Mr Neil Hamilton: I'll do that, Llywydd. The withdrawal agreement was never meant to be permanent; it was meant to be transitional. If we do not pass this Bill today, then what we will do is effectively maintain the border down the middle of the Irish sea, fragment the United Kingdom, and that's the greatest danger of all.
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm afraid I have to fundamentally disagree with my friend David Melding, particularly in relation to the points that he's just made on international law, which I'll come to later in my speech. The opponents of this legislative consent motion seem to me to ignore the fundamental reality of why we're debating this today—that the people of the United Kingdom and the people of Wales, four and...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the impact that the UK Government's recent announcements on immigration plans will have on Wales? OQ55995
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister talks of following the evidence, and yet in answer to David Rowlands earlier on he compared the transmission of COVID to that of cholera. The two diseases are completely different, because cholera is a bacterium, not a virus, and it's spread by ingesting contaminated water, not by social approximation. Can I invite the First Minister to look at the evidence that is reported...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Will the First Minister provide an update on arrangements for forthcoming elections in Wales?
Mr Neil Hamilton: Right, Llywydd. Thank you very much. And that's what disturbs me about this policy; there's no proportionality in it at all. You can believe that you're saving the planet by renewable energy, but you're not going to do it, I think, in an acceptable way, at the expense of many other desirable objectives—first and foremost, preserving and protecting the landscapes of wild Wales.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Like Russell George, I am deeply concerned about the potential impact—indeed, the likely impact—of the national development framework upon the landscapes of mid and west Wales. I'm an enthusiastic member of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, and I see in this document the fundamental aim of the Welsh Government, which is to wreck the landscapes of mid and west Wales in order...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I am in fact doing that. So, I believe that what is happening in Penally and in Folkestone and in other places is unfair to law-abiding citizens of this country and to those who are legally trying to enter it through the normal immigration channels. I believe that it has brought the asylum system into disrepute and I believe it is unfair to the British people, both in Pembrokeshire and more...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I agree with most of what the proposer of the motion has just said, but it's what she didn't say that I want to focus on in this debate. First of all, I want to focus upon our constituents in Penally, who don't share the enthusiasm in both the Labour Party and Plaid Cymru for unrestricted immigration to this country. And I think their views certainly...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Minister for that reply. Of course, we all accept that conservation measures are necessary to protect the fishing industry in the future. I had a meeting last week with fishermen in Swansea bay and they're very concerned about the recent increase in the minimum size that is allowed in relation to whelk fishing. It's gone up from 45mm to 65mm. They tell me that there is a great...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the Minister make a statement on the catch-size limit for shellfish in Wales? OQ55883
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, doesn't the Counsel General see that he is not likely to get favourable response to this from the UK Government if he continues his root and branch opposition to delivering a real Brexit, in particular by supporting the EU's extraordinary demand that their legislative institutions and their court in Luxembourg should continue both to legislate for and to interpret that legislation to...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 9. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the impact that decisions made at the Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) have on the people of Wales? OQ55829
Mr Neil Hamilton: I oppose the granting of rights to vote on the basis of being a foreigner in this country who is not prepared to take the ultimate step of taking out citizenship. In medieval times, all citizens' rights ultimately derived from the concept of allegiance to the monarch. Well, we've moved on, in democratic terms, from that, but, ultimately, this is all about allegiance to one's country. And it...
Mr Neil Hamilton: What assessment has the First Minister made of the reasonableness and efficacy of the Welsh Government lockdowns?
Mr Neil Hamilton: It's a great pleasure to take part in this debate, chaired by a distinguished historian herself. For me, history is a living thing. The continuum in which we live is a vitally important part of my imagination, and I'm constantly reflecting on the events of today in their historical context. Therefore, the teaching of history is vitally important. As Mick Antoniw said, a minute ago, history is...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply. The Welsh Government rightly protested to the UK Government that a disused army camp in a small village like Penally in Pembrokeshire is an unsuitable place to dump 140 illegal immigrants from the shores of Kent, but the Welsh Government's protests seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Isn't the Welsh Government more likely to be listened to if it works...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the First Minister make a statement on the impact of intergovernmental relations on public policy in Mid and West Wales? OQ55799
Mr Neil Hamilton: The idea that this two-week lockdown is going to make the slightest difference to the long-term infection and mortality rates of this disease is self-evidently absurd. There is nothing in what we know of the epidemiology of this disease in the last six months that could possibly justify the absurd Armageddon predictions of the mathematical modellers—not scientists, mathematical...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, there's much in this motion that I can agree with, in particular the importance of the arts. Having been a performer myself and appeared in shows at the Grand Theatre in Swansea and the New Theatre in Cardiff, as well as, I think, having had four sell-out shows at the Edinburgh festival, nobody needs to tell me of the importance of support for the arts in this country, and it is a...
