Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Llywydd, may I ask the leader of the house, in responding on behalf of the First Minister today:
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: 9. What plans does the First Minister have to meet with the Scottish First Minister to discuss the relationship with the European Union? OAQ(5)0496(FM)[W]
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: What studies have been undertaken by the Welsh Government on the impact that leaving the EU will have on the agricultural industry?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: May I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today? I believe that this is the most comprehensive statement that I’ve ever heard on bus services in any parliament in the UK: let’s start there. I am so pleased that we are putting the bus at the heart of our public transport system, where it should be. May I also thank him for the invitation to participate in the summit in Wrexham? I...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: The First Minister is aware, from his time as Minister for fisheries and agriculture, how crucial the shellfish industry is to the Welsh coastline. But given that the shellfish industry was never part of the common fisheries policy or the common agricultural policy, isn’t it reasonable, therefore, that it could be expected that that industry could continue to sell into the European...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Might I help you again on the history and the development of transportation in the north? It all started from the east and moved west.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Will the leader give way?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Maybe I can be helpful to him. [Laughter.] My understanding of ‘self-determination’ is exactly that: a group of people recognised as a nation or a community could self-determine to remain in the status quo. On the other hand, self-determination might be something further. So, they’re not synonymous, in my humble opinion.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you for giving way. Can you explain to me how giving lamb away produces a sustainable market for my hill farmers?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Answer.
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: As one who has been most fortunate to be able to contribute to education and governance across this system for very many years, may I first of all congratulate the Minister on her courage? It is about time that we had a Minister who is willing to get to grips with the differences and inequality that have been part of the post-16 system from the very outset. I’m grateful to her for doing...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Thank you, Llywydd. May I also thank the Counsel General for his statement this afternoon, which has more than explained to us the constitutional and political importance of all that he has been able to achieve? I would briefly refer to three elements: first of all, that the devolved nations and the devolved Governments have spoken with three voices but almost singing from the same hymn...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: The debates here on legislative consent motions are a key part of our constitution and emerge from the practice that also exists in Scotland, through the Sewel convention, as we heard earlier, of ensuring that Westminster is able to legislate on issues where elements are devolved. The case is different in this regard. We are giving Westminster permission to legislate on our own powers,...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Whilst I’m pleased to hear that the First Minister has spoken to the UK Prime Minister this morning, I’m not surprised that he didn’t get much light on these matters. But having understood what she said in that speech, does she understand that it wouldn’t be appropriate for her, as the UK Prime Minister, to try to negotiate along with the rest of the European Union on issues devolved...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: 5. When did the First Minister last meet with the Prime Minister to discuss Wales' relationship with the European Union? OAQ(5)0372(FM)[W]
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Could the First Minister now give this National Assembly an assurance that there will be no diminution in its legal powers due to the exceptions to the Wales Bill, the so-called Brexit process or the unconstitutional questions posed by some Conservative Members of Parliament?
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: 2. When did the First Minister last meet with the Prime Minister to discuss constitutional developments in Wales? OAQ(5)0330(FM)[W]
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: Without trying to tempt the Counsel General to go into political spheres, would he agree with me that one of the major weaknesses in the debates that we’ve been involved with, particularly in the second House, on the Wales Bill, is the unwillingness of law officials and UK Government Ministers to reinforce and to standardise the Welsh constitution more clearly, for the people of Wales and...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: I won’t keep you for too long, Llywydd. I just wanted to ask the Minister whether he agrees with me that heritage doesn’t belong to the past, but it belongs to the future. We are talking here about institutions that mainly came into being—. That’s why they have royal charters—that was the only way to create national institutions during that pre-devolution period. We are talking...
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas: In a way that was unexpected to all of us, I would have thought, this Assembly has come of age, constitutionally, legally, and in all other ways, on this question facing us today. I believe that it’s very significant that the Welsh Counsel General here today has spoken more clearly than I heard any official of the UK Government speaking on this particular issue in Westminster yesterday. I...
