Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: 2. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the possible revoking of article 50? OAQ(5)0046(CG)
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Lord Kerr, the author of article 50 and former Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office, suggested at a conference recently that article 50 is indeed revocable and that many political leaders have encouraged us to change our minds, including Macron, Schäuble and Rutte. He suggested that even if you have notified the EU of your intention to leave, then there’s nothing to say...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary held regarding job losses resulting from the confirmed closure of DWP offices in Llanelli and other parts of Wales? TAQ(5)0197(EI)
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: That’s excellent news. I’m sure the Minister will leave no stone unturned, as indeed will my colleague, Lee Waters, who’s the AM for Llanelli who is, as we speak, meeting for the second time with Damian Hinds from the Department for Work and Pensions, and Nia Griffiths MP, who are trying to gain a last minute reprieve for what I and they perceive to be a very misguided decision in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Will the Member give way?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I remember, a few years ago, going to visit the Welsh sea fishermen’s association, when, at one point, the Spanish—there was a big issue about the Spanish in Cornwall, and they were burning Spanish flags in Cornwall. I went to visit the sea fishermen’s association of Wales, which was led by one Mr Gonzalez. What had actually happened is that the Welsh fishermen had sold their quotas to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Can I thank UKIP for yet another debate on Brexit? I’m afraid that as the resolution stands, it’s full of inaccuracies and, once again, demonstrates UKIP’s lack of awareness about how the EU actually works. It paints this idealistic utopian vision of the future in Wales for a land full of milk and honey, where those pesky outsiders can’t tell us what to do and they’ll stop ordering...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: No. Do you know what I—? [Interruption.] Do you know what I—? [Interruption.] I’ll tell you what—. [Interruption.] Let me tell you. Let me tell you. The situation is worse now because of the kind of messages that have been sent out by people like Neil Hamilton and his ilk to those people who are supporting our NHS, who are supporting our care workers. They are people who are here from...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the improvement of health services in Mid and West Wales?
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I would also like to welcome this work done by Ruth Hussey and the expert team. I think it’s clear that, if we look at the ageing population, more of the same is simply unsustainable, and I think that’s what really comes out in this report. That further integration of health and social care is something I think that most people now accept. It has simply got...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: 6. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how he intends to increase incentives in the private sector to build more homes in Wales? (OAQ51043) [W]
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, that’s very good news, and I just hope that, in responding tomorrow, you will take on board the points made by the Federation of Master Builders, who have suggested that there is a lack of available small sites and a shortage of finance, which precludes small and medium-sized businesses from increasing their delivery of new homes. I just wondered, on top of your announcement tomorrow,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Can I welcome the White Paper, which addresses the issue of how we should engage better with citizens in terms of service delivery? I think it’s clear that the more we work with service users, the more likely it is that we are going to get a better and successful model of service delivery. The recent experience, for example, of the Gellinudd Recovery Centre, where patients have a say in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I don’t think it’s a lack of curiosity. I have been an elected politician for a very long time, and I have got to tell you that I had never heard of them. So, I don’t think that I am atypical. I think that you guys are the atypical people. I think that what’s important—[Interruption.] Well, go and do a straw poll of the people just walking down the street, and I can tell you that I...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I didn’t say that.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I actually said they should be better resourced.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Is the Cabinet Secretary aware that, on Friday, I spoke at a meeting of the rural division of the Welsh Local Government Association, where I encouraged the councils that were present there—Ceredigion, Powys, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd and Anglesey—to work together to develop a broader, place-based rural deal, which they agreed to do? I wondered, in terms of the possibility...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: To a large extent, the UK’s regional policy over the last few decades has been shaped and driven by the European Union, and substantial funding has transformed some of our most deprived communities. Over 200,000 people have benefitted from training thanks to EU funding and more than £2 billion will be funnelled into poor areas between 2014 and 2020. But the fact is, we all know that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: 3. Will the First Minister make a statement on poverty among young women in Wales? (OAQ51108) [W]
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. The First Minister will be aware that, last week, in the Labour Party conference, Angela Rayner, the shadow education secretary, suggested that a new Labour Government would commit to ending period poverty in schools. Does the First Minister have any intention of introducing such a measure in Wales?
