Alun Davies: Yes, I've just asked it.
Alun Davies: I'm sorry. Will the Minister make a statement on the release of documents yesterday that showed that the UK Government has deliberately sought to keep information from the devolved administrations in terms of their plans for Brexit, and their plans for the internal market Bill?
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. And I think you have the support of Members across the whole Chamber in what you've just said.
Alun Davies: Minister, I'm almost speechless. I'm delighted that you referenced both the station in Abertillery and also four trains an hour. Those are exactly the objectives that we all want to see. You will know, perhaps better than I, how we've all been let down by the Westminster Government—successive UK Governments have refused to invest in the rail infrastructure in Wales. And I think we're all...
Alun Davies: 1. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve rail links to Blaenau Gwent? OQ55641
Alun Davies: 3. Will the Counsel General make a statement on how the Welsh Government's coronavirus recovery programme will benefit Blaenau Gwent? OQ55642
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to you, acting Presiding Officer, although I may not demonstrate that gratitude in my comments. Minister, there's one thing we will always agree on, and that is that you can't trust the Tories. You can't trust the Tories with Wales and you can't trust the Tories with the interests of Wales. I always worry when Ministers rely too much on the largesse of a Conservative Government...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement this afternoon. Minister, I was reading through the document you published earlier today, and I must say I welcome both the nature of the document, the tone of the document and the proposals that you're making in the document. But I want to ensure as well that the ambition and the vision that you've clearly explained in that document is one that...
Alun Davies: Minister, could I ask for a debate or a statement on the situation facing the many thousands of people and families, not only in Blaenau Gwent but across the whole country, who are facing real difficulties now because local lockdowns mean that they're unable to take holidays or breaks or flights that they've already booked and paid for? The attitude of some travel companies has been,...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the First Minister for that answer, and I know that many businesses in Blaenau Gwent are also extremely grateful for the support they've received from the Welsh Government throughout the course of this pandemic. But we also know—and I welcome the publication of the statement this morning on how we will rebuild from this pandemic—we know that areas such as Blaenau Gwent...
Alun Davies: 4. What support has the Welsh Government provided to businesses in Blaenau Gwent during the coronavirus pandemic? OQ55643
Alun Davies: We've all been familiar, particularly some of us representing the south Wales Valleys, with the challenges facing town centres over many years. We've seen not only online trading having an impact in eroding the viability of many retail offers, but we've also seen the growth of cities taking away the opportunities for smaller towns to compete. But the pandemic, in the way that it's worked, of...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement this afternoon. I particularly welcome, like others, the additional £60 million of support for businesses in the areas with special restrictions at the moment, and I know that is something that will be warmly welcomed in Blaenau Gwent. Can I ask the Minister to ensure that this additional support reaches small businesses particularly, and...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I'd like to have a statement on prisons in Wales, to outline that prisoners do have a right to speak and use the Welsh language without facing either discrimination or abuse within the prison estate. That's a matter that has been brought up recently. But also, on prisoners leaving the secure estate, it's always an issue when homelessness is a major...
Alun Davies: And that's the sort of debate that we really need to have, and I hope it will be a rich debate. And I'm sorry for testing your patience, Deputy Presiding Officer. Thank you very much.
Alun Davies: Sorry, I pressed the wrong button. [Laughter.] I was getting overexcited with my own rhetoric. [Laughter.] But we also need to learn lessons. This was in many ways a lesson-learning investigation and inquiry for many of us. The idea of a Welsh tax policy is new to us in Wales, but the idea of differential tax policy within federal states is not a new one across the world. And we need to be...
Alun Davies: Of course, the power to raise tax and to levy taxes is one of the great powers of a state, along with law-making and the role of a legislator in doing so, and it really is a coming of age, if you like, of this Parliament that we have powers now to levy taxes as well as to legislate. It's about shaping the country that we want to see, about shaping the sort of society and community we want to...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, and I very much welcome the First Minister coming here this afternoon to make this statement. First Minister, in Blaenau Gwent, people understand and support the action that the Welsh Government is proposing, but they do clearly have some questions. Perhaps first amongst those questions is on the travel restrictions, and I'd be grateful if you could explain why you are...
Alun Davies: —for additional testing in Blaenau Gwent as well. The Minister is aware that I've got very little confidence in the UK systems and in what the UK Government has been doing over some months, and I know that the Welsh Government has provided for mobile testing and additional testing resources in other parts of south Wales. I'd be grateful if the Minister could make a commitment for additional...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Minister, in addressing the issues in Blaenau Gwent, singled out pubs and care homes as part of the cause of the outbreak in the borough. I was wondering if he could make any further comment on that and describe why or how the data explains that care homes and pubs have led to the issues that we're experiencing in Blaenau Gwent, and whether...
