Darren Millar: 3. What opportunities has the Welsh Government identified for Wales as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU? OAQ53210
Darren Millar: Thank you for that response. You'll be aware that one issue that regularly has cropped up in this Chamber over the years has been the handcuffs that Wales is in as a result of EU procurement rules for the public sector. Many of those rules severely disadvantage smaller businesses, many of which are across Wales, wanting to get their foot in the door, to be able to engage in trading with the...
Darren Millar: First Minister, will you agree with me that everybody in this Chamber and in the UK House of Commons should respect the outcome of the vote in June 2016 and support the UK Government in seeking to work through the consequences of that as we leave the European Union? Furthermore, would you also agree with me that the biggest threat that there is to Wales is Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister in...
Darren Millar: I move.
Darren Millar: I move.
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd, and I move the amendment tabled in my name. Of course, this is a very timely debate, given the events of last night. The meaningful vote on Britain's EU withdrawal agreement was an opportunity, in my view—an opportunity for politicians from all four nations in the UK of all political colours and of no political colours, remainers, leavers to put aside their differences and...
Darren Millar: Look, of course, I would rather we left the EU with a deal. Of course I would rather that. However, what I don't think you can do is completely rule out the possibility of no deal, because if you do that, what you do is you give all your bargaining chips away to the EU and say to them, 'No matter what you give us, we will take it because we are not going to rule out no deal.' So, it's not a...
Darren Millar: There's nothing like an approaching deadline to get people together and get minds together in order to find a way through. I am not in favour of deferring the article 50 leaving date because I think that what would happen is, we would simply keep on kicking it down the line and never fulfil the outcome of the referendum in June 2016 in which the people of Wales voted to leave the EU. Now, I...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: It's the first time you've declared your support for the motion. Do you not accept that if you say that there is no circumstance under which we would leave without a deal, the EU would then have the UK over a barrel, because we would accept anything that we are given because we've ruled out the one thing that we've got at our disposal—to be able to get up and walk away and say, 'Forget it,...
Darren Millar: Can I ask what light this might shed on the opportunities for other energy developments in north Wales, and in particular the north Wales tidal lagoon, a project that, of course, could create up to 20,000 jobs, has the potential to deliver significant contribution to the energy needs of Wales and the wider UK, and which, according to the firm that has put this project forward, has significant...
Darren Millar: Can I ask the Trefnydd for two Government statements today, the first in relation to Transport for Wales plans to improve access to Liverpool from the north Wales line? Arriva Trains Wales were planning to introduce direct services to Liverpool from north Wales in December of last year along the Halton curve, which, of course, has been improved to accommodate these, yet there's no news at all...
Darren Millar: I'm grateful for the statement being provided before it was made this afternoon, and can I thank the Counsel General and Brexit Minister for extending that courtesy? I have to say, we've learned nothing new whatsoever today, in spite of all of the additional statements that have been made. The reality is that Wales is part of the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom—including Wales as a...
Darren Millar: You’ve made reference to people living in cloud-cuckoo-land, who were referring to free trade agreements, but, of course, we know that under your proposals, which seek to keep us in a customs union, the reality is that we wouldn’t be able to do any trade deals elsewhere around the world. That is the reality, and I wonder whether you could confirm that you accept that that is the reality...
Darren Millar: I've got a similar situation, Minister, in my own constituency, in the town of Abergele, where there are many hundreds of new homes planned for that area as part of the local development plan. And Abergele, as the Minister may be aware, is just a short distance from Bodelwyddan, which is in the neighbouring local authority, where there are a couple of thousand new homes planned. So, within...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion seeking the Assembly's agreement to allow me to introduce a Member Bill on older people's rights. As a nation, we can be very proud that many of us are living longer and are healthier in our old age than ever before. And we can be proud of the excellent track record that we have in championing and supporting our older people here in Wales. We were the first...
Darren Millar: I very much welcome the progress that's been made, but it's not underpinned by legislation, which is the point of the Bill that I'm proposing, and we have an opportunity to further that cause—the cause that, I think, we all share in terms of wanting to promote older people's rights—by supporting this Bill today. And, of course, that's why the older people's commissioner—the current...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've listened very carefully to what people have been saying, and I'm very grateful for the support that I've had, certainly on the opposition benches, to the proposal that I want to take forward. I'm obviously very disappointed that the Government doesn't see eye to eye with me in this regard, about this being an appropriate way to take forward the...
Darren Millar: Yes, very briefly.
Darren Millar: It's absolutely right. Any discrimination on the grounds of age is something that shouldn't be tolerated, but, unfortunately, too many people are getting away with it. I think there will be a perception that there may be some political tribalism going on here. I can't guarantee that that's what the perception will be, but I think some people will perceive it as that. It's certainly been...
