David Rowlands: May I also add my sympathies to the staff, as outlined by Bethan and by Russell—those staff working in the shops in Wales, but also to the staff in the whole operation of the airline? Would the First Minister not agree with me that, even if it were desirable to bail out Thomas Cook—and given the apparent appalling management structure, it probably wouldn't be—the UK Government could...
David Rowlands: Can I thank the Minister for the statement? You say in your statement that your first task is to address the legacy of historic lack of investment in improving the railways in Wales. We wholeheartedly support you in your endeavours in this regard. Wales has always suffered from a lack of funding necessary to improve the rail infrastructure, so it is right that we should look be masters of our...
David Rowlands: Will the First Minister outline the timetable for improving prosperity levels in Wales?
David Rowlands: The Welsh Government undoubtedly made a strategic error when ditching the successful Welsh Development Agency. It had the skills, the expertise and the contacts to serve Wales on a long-term basis. All the expertise, skills and contacts developed by competent and experienced staff was discarded and lost forever, and it could be said that Wales has never recovered from that disastrous...
David Rowlands: What did you campaign for in 2016?
David Rowlands: Could the Minister make a statement on the problems encountered by my constituents with regard to the obligatory application to renew their bus pass, which has to be completed by the end of December? Apparently, there has been a complete shutdown of the site where they could complete the application online, and the telephone service has also crashed. Surely, the volumes of applications should...
David Rowlands: Well, first, First Minister, perhaps I should have welcomed you back from your Brexit bunker today. But I thank the First Minister for that answer. We all understand that whatever funding is given is never enough, but isn't it true to say that a less profligate approach to financial control by the Welsh Government would release more funding into our public services? By this I mean the losses...
David Rowlands: 2. Will the First Minister make a statement on the additional funding recently provided to the Welsh Government by the UK Government? OAQ54326
David Rowlands: Will you take a representation?
David Rowlands: How many thousands of steel jobs have we lost in Wales whilst we’re in the European Union and because of the regulations coming out Europe? And do you not agree that this manifesto that your leader, Corbyn, is suggesting is for the benefit of the people of Wales and for the benefit of the people of the UK, and yet he cannot implement this because he’s prevented from doing so by us...
David Rowlands: One wonders what he means by a 'no deal' Brexit, but we'll carry on—[Interruption.] Their manifestos, about nationalisation—. The Labour Party are backing the 'remain' campaign, yet their latest manifesto is to deliver on economic promises about nationalisation and state subsidies that simply cannot be implemented under EU legislation, whether they're affordable or not. Fifty per cent of...
David Rowlands: Yes.
David Rowlands: It is my belief, David, that this is just another opportunity for the remainers to reiterate their opposition to the referendum mandate by the people of the UK—and that includes Wales—to leave the European Union, and nothing I've heard in this Chamber today has changed my opinion on that. It is said that politics in this country has never before been so divisive. Well, one has to ask who...
David Rowlands: As with my colleague, Mark Reckless, I cannot take part in this debate without asking the fundamental question as to why we have been recalled in this way, given that whatever is decided in this Assembly today will have absolutely no effect on what happens in Westminster. And, given the sparsity of people in the gallery here today, it would seem that the people of Wales see this debate as...
David Rowlands: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. As with Hefin David, I have to declare an interest in that my near-five-year-old granddaughter is autistic. Whilst her autism was diagnosed very early on, I believe this was by chance rather than by local agency intervention. A teacher at the nursery that she attended had an autistic child herself and so alerted us to the fact that she was showing autistic traits. Her...
David Rowlands: As someone whose lack of the Welsh language comes as a direct result of suppression of the language at the beginning of the last century—my mother was actually caned in school for speaking Welsh in school—I wholeheartedly support any moves to increase the use of the language. And where better to promote its use than in this establishment? I therefore welcome all the measures taken by the...
David Rowlands: Will the Minister outline the Welsh Government's plans for the reform of local government?
David Rowlands: Will the Minister outline how Natural Resources Wales assesses its performance to avoid past mistakes?
David Rowlands: Well, thank you, Brexit Minister, for yet another Nostradamus statement with regard to Brexit. Whilst we in the Brexit Party understand that it is prudent to make preparations for every scenario with regard to our exit from the EU, including a 'no deal' Brexit, can it be said that those preparations are in fact prudent if they're based on wild predictions about a 'no deal' being a disastrous...
David Rowlands: Well, I thank the First Minister for his answer, but in answer to a similar question I asked last week, you said that Wales had record employment levels, record low unemployment and a record number of people in work. Whilst I welcome these comments at face value, when we analysed the figures behind your statement, it would appear that the picture is not as rosy as at first you may assert. It...
