Mick Antoniw: I'm pleased to participate in this debate, as we approach the first anniversary of the flooding that my constituency was very badly affected by. I visited at the time the affected areas with local councillors and the First Minister, and we met with families whose homes were devastated by the flooding, and I've continued to meet with them on a regular basis. Now, there has been a considerable...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, I've received an e-mail from the owner of a substantial transport company in my constituency, and he writes to me, 'We are currently in a crisis in relation to exports to Ireland. We were under the impression that once the Christmas Eve deal was finalised, procedures would be immediately put in place to allow exports to Ireland, but we're still unable to export to Northern Ireland,...
Mick Antoniw: I welcome the report and the debate we're having in the Senedd today. It is a somewhat strange debate, because it relates to a UK-based organisation, on non-devolved functions, which has reported to this Senedd, which we vote on, and we have very little say in the mandate and framework within which it operates. So, I want to express my dissatisfaction with what I think is a timid report and...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, acting Llywydd. I speak in respect of both items, 8 and 9. We considered both of these sets of regulations yesterday morning, and our reports have been laid for Members to see. Members will be familiar with the restrictions and requirements imposed on people in Wales under the coronavirus restrictions No. 5 regulations, and also Members will be familiar with the coronavirus...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you. We considered these regulations yesterday morning, and our report has been laid to inform this afternoon's debate. Our report contains one technical reporting point. We have raised this reporting point as we believe one aspect of the regulations requires further explanation. The regulations permit the Welsh Ministers to authorise the marketing of vegetable seed that is not listed...
Mick Antoniw: Trefnydd, can I ask for a Government statement on Welsh Government engagement with the post office and postal services? The reason it's relevant is that Welsh Government policy and support for high streets and small businesses is very important, and I've been told recently when I've applied to the post office in respect of a small post office in Efail Isaf that had shut temporarily and is now...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you again, Dirprwy Lywydd. As the Minister has explained, these regulations enact the Public Health (Protection from Eviction) (Wales) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020, which expired on 11 January 2021, and, as new regulations, they expire at the end of the day on 31 March 2021. We reported four merits points to the Senedd. As the Minister has said, these regulations prevent, except in...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. We considered these regulations yesterday morning and our report's been laid in the Table Office in order to inform this afternoon's debate. Our report contains one technical reporting point, in addition to four merits reporting points. In terms of the single technical point, we noted inconsistencies between the English and Welsh text in regulation 8(7), which deals...
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, although we live in this abnormal environment, there is a tremendous opportunity that arises now from the online learning. It seems to me something more direct, which is actually using it also as a tool of engagement—not in terms of any form of political direction, but in terms of specifically identifying, among that 16 to 17 group, and promoting the right to vote, the right to...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, it's clear now, isn't it, that connectivity is one of those basic rights that we all have, along with gas, water and electricity. I want to re-emphasise the point that has been made, but just to perhaps make it even more clearly. There are homes in my constituency where I know there are people where affordability of the actual connectivity is the issue, not the availability or the...
Mick Antoniw: Diolch, again, Dirprwy Llywydd. Our report on the original legislative consent memorandum for the Bill was laid in the Senedd October last year, and we laid our report on the supplementary LCM for the Bill just before the Christmas recess. Our first report noted the Welsh Government's assessment that clause 16, which, as has been mentioned, is now clause 18 of the Bill, requires consent, and...
Mick Antoniw: I am winding up now. Members will be familiar with these concerns of ours. So, in closing, if I could just say how disappointing it was to hear a Welsh Government Minister say that in rejecting one of our recommendations it was extremely unlikely that the UK Government would take these seriously into consideration. We don't think this is an appropriate approach.
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Certainly, this Trade Bill has been a long process rather than an event, it's fair to say. We reported in July 2020 on the Welsh Government's legislative consent memorandum, making nine recommendations, and then, last month, reported on the supplementary legislative consent memorandum, making a further three recommendations. This followed three reports we prepared...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Llywydd, and I make this report again in respect of items 6, 7, 8 and 9. The coronavirus restrictions No. 5 regulations, as the Minister has reported, impose a number of restrictions and requirements in response to the risk to the public health arising from coronavirus, restrictions that will now be familiar to Members. Since being made, the No. 5 regulations have already...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, I wonder if I could have a statement from the Government on the roll-out of the drug fampridine in Wales. This is a drug available in respect of multiple sclerosis. A statement was issued by the health Minister a year ago that it would be available for free on the NHS. I have a constituent who has been paying £200 a month for the drug. He has raised this matter. I've certainly...
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, for almost over 100 years, Parliament has been concerned about the potential abuse and undermining of democracy of international trade agreements, and that was why a convention was developed, which was eventually put into force in 2010 by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act. It was an example of Parliament taking back control. This, at the very least, gave Parliament a...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Llywydd. As the Counsel General has explained, the Bill provides data-sharing measures that are required as the UK prepares for its new relationship with the European Union. These provisions were previously included in Part 3 of the UK Trade Bill, as has been outlined. However, as we know, the Bill's passage through the UK Parliament has been delayed and the Government has...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you.
Mick Antoniw: Minister, just over one year ago, a long-established family firm, Rhys Davies Logistics, based in Taff's Well in my constituency, was acquired by Cathay Investments, an English-based company with interests in logistics, chemicals, many other areas. The new owners described it at the time as the deal of the month, saying that it 'will enable RDL to flourish into the future...and we are...
Mick Antoniw: 1. Will the Minister make a statement on job losses at Rhys Davies Logistics in Taff's Well as a result of the company being put into administration? TQ523
