Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. Last July, I raised with the Minister the subject of non-stun slaughter and in particular representations that had been made to her by the British Veterinary Association, to which she said that she'd had a discussion with them a couple of weeks ago and asked officials to look at the information they'd brought forward in detail. It's now nine months since those...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...more petitions are debated in the Chamber than I think has been the case in recent times, and that is a very good thing. So, I think we are actually doing violence to the foundational principle of representation in this place if we pass this motion this afternoon. A precedent is being set here, and I think it's a dangerous one, because any minority in future is at risk of having its rights...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...period for the document ‘Taking Forward Wales’ Sustainable Management of Natural Resources’ is supposed to end on the thirtieth of this month. I know that the Cabinet Secretary has had representations from many people to say that this is a vast exercise given the breadth of the consultation that is going on and the number of issues that are often very disparate. She has been very...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...per sow, which would be £156 per sow, which would be a significant diminution in farmers’ incomes for those who specialise in pigs. So, can the Cabinet Secretary tell me whether she is making representations on behalf of Welsh farmers against the current proposal on the table in the EU?
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...draconian terms of 10 or 12 years merely for holding what is, in effect, a national opinion poll. The one glaring omission that there has been in the answers that we've heard this afternoon is what representations the Welsh Government is going to make to the European Union about the events in Spain? Because, after all, there is in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ..., as a result of this so-called deal, inside the EU, subject to its regulations and directives, as interpreted by the European Court of Justice, in which we won't even have our own judge, without representation in the Commission, without representation in the Council of Ministers. And furthermore, whereas under article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, we have the right to leave, under this deal...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...trade, our employment laws. We shall continue to pump our squillions across the Channel. Our laws will remain subject to Euro-judges. Only one significant thing will change: we shall lose our representation in the EU institutions and, with it, our ability to block harmful new laws. Why is Britain, the world’s fifth economy and fourth military power, contemplating a form of thraldom...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...a group, the implication is that we are entitled therefore to one committee Chair? It certainly does not in any way reflect the balance of groups to deprive one group of a single Chair so it has no representation amongst the Chairs. That is, I think, a fundamental undermining of the Standing Order. What we are seeing here, I'm afraid, today, is a shabby and squalid smash and grab by the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: ...of the economic activity within the region. Tourism is fundamental to the Welsh economy in these areas. I think it's monstrous that the Welsh Government, which is overwhelmingly urban in its representation and its interests, will be now riding roughshod over the interests and opinions of the people of mid and west Wales. What we're seeing here is a strategic centralisation of planning and...
