agree, therefore, in rejecting, in any circumstances, an exit from the European Union with no deal, and we agree that, as an emergency measure, the Welsh Government should ask for the UK Joint...
Adam Price: I think, at the outset of the debate, it is worth reiterating how disastrous a 'no deal' scenario would be. It's of course difficult to predict with absolute certainty the consequences of a scenario that, by definition, is as yet unspecified in all its permutations. But I think it's reasonable to come to a conclusion about the nature of the impacts on the economy, and in the short to medium...
