Mark Reckless: I just wonder, given the number of Labour Members for whom their vision of Wales does not include building an M4 relief road, why did you put that in your manifesto.
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: Does she recognise the new station at Llanwern, with the proposed new private station near St Mellons, but also with campaigns for stations, such as at Magor and Undy—if we have several new stations on that line, then that would make a very strong case for an additional type of stopping service beyond the high-speed services we currently have?
Mark Reckless: Here, the motion refers to the decision as to whether to go ahead, but aren't there two distinct decisions here: (1) whether to make these Orders and give planning permission, where the current First Minister has been careful not to prejudice himself and is well-placed to do that, and then, second, a decision whether to prioritise and spend the money and actually commence construction, which...
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: If we make it harder for people in Wales to sell their businesses to people from outside Wales—or 'cash out', as I think it was referred to—isn't there a danger that that, in turn, would discourage people from building their businesses in Wales in the first place?
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way?
Mark Reckless: He refers to population change, but it's nearly 30 years, surely, now since the census was taken. Between a third and half of the people who were measured have now, probably, died. Is that an appropriate basis on which to measure population, or is it just because the Labour councils disproportionately have the falling populations?
Mark Reckless: I note that the Minister got through a minute and a half before you actually mentioned the M4 relief road, and I do hope we have this debate next week, as I think you suggested in a prior session. I just wonder, given the First Minister has worked so hard to ensure that he doesn't prejudice his position so that he can consider the inquiry dispassionately and then take the planning decision,...
Mark Reckless: Should every school have the ability to serve children with sensory impairment to the same degree, or does the Cabinet Secretary believe it is better for schools to specialise and have particular schools with well-developed expertise in this area?
Mark Reckless: Could we have a statement on the M4 relief road? When you stood in for the First Minister on 23 October, leader of the house, you promised a binding vote in Government time and then said this was timetabled for the week commencing 4 December. We now have the business timetable through to Christmas and there's no sign of any motion on the M4. Did you misspeak? Could you also perhaps give us...
Mark Reckless: Many people in Islwyn would like to access digital employment opportunities in and around Newport, and both the UK and Welsh Governments have supported the creation of these. We have the Office for National Statistics Data Science Campus ,and I'm pleased to hear that Ken Skates will be visiting the next-generation data centre—the largest in Europe—on Monday. But, for many, the biggest...
Mark Reckless: Cabinet Secretary, in April, you asked the Treasury for more borrowing powers to fund the M4 relief road. Yet, when they agreed in the budget, you attacked them for disrespecting devolution. Now we hear the vote may be delayed, yet in your manifesto you said, and I quote, 'We will deliver a relief road for the M4'. Cabinet Secretary, have you any intention of keeping that promise?
Mark Reckless: 1. Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm how much money can be drawn under different capital funding streams for the M4 relief road? OAQ52916
Mark Reckless: Will the First Minister make a statement on future Welsh rates of income tax?
Mark Reckless: Just in time. [Laughter.]
Mark Reckless: Will the Member give way? I wonder if she could answer a question—very genuinely. When she says that the commissioner asked for this acting commissioner to be appointed, can she assure Members that no pressure was brought on the commissioner by any Member prior to that decision in any way?
Mark Reckless: Apologies that Mark Reckless wasn't in his space. [Laughter.] I had assumed that the Chair of the standards committee would be speaking first. There's no notice of this event on the computer system we have here for the agenda. It wasn't mentioned as a change to the agenda by the acting leader of the house. I did get an e-mail at 12.34 p.m. with a link to an agenda, with this as an unnumbered...
Mark Reckless: We look forward to hearing those details in due course, if not today. But the First Minister did say to the Member for Cynon Valley earlier that she's right to say the Welsh Government offered support to business. He didn't repeat her perhaps more questionable claims that it offered more support than anywhere else in the UK, or that more businesses in Wales received support than elsewhere....
Mark Reckless: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on how the Welsh Government plans to allocate the Barnett consequentials that emanate from the UK Government's budget? OAQ52844
