Gareth Bennett: Yes, I am coming to that.
Gareth Bennett: Okay. That’s a good point, and I do address that later in my contribution. Right. The only addition I would make to the tariffs argument is this, and it goes along with what David Rees just raised: David rightly raised the important point—actually, it’s the same point that Bethan raised as well—that the Conservative Government in Westminster has itself acted and voted against taking...
Gareth Bennett: The steel industry in Wales is facing a crisis, which threatens jobs and livelihoods. So, I feel it is right and proper that we do deliberate on this issue in the Assembly. My UKIP colleague Caroline Jones has already pointed to the issue of tariffs and the way in which membership of the EU has constrained the UK’s ability to respond to Chinese steel dumping. This point is, as ever,...
Gareth Bennett: Okay, thanks, Lee; can I carry on? Right, the cultural bubble. The point is we are in a political bubble—I’m in it myself now as well—but we have to remain in some contact with the real world out there. [Interruption.] Okay, thank you. In the Wetherspoon’s pub in Canton, few people would know what I was talking about if I started talking about the ‘Senedd’, and I can tell you that...
Gareth Bennett: Okay, well, maybe it’s not even that, but that perhaps emphasises my point. If I started talking about the Senedd in the Wetherspoon’s pub in Canton, few people would know what I was on about.
Gareth Bennett: Yes, sure.
Gareth Bennett: What we have here with the National Assembly is, in some way, a bit of a marketing problem. Turnouts for the elections are considerably lower than those for the Westminster version. Politicians in Wales frequently observe that much of the Welsh electorate is often entirely ignorant as to which matters are devolved and which are not. The problem is essentially that the vast majority of people...
Gareth Bennett: We’ve had democracy in the UK for some time but it has evolved gradually over the years. There were two great reform Acts of the nineteenth century that considerably extended the vote and eliminated many rotten boroughs. Some Members may recall from their reading of history the example of Old Sarum in Hampshire where the only elector was said to be a cat. Well, rotten boroughs of a sort...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Minister, for that; that sounds hopeful. Another issue we have at the moment in many areas, particularly Cardiff, is proposed major housing developments, which are often opposed by local residents. Concreting over the green fields is a fairly apt description of the current proposals for Cardiff, which have been alluded to several times by the new Plaid Cymru regional Member. Now, the...
Gareth Bennett: Thanks for your comments. I’m glad to see that you will be pursuing a consensus and hopefully there will be a better outcome than the last proposals we had from your predecessor. But on that subject, what will your thoughts be regarding voluntary merger proposals such as we had between the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend a year ago, which were rather cavalierly rejected by Leighton Andrews?
Gareth Bennett: Thanks, Llywydd. I’m sure Sian won’t mind if I pinch her question, which is: what is the timetable for local government reorganisation?
Gareth Bennett: I would like to congratulate the Minister on his latest appointment. I slightly regret to remind him that he was once my local councillor on the old South Glamorgan County Council. There may be more regret on his part when I recall that this was some 30 years ago; I was, of course, myself a mere boy at the time. My first question relates to local government reorganisation. I see that Sian...
Gareth Bennett: I note that Newport, Cardiff and Swansea are all in the top 10 of UK cities for receiving refugees. Do we have any idea what the total cost is to local authorities in Wales of housing the recent wave of refugees?
Gareth Bennett: What about your project fear—world war three?
Gareth Bennett: That’s not project fear?
Gareth Bennett: Carry on.
Gareth Bennett: Sorry, Llywydd.
Gareth Bennett: [Continues.]—’and never complain or question the pay, conditions or hours.’ So, there you have it. Whose side are you on, you saviours of the working class? Are you on the side of the workers or the bosses? Thank you.
Gareth Bennett: First, a piece quoting Darren Hunt—
Gareth Bennett: Thank you. First, the piece quoting Darren Hunt, the boss of a construction company in Scunthorpe. These were his words: ‘It is proving very difficult to get British people in. It seems that people are no longer interested in earning their wages by the sweat of their brow. It is disappointing that we are having to go to Europe to get workers, but we have no option. The good thing about the...
