Alun Davies: Can I say, Minister, I very much welcome the overall vision that you've outlined to us this afternoon? I think it's fair to say that the one thing that unites people on all sides of this Chamber is an absolute determination that the people of Wales deserve far better than we've received in terms of funding and powers over railways over the last few years. I very much welcome what you said and...
Alun Davies: Like others, although this takes place within the context that we're living through at the moment, I believe that this is about power and this is about the British constitution. I don't believe that this is about Brexit, as much as many people would prefer that. I agree with what many people here have said: this is both about the powers available to a Prime Minister, but it is also about the...
Alun Davies: In your amendment 5, you ask for that budget.
Alun Davies: I would like to ask you to withdraw that amendment, actually—
Alun Davies: —because in my view, each one of the Ministers we have here should be a Minister for the Valleys and each one of the Ministers—
Alun Davies: —should be a Minister for every part of the community of Wales. [Interruption.] I don't believe in having a Minister for different parts of the country. [Interruption.] I want to have a Government and Ministers operating for the whole of the country—[Interruption.]—and that's why I reject the arguments that we need a set budget for the Valleys taskforce. Can I say, Presiding Officer,...
Alun Davies: I will take an intervention.
Alun Davies: In preparing for this debate this afternoon, I wasn't sure that I'd had the opportunity to welcome the Minister to his role in leading the Valleys taskforce, so I would like to put on record that I do welcome his appointment, but I also welcome the new and fresh thinking that he's brought to the role. I do believe that it's important that from time to time all ministerial roles need to be...
Alun Davies: I think, reading through the document that the UK Government was forced to release by the courts, you understand why the UK Government didn't want the public to see this. I'm reminded of Aneurin Bevan when he told us: 'How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power?' This is a document that describes the impact of Brexit on the poorest people of this...
Alun Davies: Will you take an intervention?
Alun Davies: I won't take an intervention because time is against me on this, but I hope that all other Members will have an opportunity to speak. What I hope we can do this afternoon, Minister, is to shine a light on the reality of these stories. I voted with the Government in January on the issue of an autism Bill, and intellectually I'm not convinced by the argument for it. But I have to say to the...
Alun Davies: I asked Members of the National Autistic Society group in Blaenau Gwent to discuss this debate this afternoon, and to ask them what they thought about some of the services that they were receiving. I have to say that their conversation, which I heard over lunchtime, should make us all stop and think about the reality of services that too many people are receiving. We spend a considerable...
Alun Davies: There has been a recklessness, a carelessness and an un-British care for the people of this country in the debate we've had over a 'no deal' Brexit. I care deeply about people in all of the communities of this country, not simply the community I represent. And it is not good enough for people simply to say, 'We will have a "no deal" exit and damn the costs, damn the consequences, and damn the...
Alun Davies: I'm grateful to the Chair for bringing this statement this afternoon. I'm also grateful to him for the way in which he chairs the committee, and to the secretariat, who provide support for the committee. Presiding Officer, Members will be aware of the wide range of issues that the committee tries to cover in its time, and I've found my time on the committee to be one that has provided me with...
Alun Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I must say, this has been a somewhat disappointing statement, Minister. We all know that the UK Government’s austerity policy has been a disaster for Wales—it’s been a disaster for public spending—and we all know that it’s had a human impact on people across this country as well, and people that the Minister and I both represent....
Alun Davies: You're very kind, Presiding Officer. I'm grateful to you, Presiding Officer, and I'm grateful to the First Minister for the statement this afternoon, and I want to welcome that statement, especially the focus on equality, which has run all the way through that. It's important, I think, when Westminster's deciding whether it can even sit or not in the autumn, whether MPs will be allowed even...
Alun Davies: I'm out of time. The people of Wales will not thank politicians—[Interruption.] The people of Wales—[Interruption.] I'm sure the deputy Presiding Officer will let me carry on until you allow me to finish my sentence.
Alun Davies: The people of Wales will not thank an Assembly, a Parliament, that looks inwards and forgets about what they want and forgets the people that they represent. I want the people of Blaenau Gwent to be represented by a Parliament that works for Wales, but they also need to be given the opportunity to give the consent that they have for that. And that means a consensus across the Chamber,...
Alun Davies: I actually hadn't said that, but I was just about to. [Laughter.] I do not believe—. I recognise what you're saying, Joyce, and I recognise, of course, why you're saying it, but I do not believe that regional representation is real representation, I'll be absolutely clear about that. I do not believe—[Interruption.] I don't believe it. I'm afraid I don't believe it. And do you know what?...
Alun Davies: I think that the dual system is not a good system. I've served as a regional AM—
