Lee Waters: Carwyn Jones.
Lee Waters: First Minister, as well as considering infrastructure to support long-distance journeys, would you consider investment in infrastructure to support reducing car use for short-distance journeys? Around 20 per cent of car journeys are for journeys of less than a mile, and these add considerably to local congestion. At the end of the last Assembly term, the enterprise committee issued a call for...
Lee Waters: Thank you to Llyr Gruffydd for the opportunity to speak tonight. I’r rhai hynny ohonom sy’n cymryd y dystiolaeth wyddonol o ddifrif nid oes unrhyw ddadl fod angen i ni wneud newidiadau radical i’r ffordd rydym yn harneisio ac yn defnyddio ynni. Ac i’r rhai ohonom sydd o ddifrif ynghylch tystiolaeth economaidd, ni all fod fawr o ddadl fod angen i ni, er mwyn dechrau lleihau’r bwlch...
Lee Waters: Will the Minister give way?
Lee Waters: Thank you. On the economic model of persuading house builders to build to a higher standard, we really have a significant challenge on our hands of exploring a different economic model to allow this to happen, because currently the private sector volume house builders simply won’t play ball with anything innovative that adds to the cost of the volume that they build. So, what thinking can...
Lee Waters: Minister, I welcome the fact you’re going to take a fresh look at the number of options available for the congestion on the M4. Would you also look at the way that these decisions are calculated? Because, in the light of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the increased climate emissions target, we need to take into account the full range of costs and benefits from...
Lee Waters: Minister, can I warmly welcome both the tone and the content of your statement? I think it’s high time that we as a National Assembly take a far more muscular approach to the way that the broadcasters treat Wales. I know it’s certainly been said in the years since devolution that, when directors general go to meet a Scottish Government, they get a roasting and when they come and meet...
Lee Waters: I’d like to try and address two of the main arguments of those who want us to walk away from the European Union. Now, whenever the benefits of membership are stressed, those people who want to abandon our European partners say, time and again, ‘This is not EU money, it’s our money we’re getting back’, and we’ve heard it again this afternoon. Of course, the UK makes a contribution...
Lee Waters: Well, the people on the doorstep, David Rowlands, have genuine grievances—genuine grievances—and your gutter politics do nothing to bring solutions to the everyday problems—[Interruption.] If you want to make an intervention, stand up, but gabbling away like a goldfish doesn’t do anybody any good. People on the doorstep are genuinely fearful, and you are playing into the worst base...
Lee Waters: Well, that wasn’t really worth waiting for, was it? [Laughter.] I do listen to the people on the doorstep. I have long, painful discussions with people on the doorstep explaining to them that the problems we face—and in constituencies like Llanelli, we face them in spades—of left-behind areas, because of the economic model we have in this country, none of that is going to be helped by...
Lee Waters: Yes, indeed.
Lee Waters: I appreciate he’s new to these parts, but Ford does not have a plant in Llanelli, and the forces you describe are global forces—global forces we are better equipped to deal with by being part of a strong trading bloc. So, the disingenuous pledges of the ‘leave’ campaign of what they’d do with a supposed mountain of money are not worth the paper they are written on. So, it brings me...
Lee Waters: You can’t chew gum when you’re speaking to the National Assembly.
Lee Waters: Would you give way?
Lee Waters: Thank you. I accept your point that the result has exposed a deep disillusion for many people in working-class communities. I don’t accept it’s just about the EU. It represents a far deeper disconnect with the way that our economy works. But there’s now a challenge to those who made promises on the ‘leave’ campaign, because you made promises, and there’s a danger that if those...
Lee Waters: As a parent, I know how important my advocacy is on their behalf, and it pains me—and many of you, I’m sure—that children who’ve already had a tough start in life often don’t have someone with the love and passion of a parent to fight their corner. The damage done to the life chances of these children is a stain on us all, and the responsibility to do better falls on us all—all...
Lee Waters: Will the Member give way?
Lee Waters: Thank you very much. I just want to agree strongly with your comments and apply them particularly to the pressure facing CAMHS. The number of referrals to CAMHS has increased dramatically, but often CAMHS are unable to give the support that families need, and the resilience and tools they need. This is where the third sector in particular could come in with extra support for families.
Lee Waters: Would the Member give way?
Lee Waters: I’m trying to be helpful, perhaps save you from yourself. I was struck by my own Facebook page, which is not within a cultural bubble, and I posed the question of people’s views on this. There was scepticism, like you say, that we should be discussing this at this time, but the consensus was to use the bilingual term ‘Senedd’ as it was inclusive and already in use. So, though not...
