Mr Neil Hamilton: I agree with Joyce Watson; we do need to have a reasoned debate about the health services, and I believe that this debate has been reasoned. There have been some passionate speeches, of course, inevitably, because people do feel very, very strongly that, in Pembrokeshire in particular, they are forgotten, neglected and abandoned by the health service and that their needs are not being...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, there is no linear connection between increases in carbon dioxide levels in the air and temperature records. There are oscillations, and even if you look at the linear regression line in the graphs on the temperature data that we've got, which is itself incomplete in many ways, then you still can't, I think, prove the assertion that you've just made. That is the key question here, of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It's a pleasure to take part in this debate, opened by the Chair of the committee in his usual robust and constructively critical way. It's good to see that these committees, which operate by consensus, can nevertheless be robust in their conclusions. I draw a slightly different conclusion from some of his criticisms about the Government failing to meet its targets. I couldn't be more...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that uninformative reply. But I'm sure the First Minister will agree with me that Theresa May has badly bungled the negotiations with Brussels. The Chequers proposals were always going to be stillborn, no real preparations have been made for leaving the EU without a deal, and there isn't much time left to negotiate a free trade agreement such as the one that...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 8. Will the First Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's preferred outcome from the ongoing Brexit negotiations? OAQ52648
Mr Neil Hamilton: But, just to go back to what this debate is actually all about, the wilding of the hills of Wales, following on from the EU habitats directive, has caused a catastrophic increase in most predators, and declines towards extinction of some species, and particularly vulnerable ones. Leaving the EU does give us an opportunity to improve the environment of the uplands and gives power to this...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Well, we've had quite an interesting debate, but unfortunately it's not been about what the motion addresses, as David Rowlands pointed out in his opening speech, about the nature of the amendments that the other parties have put down. Andrew R.T. Davies tried to justify the Conservative amendment on grounds that our motion couldn't be amended to include the points...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Cabinet Secretary, in the course of his statement, said that he couldn't see any advantages from a 'no deal' Brexit. It's inevitable that there would be costs of a 'no deal' Brexit—nobody's ever denied that there would be transitional costs of leaving the EU, in the same way as there were significant transitional costs of joining it in the first place. But the protectionist policies of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I welcome the statement from the Cabinet Secretary in some respects, and I can certainly agree with his evisceration of the Chequers agreement and its internal contradictions. It's quite clear that this is a political exercise not to seek the best outcome for the United Kingdom but to try to paper over the cracks of the warring factions within the Conservative Party, and the dog's breakfast...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'd like to add my few poor words to the eloquent encomiums of those who have spoken in this debate hitherto, and they're very genuinely meant. It would be very easy for a debate of this kind to degenerate into empty formality, but this is very much the opposite. I think that Huw Vaughan Thomas has been an outstanding public servant, not only in this office of auditor general, but in the many...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I hope that the Cabinet Secretary will be impressed that there is a cross-party consensus on this, not only from Lee Waters in the highly commendable way in which he phrased his question, from the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru, but also from UKIP, and, as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I don't think I'm alone in saying that the evidence that we've received in the past from Natural...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, the questions are all implied, and I'm sure the Cabinet Secretary is sophisticated enough an audience to be able to answer them.
Mr Neil Hamilton: I can always end up by asking the Cabinet Secretary if he agrees with what I've said. But I will conclude, because I don't want to take up any more time than I have done. There are massive opportunities, as well as transitional problems, in leaving the EU. I wonder why the Cabinet Secretary doesn't see at least some glimmer of light in the options that are available to us with the freedoms...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, the Cabinet Secretary is a kindly soul and moderate in speech—it's hard to quarrel with his rhetorical condemnations of the Conservative Government. If anything, he erred very much on the side of understatement. I've said before that Theresa May is even worse as a Prime Minister than John Major. I'll go even further—I think she's the worst Prime Minister we've had since Lord North....
Mr Neil Hamilton: Our distinguished Chairman, in, I thought, a measured and matter-of-fact speech, exposed with deadly accuracy the failure of this Government to support what would have been a visionary project that could have transformed the whole of south-east Wales. When the Circuit of Wales promoters started out on their melancholy journey to obtain Government support for this project, I don't suppose they...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Minister for that informative reply. Unfortunately, homelessness in Wales has been rising in recent times. In 2016-17 the average for Wales as a whole was 82 people per 10,000 households. That's up from 52 in the previous year, although part of that increase may be explained by improved data collection. But nevertheless, it's still a worrying trend, and we all heard what the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Good. Well, I'm grateful for that reply, which I regard as very positive. In the event that the Cabinet Secretary decides not to change the law in this respect, will she consider an alternative proposition, which also comes from the BVA? They say that they recognise that, whilst pre-stunning is superior from a welfare point of view, should non-stun slaughter continue to be permitted,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Making policy on the hoof would not be appropriate, even for an agriculture spokesman, I'm sure. As the Cabinet Secretary will know, there has been a huge increase in the growth of the halal meat market in particular. Much of this food is not being consumed by Muslims, and it's gone into mainstream takeaways and fast food outlets as well. A lot of people have objections for whatever reason on...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I've had a great deal of contact recently with animal welfare campaigners who are concerned about pre-stunning of animals and ritual slaughter, in particular. And they've pointed out to me that non-stun slaughter has now been banned in Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and New Zealand, that the British Veterinary Association have said that pre-stunning is superior from a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 2. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on support provided by local authorities to homeless people in Mid and West Wales? OAQ52495
