Mr Neil Hamilton: —particularly as nobody else is likely to make these points. In this case, the position is even worse because the conversation was clandestinely recorded by somebody who was at the time a close personal friend, but in due course became Michelle Brown's chief of staff, who was then subsequently sacked for gross misconduct, including breach of confidence, and he maliciously published the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I don't think it would be profitable, Madam Deputy—I nearly said 'Deputy Speaker'—Deputy Presiding Officer, if I were to give way at this point. I believe that what the temporary Chairman of the committee said is a serious matter: that the code of conduct applies to Members at all times, in their public and their private lives, in all circumstances. This, I believe, is a startling and...
Mr Neil Hamilton: —by pretty senior members of that party. Yes, the word 'coconut'—
Mr Neil Hamilton: —can be disparaging and offensive—
Mr Neil Hamilton: I will wind up, Deputy Presiding Officer. But is it any more disparaging and offensive than Joyce Watson, for example, in this Chamber describing UKIP Members as rabid dogs—
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm on my last couple of sentences.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Is it any worse than Leanne Wood falsely describing me as a Holocaust denier—a most grotesque libel upon me? It seems to me that the indignation of the Labour group is highly subjective, and on those grounds I would urge the Assembly not to approve this motion.
Mr Neil Hamilton: We're all entitled to our view.
Mr Neil Hamilton: In an aid debate last year, you described us as rabid dogs.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Llywydd. The Welsh Government remains committed to the universal adoption of the Welsh baccalaureate, but the elite universities don't seem to be terribly interested in it as a qualification, indeed the top three universities don't require it at all. I've been written to by a school student who says that the Welsh bac is a burden for students and teachers alike and the work is tedious...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, that is a debatable point in itself, I believe—it's not one I'm going to pursue at this minute, but, to take the wider point that the First Minister has raised, yes, I do agree that the Welsh baccalaureate course might have some use beyond formal learning in classrooms, making students think about wider issues in the world. That, in itself, could be a good thing. It depends on how...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, all I can say is, having looked at the various materials that are used in teaching these courses, they're all from a centre-left disposition. Now, we can all—[Interruption.] Well, matter of fact—and I think the false indignation coming from the other side proves the point that I'm trying to make here, that, because they control the education system, it is being used as a tool of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Further to that point of order, Llywydd—
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Llywydd. It's always a pleasure to be called by you. I hope it'll bring joy to the heart of the Cabinet Secretary when I say I could have written this statement myself, because I agree with every single word of it. I think it's a practical, forward-looking and optimistic statement. Of course, I recognise that, at this early stage, she can't give a great deal of detail about how...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government support for hospitals in Mid and West Wales?
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch, Llywydd. Following the Cabinet Secretary's forward-looking statement yesterday about life after Brexit and an agricultural policy tailor-made for Wales, I'd like to ask her whether she will continue to be open minded on the question of introducing a ban on the live export of animals. I know she's said this in the past, but, if there were to be such a ban, it would not extend to...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Of course, the interests of producers have to be given due weight in this argument, but short of introducing an outright ban, there are things that we could do to improve the current legislative regime once we're no longer confined within the carapace of EU regulation. We could make alterations to the length of time permitted to be in transit for animals, we could make alterations to the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thirdly, I'd like to ask whether the Cabinet Secretary will consider improving public awareness of the meat that members of the public consume by improving accurate labelling of products, clearly stating country of origin, rearing conditions and, most importantly, methods of slaughter, because although we must respect different religious views on ritual slaughter, the public at large often...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I'm sympathetic to what the Conservatives are proposing here in the first part of their motion, but I'm also sympathetic with the Government, except for the 'delete all', and we are going to support the Plaid Cymru amendments as well. I supported the devolution of tax-raising powers to Wales because I believe in tax competition between the various parts of the United Kingdom. I think...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Llywydd, and I beg to move the motion standing in my name on the agenda. We move from a tax to something that is akin to a tax: the Government's proposal to impose a minimum price for alcohol. Our motion makes two basic points, that a minimum price will have a disproportionate effect upon those at the lower end of the income scale—the poorest people in society—and that it won't...
