Samuel Kurtz: I'll happily take an intervention.
Samuel Kurtz: Well, this is the point that I was going to come on to. One suggestion that has been offered to me by local police officers in Dyfed-Powys Police is that the rural crime commissioners themselves, or the police and crime commissioners themselves, are able to contribute to the funding of this position to secure its long-term future. And that's something that I would like to explore—seeing the...
Samuel Kurtz: So, if we cast our minds back to 2010, I was still at school, Corona was just but a beer, and the people of Carmarthen welcomed Debenhams to their town centre at St Catherine's Walk. However, only 11 short years later, in May of last year, it shut, leaving a 6000 sq m hole in the town centre. But thankfully, due to £18.5 million-worth of investment—£15 million from the UK Government—the...
Samuel Kurtz: I'm grateful to the Member for Alyn and Deeside for tabling this topical question. Putin's Russia is a bully, and all bullies must be stood up to. Ukrainian sovereignty has been violated and innocent civilians are being killed by Putin's desire for conflict. This is a dark period in Europe's history. We must all work to preserve the freedom, democracy and sovereignty of Ukraine, and we stand...
Samuel Kurtz: Thank you, Llywydd, and happy St David's Day to you, to the Minister and to the whole of the Chamber. I'd like to start by thanking the Minister for bringing forward this statement today, and I refer Members to my register of interests. I would also like to associate myself with the Minister's heartfelt words on the death of Aled Roberts. Let's hope that one of the gifts that Aled leaves us...
Samuel Kurtz: Minister, earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting the National House Building Council award-winning Pludds Meadow development in Laugharne, in my constituency of Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, a site operated by Salem Construction, who are producing high-quality, energy-efficient homes on the outskirts of one of Carmarthenshire's most famous towns. The builders had a real...
Samuel Kurtz: Minister, I'm grateful to the Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd for bringing this question forward today, but it is important to note and remember that this trade deal is worth much more and is much broader than agriculture alone. This isn't spin—[Interruption.] This isn't spin, as the Member said. This deal is the most advanced agreement that New Zealand has signed with any nation bar...
Samuel Kurtz: Diolch i ti, Llywydd. At this time, 210 Welsh businesses export goods to the value of £23 million to the New Zealand market, and the indication is that, across the whole of the UK, the value of this relationship is likely to increase by almost 60 per cent. While I understand the agricultural industry's concerns that Wales will be flooded with an influx of New Zealand lamb, we already know...
Samuel Kurtz: I'm grateful to the Member for Blaenau Gwent for bringing forward this Member's legislative proposal, as I myself had an incredibly similar MLP on improving inland water qualities here in Wales. And it's reassuring to know that, while there may be potential disagreement over the semantics and finer points of the policy, it is, in fact, an issue that does generate cross-party support. And as...
Samuel Kurtz: My thanks to Darren Millar for tabling this afternoon's motion. Members of the Siambr who follow me on social media will know that this is a cause that I am incredibly passionate about. Like Rhys ab Owen, I sincerely hope we're not still here in 22 years' time debating this very topic. However, I don't wish to use my brief remarks this afternoon to dwell on the politics. I'd rather talk about...
Samuel Kurtz: And finally, my fifth point, our language. Everyone speaks the language with pride, and that's the exact point: the Welsh language belongs to everyone and it plays a crucial role in our heritage, our history and our culture. Yesterday, I stood here and talked about how a nation's identity is not only based on culture and tradition, but also on community.
Samuel Kurtz: As I finish, I reflect on the words of Laugharne's most famous son, Dylan Thomas, who said of Wales, 'The land of my fathers? My fathers can have it!' Dare I say it, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Welsh poet is as wrong now as he was then. Indeed, Wales is the best place on earth, and I believe it is only right that we have a national holiday to reflect and recognise that. Diolch.
Samuel Kurtz: Will the First Minister provide an update on the progress of the Welsh Government's animal welfare plan for Wales?
Samuel Kurtz: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, in 2019, the Welsh Government invested £1.29 million to support and grow Wales's pig sector, with Farming Connect saying that pig production was experiencing a resurgence in Wales. Unfortunately, certain global events, such as the loss of the export market to China for certain pig processors, the international disruption to carbon dioxide supplies, and the global...
Samuel Kurtz: Thank you, Minister. It's reassuring to know that, even if there are fewer, they're not treated less equally to other parts of the agricultural industry. Moving forward, you'll be aware that I've raised on numerous occasions the need to safeguard the funding for Wales's rural and wildlife crime co-ordinator position, which is currently occupied by Rob Taylor. I'm pleased that, after my...
Samuel Kurtz: I’m grateful for that, Minister, because I know Rob is very passionate regarding this issue, and he's spoken at length about it in Westminster, in select committee sessions up there. I would be grateful if you could take that forward to your inter-governmental meeting. Finally, I'm pleased that you were in the Chamber yesterday when my colleague Andrew R.T. Davies raised the concerns...
Samuel Kurtz: Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to open this afternoon's Welsh Conservative debate on Ukraine. Tomorrow will mark two weeks since Russia invaded the sovereign independent state of Ukraine—an invasion that has appalled the world and has united democratic nations in their condemnation of the brutal actions of President Vladimir Putin against our European ally. It is right and important...
Samuel Kurtz: Point 1 of this motion uses perhaps some of the strongest language that we as Members of this Siambr can use without being reprimanded by you, Dirprwy Lywydd—that this Senedd deplores the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. But it is a point, I'm sure, no-one in this Chamber will disagree with. Without question, war crimes have been committed in Ukraine. These deplorable actions...
Samuel Kurtz: Thank you very much, Rhys.
Samuel Kurtz: Thank you very much for bringing forward this debate this afternoon.
