Rhys ab Owen: —Dirprwy Lywydd. Rhun ap Iorwerth stated yesterday where he thought the plan unravelled—the basic problem of you protecting the union first and putting the people of Wales second. But, today, I want to concentrate on the implementation of your plan, and whether it does border on the verge of utopia, as quoted by Martin Shipton this morning in The Western Mail. Firstly, I want to...
Rhys ab Owen: I'll turn to English with regard to the next point, because I'll quote exactly what they said. They went further and said that a working group had been established between them and the Welsh Government 'to look at disaggregating data' in our part of the justice system. My question, therefore, Minister, is: how is that important work going of disaggregating the data in that very important...
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you very much, Minister. As you'll be aware, one of the major issues of the justice system in Wales is the lack of specific data for Wales. When HMPPS gave evidence to the justice commission in the spring of 2019, they said that their statisticians were collaborating with those of the Welsh Government to look at the level of recidivism.
Rhys ab Owen: 5. What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government regarding prisons and the probation service since the election? OQ56680
Rhys ab Owen: 6. What's the timetable for implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Justice in Wales? OQ56678
Rhys ab Owen: 1. Will the Commission make a statement on efforts to protect the Senedd to ensure that Members and staff are safe? OQ56682
Rhys ab Owen: Thank you, First Minister, for setting out your plan.
Rhys ab Owen: I don't doubt at all your sincerity, and the Counsel General's sincerity, yet your pleas for home rule will be rejected by the Westminster Government, a Government obsessed by centralising powers. Throughout the centuries and throughout the continent, Westminster has ignored the cries of home rule until it's too late and the inevitable happens—independence—the de facto position of nations...
Rhys ab Owen: Brif Weinidog, the Welsh Government has funded CSOs, or PCSOs as they were then called, for nearly a decade. I can reiterate that Welsh chief officers are happy with that, they're glad for the additional funding, and it's raised their capability and their visibility, which their English counterparts don't have, but as policing is still a reserved matter and the funding therefore is...
Rhys ab Owen: I nominate Heledd Fychan.
Rhys ab Owen: And I look forward to working cross party in this group to bring forward a universal basic income, so we can create, as Janet Finch-Saunders quoted earlier today, a socialist utopia here in Wales.
Rhys ab Owen: Where Wales leads, others follow.
Rhys ab Owen: Boris Johnson saw the Brexit process as a chance to grab the front-door keys to 10 Downing Street. Now that we have this hard, harsh Brexit, we, as a Senedd, need to work together to mitigate its impact. We must repel those distant drums of an English nationalist Conservative Party, a party that is intent on damaging devolution, and through that, damaging Wales and damaging the people of Wales.
Rhys ab Owen: Poll after poll has shown that people in Wales across the political spectrum want additional powers. So, my call to you, the Welsh Government, is to be unstinting in your efforts. Don't delay, don't wait for the Westminster Government to do something, because nothing from that direction will benefit the people of Wales. If we respect the referenda of the past, we need to demand additional...
Rhys ab Owen: Gwynfor Evans showed greater vision in the 1960s than we are seeing now from the Conservatives over there. He described Wales as a laboratory—a chance to show how to do things and for the world to follow. A number of important changes have happened in this place, social changes, some things that we wouldn't have thought possible 20 years ago, such as banning smoking in pubs, the plastic bag...
Rhys ab Owen: We know what the 'leave' campaign meant when the rally cry was, 'Take back control'. It was take back control to Westminster. Wales wasn't on the agenda. From the beginning, Wales did not feature. We saw this in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 putting further restraints on the devolution settlement in Wales, and we see it now with Wales being ignored time and time again. Listen,...
Rhys ab Owen: I move the motion.
Rhys ab Owen: Llywydd, I was surprised to see this motion from the Conservatives today. Only a fortnight ago, the Conservative chief whip accused me of constitutional navel gazing. Well, what have we had today but constitutional navel gazing? But, I think, Mr Millar, you enjoyed our debate more a fortnight ago than you care to admit.
Rhys ab Owen: The first Plaid Cymru debate was progressive; it showed the way to improve Wales and expand our powers, not hand them back, as the Conservatives want to do. Brexit has happened, we are out of the European Union, so why you have to go on and on about it so much, I don't know. But, that does not mean that we shouldn't hold the leaders of the 'leave' campaign, who made all kinds of empty...
Rhys ab Owen: Minister, constituents have been in touch with me saying that they find it very difficult, in Canton in Cardiff, to travel by bike back and forth to school, because of an absence of cycle lanes. What assessment has the Welsh Government made, in terms of decarbonising transport, of funding for Safe Routes to School for councils such as Cardiff council? Thank you.
