Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. On Monday, First Minister, it was reported that there were 596 new positive COVID cases identified in Wales following a lab test—the highest figure, I believe, since the pandemic began and SAGE has said that cases overall in Wales are likely to be increasing on a daily basis by between 1 per cent and 5 per cent a day. Over the past fortnight, I've raised with you the...
Adam Price: The Scottish Government, First Minister, has confirmed that it will be imposing far tighter restrictions in the coming days. You yourself have received advice from the technical advisory cell saying that the earlier additional measures are introduced, the more effective they will be. The kind of additional measures that we could be talking about in our context could be, for example, closing...
Adam Price: I agree with the First Minister that a short-term set of policies is no substitute, really, for a long-term strategy. But the technical advisory cell's report, which has just been published, actually, within the hour, is very sobering reading. The R rate that it quotes now for Wales is between 1.3 and 1.6, and that contrasts with early September when it was said to be between 0.5 and 1. It...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Three weeks ago, the Strategic Advisory Group for Emergencies, SAGE, advised that a combination of interventions would likely be necessary to bring R for coronavirus below 1. Among the measures that it said should be considered for immediate introduction were a circuit-breaker, a short period of lockdown, to return incidence to low levels; the closure of all bars,...
Adam Price: Let's look at the evidence from the technical advisory cell that you referred to, First Minister. On 18 September, it said: 'A package of non-pharmaceutical interventions...on local and national scale may be needed to bring R back below 1…an earlier and more comprehensive response is likely to reduce the length of time for which they are required.' It repeated that in its next report on 25...
Adam Price: One area where we do need quick and decisive action is in relation to travel from areas of high infection that you've already referred to. This is the fourth week running that I've highlighted the absurdity of people in areas of high COVID rates in England being allowed to travel into parts of Wales. Yesterday, the health Minister, for the first time, confirmed that there had been importation...
Adam Price: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on the recent flooding in the Pontargothi area? OQ55692
Adam Price: The South Wales Trunk Road Agent and Natural Resources Wales have been in correspondence with Llanegwad community council, but the problem is that there is a difference of opinion between them on the best way forward. Specifically, SWTRA has recommended a system to gather debris further up the river and NRW opposes that. So, the question that the Llanegwad council and I are asking, quite...
Adam Price: 4. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the One Planet development policy? OQ55693
Adam Price: Is the Minister aware that certain aspects of this policy have caused some ill feeling in rural areas, and would she be willing to consider calls from a council such as Carmarthenshire County Council to review the policy? Specifically, does the Minister believe that it's fair that applicants for rural enterprise dwellings have to prove validity that the developments are sustainable on the...
Adam Price: 1. Will the First Minister make a statement following the latest news that the UK Prime Minister has rejected a further request made by the Welsh Government on 13 October relating to travel restrictions? TQ494
Adam Price: May I start by correcting one thing that was suggested yesterday, First Minister, which is that there is any anti-English motivation in raising this issue? I can say that with some assurance, because I am the son of an Englishwoman. It's not only insulting to me, to my family and my party to suggest that there are anti-English attitudes involved here, but it also hides the real reason for...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. No responsible Government or opposition, First Minister, could fail to support radical action in response to the national emergency that we're currently facing. Of course it's important that the mistakes by both Governments that have led us to this point are acknowledged so that we can learn the lessons to prevent successive waves of infection. But as the technical advisory...
Adam Price: First Minister, another defining issue where the people of Wales are at the mercy of Westminster is planning for the end of the Brexit transition period and the proposed UK internal market. I agree with the Counsel General when he said that a UK Government seeking the power to spend in devolved areas and to control that spending is one which seeks to neuter and negate the devolution...
Adam Price: Whether it's COVID or Brexit, being wedded to Westminster is having disastrous consequences for Wales. The health Secretary in England is overseeing a calamitous lighthouse lab system hampering the Welsh COVID response, while the Chancellor turns a blind eye to the struggle of Welsh businesses, workers and the self-employed. Compare our situation with that of New Zealand. I'm sure, First...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. We are clearly of the view that, given the grave seriousness of the situation that now we face, the Government has no option but to introduce the measures that were announced yesterday. Time is a luxury that we don't have, quite frankly, because the report by the technical advisory cell is about as unequivocal as it's—. Well, I've yet ever—. The leader of the...
Adam Price: 3. To what extent will the Minister ensure that the Welsh Government's budget can be adapted over the coming months to support county councils in Wales? OQ55761
Adam Price: If it is true, as you said earlier in response to Rhun ap Iorwerth, that the funding that is already there in terms of the hardship fund is sufficient for the rest of the year, why has Caerphilly council said today that there is 'considerable uncertainty in respect of additional funding' during the remainder of this current financial year, and do Ceredigion say that it isn't entirely clear...
Adam Price: First Minister, you said yesterday that, if we were not part of the UK, we wouldn't be having a discussion about furlough because, you implied, we couldn't afford it. Why is that?
Adam Price: Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland and even Luxembourg, with a population the same size as Cardiff, are all funding wage subsidy schemes equivalent to the furlough as small, independent countries, so why would an independent Wales be any different? Indeed, as an independent country we could even decide to go further than that, and introduce a universal basic income so that...
