Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for that response. I’ve just met senior officials locally and at a national level. I’m grateful to Welsh Government officials and Anglesey council officials for working with REHAU. It was an announcement that came from nowhere, if truth be told. It’s a company that’s operated in Amlwch for over 40 years. There is a productive and loyal workforce there. It’s a company...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Formally move.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Again, formally move.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much for taking an intervention, and it's to add to comments made by the Member for Blaenau Gwent sitting behind you, really. If it is genuinely a political ambition of yours to move towards the full devolution of the criminal justice system, no, you're not proposing to do it in a way that satisfies us in terms of the pace of change, but why not at this late stage decide to...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you for taking an intervention. I understand why you're putting that spin on it, but isn't the effect of what you're saying that there is no deal as good as being a member of the European Union?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I will speak briefly about why I believe this motion before us is a valuable one, and why we in Plaid Cymru have been able to come to an agreement on a form of words with the Government, even though there are differences between us on several elements of the Brexit debate. But I think that this is a significant step forward in terms of putting the Assembly’s stamp on the Brexit debate, even...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I remember my late friend Steffan Lewis saying that if he was a nationalist going into the meetings with the UK Government, well, he was certainly a nationalist coming out of them, because, as the former First Minister said behind me, they were a complete waste of time in terms of many of the inter-governmental discussions. The point that we’re making in this motion today is that the voice...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I recognise the point that you make and I recognise the value there has been in some of the contact that there has been. We think there's more that can be done. We encourage innovation in how, you know, in these last few weeks even, we look to maximise leverage for Wales in any way we can. But it's for that reason of thinking maybe there's another way that we can discuss that we will, with...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Will you take an intervention?
Rhun ap Iorwerth: It strikes me that the seriousness with which that referendum result was given, or the respect that it was given, has been reflected in the fact that we have spent two and a half years trying to see if there's a way of reaching an agreement. It's not as if it's been ignored; we've just got to the point after that negotiation and seeing, 'Listen, this is the alternative', and perhaps...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I’ve called for additional funding and an additional focus on the north Wales growth deal, as a result of the Hitachi announcement on Wylfa Newydd, and we could add the Rehau announcement in Amlwch to that too. And whilst I note and welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment to being willing to provide more funding to the north Wales growth deal, if additional funding is made available by...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I thank the Minister for the statement. Of course, I agree with the intention here, namely the need to look for innovative ways to boost investment in our infrastructure: infrastructure that shows the clear evidence of under-investment historically—and that under-investment, I remind you, has come from Labour and Conservative Governments over the years. Although I do agree that the age of...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I left my home on Ynys Môn around 6.30 p.m. last night. Six hours later, I arrived in Cardiff Bay. I could easily have jumped into the car and made the journey comfortably in about four hours at that time of night. It makes no sense that we have a rail system—that should surely incentivise people to get on it—which is a disincentive every time you look at how long-distance journeys work...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: I'm certainly one that doesn't see Wales as behaving in isolation, and what happens in terms of infrastructure elsewhere can be beneficial. But what happens in terms of infrastructure elsewhere can be detrimental to us too. Look at HS2—every study shows that HS2, with the billions being spent on HS2, would be detrimental to the Welsh economy as a whole, even though there might be advantages...
Rhun ap Iorwerth: Thank you, David Rees, for tabling the motion. I speak both on behalf of Bethan Sayed, who's one of the signatories of the motion, and as Plaid Cymru spokesman on the economy.
Rhun ap Iorwerth: And our commitment to the steel industry I think has been clear enough, not least through the fact that elements of support provided to Tata Steel from Welsh Government have come about through co-operation between our two parties. We've been clear, I think, before, during and since the crisis at Tata Steel in 2016 that securing the future of the industry is vital, is crucial, if we want Wales...
