Rhun ap Iorwerth: So, Plaid Cymru doing Wales's rail down—the context is quite important here. It's successive Labour and Conservative UK Governments that have done Wales's rail down: the Conservatives, who've recently rowed back on electrification; 13 years of Labour Governments before them that failed to get any electrification done, north, south, east or west; a Labour Government—I think I'm...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Four years.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Surely the time comes, after three years of special measures, when special ceases to be special and you move into a state of permanent underperformance. So, I think the key questions at this point in time are: what are the signs that patients should look for? What are the signs that staff should look for to show that Betsi Cadwaladr health board is getting back on track? Because, the evidence...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Deputy Presiding Officer, I was told off earlier for speaking for too long, so I’ll keep my comments very brief. There have been three years now since special measures were put in place and your statement is quite honest, truth be told, that very little progress has been made over those past three years. You use the words yourself: 'some evidence of recovery', 'some recent progress'. I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Having full access to the European single market through membership of that market, including the customs union, is crucially important for businesses in Wales. Sixty per cent of Wales’s exports goes to the EU. We’ve heard this week that the European Union has started to advise businesses in Europe to think twice before using car components from the UK from...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You gloss over it somewhat, but you did reiterate what the Labour Party position is there, which is that, upon leaving the EU, we should have a customs union as opposed to the EU's customs union. This really isn't about splitting hairs—you're talking about a new customs union that would have exemptions from certain EU laws. Now, I'd argue that that is just about as unworkable as Theresa...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Again, you gloss over certain terminology: 'access to the European single market'. Again, this is not about splitting hairs. The House of Commons next week will have an opportunity, as you know, to defeat the UK Government on a number of amendments that could protect the interests of the Welsh economy. One of those will be on a Lords amendment to keep the UK in the single market through...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention? I'm sorry to interrupt, and I'm grateful to you for taking an intervention, but, similar to Bethan Jenkins, I realise that you have a speech to go through, but what do you think? How far do you think Wales could go in terms of pushing the agenda on building a new energy future and being innovative in doing so?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. Yesterday, I drove from my constituency, in Anglesey, to Cardiff in a twenty-first century car, which was electrically powered—a Renault ZOE. Unfortunately, the charging infrastructure for Wales comes from the last century. I failed to travel straight down and had to come through England in order to charge. That’s clearly not acceptable now. Plaid Cymru has...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Not Aberystywth. [Laughter.]
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that statement.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: The Welsh public knows that Labour has lost its way with the running of the NHS in Wales and Plaid Cymru wants to get the NHS back on its feet. That is why we pushed for the parliamentary review of health and social care, which gave us a very useful, I think, set of guiding principles. The quick turnaround demanded by that review for the Government to come up with a plan of action was proof,...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. I'm pleased to start this Stage 3 debate on this Bill. I will make some general comments first of all and then I will of course be moving amendment 4 formally. We in Plaid Cymru have believed for some time in the principle of using price as a tool to seek to persuade people to drink more moderately and to give greater consideration to the risks of drinking excessively. I...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much. I will briefly comment on that final point first of all. Getting the right price is crucially important, of course. There was an attempt by the Conservatives through an earlier amendment at Stage 2 to set the price on the face of the Bill. I think that it would have been a mistake to set a specific price now, because we do need that very detailed research to find the...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: You said that you fear that this will hit a particular group disproportionately. You know what? You're right. This Bill, this piece of legislation, will hit disproportionately the people who drink too much very strong high-volume alcohol and who are harming their health in the process. And it will affect disproportionately the chances that young people will start drinking high alcohol...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: We are going to be supporting the amendment that Angela Burns has been speaking to. Very simply, we believe that this amendment increases the post-legislative scrutiny that will need to take place before remaking this Act. That is a sensible step, and our amendment—amendment 5—is linked to that, but is specifically designed on our part to ensure that a National Assembly committee looks in...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Formally.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, Llywydd. This amendment is one that has been designed to tackle an issue of concern in relation to implementing such an Act in Wales, and it's also an issue that was something of an obstacle in terms of similar legislation in the Scottish Parliament. Strangely enough, it is an obstacle that led to Labour ultimately voting against the legislation. I am talking of the likelihood...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for your responses and your comments on this amendment. I think that, in my opening remarks, I did say that we had been unable to do what we truly wanted to here, but that we did feel that it was very important to bring forward an amendment that would keep this issue alive into the future. It doesn't surprise me, in a way, that you, as other parties, have been able to find...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Llywydd. There have been many references made this afternoon to the fact that we need to bring the public on a journey with us in relation to this legislation, and I believe that in these amendments I am betraying my background as a communicator, or my background as one who worked in the communications industry, because I do believe that it is entirely crucial that all...
