Jenny Rathbone: The BBC was at its best last night with a really powerful dramatisation of the story of The Windermere Children and the work of Leonard Montefiore in fighting bureaucracy to get these children to come from war-torn liberated concentration camps. It also captured, if you like, the bigotry that still existed at that time in this country, and still exists today. It was a no-holds-barred...
Jenny Rathbone: What assessment has the First Minister made of the opportunities for continuing to grow the Welsh food and drink industry following its success in achieving sales of nearly £7.5 billion this year?
Jenny Rathbone: I just wanted to ask Darren Millar whether we can look forward to the advent of chlorinated chicken and hormone-induced beef in this country.
Jenny Rathbone: I think we should take seriously what Angela Burns says about the impact that our debates on this subject have on the workforce. So, although earlier we heard about the problems being faced by the Royal Glamorgan Hospital with the impending retirement of its only substantive emergency consultant, and Llyr has just been speaking about the ongoing problems at Betsi Cadwaladr, and I don't wish...
Jenny Rathbone: Thank you. I'm sorry. Just to say that it's been very effective, and it's decreased the—. People are feeling physically and mentally better and are making a lot fewer GP appointments.
Jenny Rathbone: I just wondered if you also think it's a complete waste of money that the UK Government changed the pension tax allowances without considering the perverse consequences that has led to 27,000 patients not getting the service they need?
Jenny Rathbone: I agree with much of what Mike has said, particularly the issue around how we keep people well is going to be a much bigger saving on the health budget than if we are constantly piling money into things that aren't working particularly well at the moment. I just wanted to talk about the allocation of the housing budget, particularly the supported housing grants. Because on Friday, I visited...
Jenny Rathbone: I'm very pleased to associate my name with the cross-party letter that we sent you, and thank you for your reply. Before we delve into a different approach, I just want to examine a bit further the current memorial policy, which I think gives some discretion to achieve what I am trying to seek, which is a memorial to Carl Sargeant. Because I note, under criteria 6.1, regarding the 10-year...
Jenny Rathbone: I just want to probe this a little bit further, because I see some of the waste that I know is going into the bin. And given that one third of all food is wasted in this country, we clearly have an obligation to try to ensure that that is not happening. I was interested to hear you talk about the four-hour rule, because I've been told by staff that it's a two-hour rule. And that obviously...
Jenny Rathbone: I'm very happy to support your proposal for a Bill, though I have some reservations on the detail, which I'd just like to outline. I think hydrogen vehicles are one of the solutions, but it certainly wouldn't be on top of my list of solutions, to the carbon crisis. At the moment, take-up is very low because they cost a lot of money and they aren't available. It takes at least three months to...
Jenny Rathbone: —are fired up by renewable energy. [Interruption.] I will take an intervention, yes.
Jenny Rathbone: Okay. All right. Well, I'll have to not take the intervention.
Jenny Rathbone: Do you agree that these new electric charging points need to be generated by renewable energy? Otherwise we're simply not actually moving the dial on our carbon emissions.
Jenny Rathbone: I think there is increasing demand for a clean air Act as more people are aware of the damage they're doing to their lungs, and particularly to their children's lives. One of the nurseries in my constituency is, in every respect, an exemplary child-focused institution, except that it is an area of dangerously polluted air. Fully half of the children have respiratory problems, which is why I...
Jenny Rathbone: I absolutely agree with that, and that is one of the reservations I have about the electric vehicle charging focus, because electric vehicles are still going to have brakes and tyres, and they're still going to be emitting particulate matter.
Jenny Rathbone: I wouldn't disagree with that, but I still think that you have to take account of the fact that electric vehicles are not carbon neutral. They're part of the solution more than part of the problem. But I really think that we absolutely have to keep on debating this issue in order to make it higher up on the agenda, because it simply isn't registering at the moment sufficiently in people's...
Jenny Rathbone: Will you take an intervention?
Jenny Rathbone: I just wondered if you've thought of having any conversation with the UK Government about removing VAT from electric vehicles, because that's not something that we have the powers to do, and that would enable them to be promoted by making them cheaper.
Jenny Rathbone: What strategies does the Minister have for safeguarding public procurement in light of the uncertainties over trade negotiations with the EU?
Jenny Rathbone: The storm we've had in the last couple of days is yet another reminder that we absolutely have to change our ways if the climate emergency is not going to become completely out of control. We've had very large sums of money being promised in the UK Parliament today: £106 billion for HS2. Professor Mark Barry, however, advises that this won't benefit Wales at all, because we're the only...
