Sioned Williams: 'In an ideal world', we wouldn't need foodbanks. It's a lack of political will that we don't live in an ideal world.
Sioned Williams: Jane Dodds mentioned those areas that are food deserts, where it is impossible to access nutritious, affordable food. This is important, and things like public transport policy do contribute to this picture and the problems faced by these communities. I was very pleased—. Sorry, Mike.
Sioned Williams: Not always for women, but there we are.
Sioned Williams: Peter Fox spoke very powerfully on this need for local food plans, and I welcome that idea very warmly. Peredur Owen Griffiths and Jenny Rathbone highlighted this problem of people not being able to afford the fuel to cook their food, and the importance of changing our relationship with food. It's difficult to believe, isn't it, that, with the UK being one of the most wealthy nations in the...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The desire to forge a Wales that is economically, socially and environmentally just, the vision that the Minister has stated drives the framework underpinned by the milestones and the indicators announced today, is something that I'm sure Members of all parties can agree on. But the future, of course, is an uncertain thing, with the ongoing pandemic and the effects of...
Sioned Williams: Thank you to the Minister for the statement. I'm very pleased to contribute to this important debate on behalf of Plaid Cymru. This is such a crucial aspect of the new curriculum, and an aspect that we have been consistently supportive of throughout the journey of the new curriculum through the Senedd, as it will hopefully lead to a historic opportunity to nurture attitudes and respect for...
Sioned Williams: Positives aside, certain issues that pertain to relationships and sexuality remain prevalent in Welsh society, and I hope that, in responding to this debate, the Minister can shed some light on how this aspect of the curriculum will help remedy these problems. As we heard in a recent Estyn report, it was found that pupils are pressured regularly to send nude photos, and girls harassed over...
Sioned Williams: I also believe that—
Sioned Williams: In conclusion, I also think that we need to look at how other subjects within the new curriculum would strengthen or would enforce RSE in its core aims. Plaid Cymru has long campaigned to see more emphasis on Welsh history, including the LGBTQ+ history of Wales, in the new curriculum, and I'm pleased to see reference to this in our co-operation agreement with the Government. It is crucial...
Sioned Williams: 10. What action is the Welsh Government taking to address illegal mutilations such as ear cropping in dogs in domestic settings? OQ57367
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Weinidog. You stated in your answer to Samuel Kurtz's question about this horrible trend for dogs with cropped ears, despite being an illegal mutilation in the UK, that you would work closely with the UK Government to try and prevent this illegal and barbaric practice. The number of reports that the RSPCA have received in relation to ear cropping increased by 621 per cent over a...
Sioned Williams: As we have stated as a party on a number of occasions in discussing LCMs, we believe as a matter of principle that it's the Welsh Parliament that should legislate in devolved areas. And at a time when the Westminster Government is showing time and time again its desire and determination to ignore that principle, we are duty bound to ensure Wales and its Government are not pushed to the...
Sioned Williams: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, the leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price, yesterday asked the First Minister about what actions the Welsh Government are taking in the light of the current and mounting cost-of-living crisis, described as nothing less than catastrophic by the Resolution Foundation, which is hitting too many of Wales's families, with devastating consequences. As well as the measures...
Sioned Williams: Thank you. The same report, the report of the social justice and equalities committee, recommends that the Welsh Government sets out how it will accelerate its Warm Homes programme as a way of tackling fuel poverty, because accelerate it must given the current and future cost-of-living storm, which has been deepened by the skyrocketing fuel prices, which we know will rise even further come...
Sioned Williams: This week, the artist Mike Jones from Pontardawe passed away. Mike was renowned for his portrayals of the industrial communities of south Wales, particularly in the Swansea valley of his birth. Mike was brought up in Cilmaengwyn and Godre'r Graig, near Ystalyfera, when heavy industry in the area was at its height. His father was a miner, and his parents were also publicans, and this provided...
Sioned Williams: All of us in the Siambr read numerous reports and briefing documents about the problems that we need to tackle, but I'd like to note, as a new Member of the Senedd, that this was my first committee inquiry, that into the pandemic and debt, and that the direct evidence that we heard about how we need to do more to support families in keeping their head above water had deeply affected me....
Sioned Williams: I am coming to an end—final sentence. We must ask ourselves for how much longer we can afford to accept the restrictions imposed on us as a nation by an unbalanced union, a Westminster Government that doesn't care a jot about Wales, and a completely inadequate and unjust funding formula. How many other reports like this one, containing clear warnings that something has gone badly wrong,...
Sioned Williams: The dangerous extremism of the present Tory Westminster Government is evident when it prompts the House of Lords to act with the determination it showed last night, sitting into the early hours defeating clause after clause of what were dubbed oppressive and outrageous Government proposals, which threaten to undermine basic civil liberties and fundamental rights. Llywydd, we must send an...
Sioned Williams: In terms of the first motion, Plaid Cymru once again wants to put on record our stance that it's the Welsh Parliament that should legislate in devolved policy areas, particularly in the face of the unprecedented desire of the Westminster Government to undermine our devolved authority, our identity as a nation, and our democratic right to decide what benefits our own communities. We should not...
Sioned Williams: I want to turn now to the way Part 4 of the Bill deliberately targets Roma, Gypsy and Traveller people. There is a provision in the Bill that turns trespass from a civil into a criminal offence, allowing the police to arrest Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people and confiscate their homes, their vehicles, if they stop in places that have not been designated for them. Given that authorised sites...
