Mick Antoniw: Can I thank the Member for a really impressive and comprehensive analysis of the serious challenges affecting many of our coalfield communities? Can I first of all, though, say that I think we need to put on record our thanks for: the work that the Coalfields Regeneration Trust actually does in supporting enterprises, business regeneration, community facilities; and CISWO, the Coal Industry...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: My support for the retention of a 24-hour consultant-led A&E at the Royal Glamorgan is total and is unwavering, and I believe that it is the only viable option. The community I live in is galvanised as perhaps never before in fighting for this outcome, and I'm pleased that this campaign also has the support of the main hospital trade unions—Unite, Unison and the GMB. I've attended both...
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, I was in Garth Olwg school in my constituency recently, and I can tell you how enthusiastic so many of the young students are that they will actually be participating in the Assembly election votes next year. One of the things that was considered when the legislation was going through the Assembly was not only the issue of political education but also the idea of how we actually make...
Mick Antoniw: Trefnydd, I wonder whether you could update us as to what the situation is with regard to the funding of major infrastructure problems. I know there has been an issue raised by the UK Government in terms of sending details and so on, but, of course, much of the infrastructure damage, some of it's below water, some of it isn't accessible and so on, but certainly Rhondda Cynon Taf is actually...
Mick Antoniw: What discussions has the Minister had with the UK Government regarding the Shared Prosperity Fund?
Mick Antoniw: Yes, please, certainly.
Mick Antoniw: Well, I'm glad to hear your support for investment in our airports, but you don't—[Interruption.] But you really don't answer the point that the privatisation was a disaster, just as the privatisation of the railway network has been a disaster, just as bus privatisation has been an absolute disaster. In 2012—the last year that it was in private ownership—it actually suffered a loss in...
Mick Antoniw: Can I just say that I've got a longstanding interest in the airport, because, when it was in public ownership, when it was owned by the three counties, I was a member of the airport committee at that time, as a councillor? I remember the annual reports, really, of public investment to actually build up the airport and to actually fund the first major international-length runway that enabled...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for taking the intervention in respect of literally your ideological views in respect of privatisation. But would you agree that the privatisation that occurred in 1995 of the airport turned out to be an absolute disaster?
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. When Mark Isherwood was making his speech, it reminded me a little bit of some of those Soviet economic reports you used to get—the last five-year plan was absolutely fantastic, but not as good as the next five-year plan. I'm afraid there's a real danger when you start being so selective in terms of the figures that you actually use. And I think we need to look at...
Mick Antoniw: Trefnydd, I wonder if you could arrange for there to be a Government statement on the action that's being taken by Welsh Government in respect to insurance of properties and businesses in flooded areas. There are houses that were insured, some not insured, some will not be able to get insurance or be able to afford insurance. The same equally applies to businesses. Some of them may now have...
Mick Antoniw: First Minister, can I first of all thank you for how speedily you came into Treforest in the aftermath of the floods? Now, the Treforest industrial park is an area that has been massively hit: many, many businesses, tens of millions of pounds of damage, and there are many hundreds of jobs that are at stake on that. The first thing I'd say is that the three-month business rate credit that...
Mick Antoniw: A poignant legacy of the strike could be witnessed over the last few weeks. The sense of community and solidarity that was at the heart of the strike, was again to the fore as the terrible floods hit those same communities—from Nantgarw in my constituency, to Pentre in the Rhondda. People standing shoulder to shoulder, giving what they have to help neighbours, united in a shared resolve...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. Ten years ago, Billy Liddon, a friend of mine, and an activist from Cwm Colliery National Union of Mineworkers, who has since sadly passed away, told me that he would do no more interviews about the miners' strike because it was being over-romanticised in the media, whereas the reality is that it was a year-long struggle of intense poverty and hardship. So, today,...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, I wonder if you could provide an update on the flood disaster relief funding for Wales that was promised by the UK Prime Minister when he said in Parliament a week ago that the UK Government are 'committed to working flat out with the Welsh devolved administration to ensure everybody gets the flood relief that they need. And that cash, yes of course will certainly be passported...
Mick Antoniw: Deputy Minister, the community fund has been vital in the development of a number of community facilities in my constituency, areas such as Ely Valley Miners, restoring that into a useful sports park for the local community, and many other projects as well. We've now, of course, had communities that have been devastated by flooding, including many of our community facilities as well,...
Mick Antoniw: 1. Will the Deputy Minister make a statement on the allocation of Community Facilities Programme funding in Rhondda Cynon Taf? OAQ55158
Mick Antoniw: Llywydd, I had thought twice about participating in the debate, because, in the light of everything that's happening, it all seemed a little bit untimely, but also one where it comes from a party that has no democratic mandate in this Chamber. It's a motion proposed by a party that has never been elected to this Assembly; there's never been an Assembly election in which the Brexit Party has...
