Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you for that confirmation, First Minister. I do hope that you will publish the letter that you’ve written to the Home Secretary, as well as her response to that letter. Despite what we’ve heard in the Chamber today, a spokesperson on behalf of Theresa May said yesterday, in explaining the position expressed in the Commons: nid ydym ni eisiau datgelu ein sefyllfa negodi ar y cychwyn....
Mr Simon Thomas: May I ask you, business manager, and in your role as leader of the house, for a statement by the Minister for the environment? There was an event held, as we’ve already heard, with environmentalists and farming and agricultural interests yesterday, and it was very interesting to hear that it is the Welsh Government’s intention to develop a specifically Welsh agriculture and fisheries...
Mr Simon Thomas: Formally.
Mr Simon Thomas: I move.
Mr Simon Thomas: I note at the end there that UKIP are opposing the membership of the committees but are taking up the chairmanship of a committee, which has been very beneficial to them. The fact that—every Member must know this—we have an Assembly with 60 Members, 29 from the Government and 31 from the opposition, means that you cannot replicate 29 and 31 on committees of eight. You have to go to a...
Mr Simon Thomas: Certainly, I’ll give way.
Mr Simon Thomas: You’re simply incorrect. You’d have 0.7 member. That’s what D'Hondt would have worked out for you. On a smaller committee, you would not have had a member—for example, public accounts or finance, which you have members on.
Mr Simon Thomas: Not now. I’ve responded to your question. Plaid Cymru’s response to this has been very clear. We want to see political balance across the committee structure. We think it’s very important that opposition Chairs are in charge of vital committees such as finance and public accounts, and we think it’s equally important that we have arrangements on policy and legislative committees that...
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you, temporary Deputy Presiding Officer, and I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her statement today. It’s appropriate, I’m sure, that she should set out before the summer some of the steps that Government will take in order to deal with these exotic animal diseases. They’re called ‘exotic’, but they’re not as exotic now, given the impacts of climate change. We’ve already...
Mr Simon Thomas: I welcome the fact that we’re having an opportunity to discuss this issue. Throughout my political life, I have campaigned for a parliament or a ‘senedd’ for wales, and although we did formulate an Assembly, I think the rationale for calling it an Assembly in the first place was to make it subordinate in some way to what was thought to be the real Parliament in Westminster. It’s true...
Mr Simon Thomas: He knows that I agree with him completely in his analysis of why we can have a separate or a distinct legal jurisdiction in Wales. Why on earth did the Labour Party oppose it in the vote this week?
Mr Simon Thomas: Would the Member give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: I’m grateful to the Member. Can I just take him back a couple of minutes to when he talked about the funding floor, which is a political agreement and is not in legislation as such? But, of course, before we receive the Wales Bill for final approval here and pass the legislative consent motion, does he agree with me that we need to see a fiscal framework in place—an agreement between the...
Mr Simon Thomas: I would like to welcome the Secretary of State, as well as tell him that, although he’s always welcome in this Assembly, this debate today looks extremely pointless, I have to say, not only because the purpose behind the debate is done away with in the Wales Bill, but also, as has been mentioned by many speakers this afternoon, because the political landscape has changed so drastically...
Mr Simon Thomas: I am tempted, given the events of the past few weeks, to say that it’s not young people who need to improve their understanding of politics, but perhaps older people. But, certainly, we as parties are duty bound to disseminate information and to encourage people to participate in democracy. But, specifically on this point, you’ve already mentioned the purpose of the new curriculum, and...
Mr Simon Thomas: 1. What are the Counsel General’s priorities for the fifth Assembly? OAQ(5)0001(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for that response, and I welcome him to his new role, of course, by saying that I’m looking forward to five years of asking questions of him, as I asked of his predecessor. Among those priorities, how important does the Government of the Counsel General consider the fact that the European convention on human rights is part of Welsh law through Welsh legislation?...
Mr Simon Thomas: 2. What discussions has the Counsel General had with other law officers regarding the legal implications of the UK leaving the EU? OAQ(5)0002(CG)[W]
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Counsel General for his response. May I tell him at the outset that his answers have been far more comprehensive than those I’ve received over the past five years, and that he himself received, on occasion, over the past five years? I respect the fact that there hasn’t been a great deal of time since his appointment, or since the referendum itself, of course. But, in terms of...
Mr Simon Thomas: First Minister, I met recently with Newtown health forum, who told me that between the hours of six o’clock and 12 o’clock at night in Newtown, there is no GP or primary care service at all. The GP surgery closes at six o’clock, and it’s hard enough to get an appointment there, and the GP Shropdoc, run from the Newtown Hospital, starts at midnight. Between six and 12, people in...
