Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. It's an honour for me to lead this debate in the name of Plaid Cymru, which will give us a first opportunity, as a National Assembly, to express an opinion about the situation in Catalonia. I do that with passion as a Welshman, as a European and as a democrat. I will give most of my comments this afternoon in the international language of first choice of...
Adam Price: Would the Minister accept that part of the broader context to some of the questions that Suzy Davies has been asking, over a period of some years now, and part of the challenge for the Government, is to be clear as to the policy intention in terms of the investment in the film industry? Is it to attract international companies to produce more here in Wales, or is it, from an economic...
Adam Price: Well, the Cabinet Secretary will, of course, be aware of the announcements that a number of banks have made about branch closures throughout Wales, including in my constituency. With these latest announcements, the number of branches that will have closed since 2011 in Wales now extends to 186 branches, and five of the 10 areas that have faced the greatest number of branch closures are in...
Adam Price: Can the Cabinet Secretary tell us at the moment, unless we see changes to the published Bill—that's the Trade Bill—whether the Welsh Government will refuse to give legislative consent through a legislative consent motion? Now, the Cabinet Secretary for trade in London said that they had introduced some changes to the Bill since the draft was published in October, having had discussions...
Adam Price: 1. Following the latest in a long line of local bank closure announcements, what action is the Welsh Government taking to introduce a public bank in accordance with the research conducted by the Public Policy Institute for Wales? 81
Adam Price: Section 2.9 of the ministerial code states that responsibility for special advisers rests with the First Minister and the First Minister alone, and that's been reflected in the First Minister's entry in the list of ministerial responsibilities, where there's an explicit reference to special advisers. That has been the case up until the amended version of ministerial responsibilities, which...
Adam Price: I honestly think that this question, this political question, which is at the centre of global economic policy at the moment, is so important that we have to find a way. Wales has to lead on this question. We cannot be at the sidelines, using excuses. We have to show moral leadership, and we have to find a practical way of doing it in a way that, as much as possible, protects our public...
Adam Price: I think this debate has been very useful in that it has pointed up some of the dividing lines on the economic policy questions of our time. Clearly, we have the various versions of the irrational optimism that we heard on the opposite benches. We can quote any number of think tanks. The IFS was quoted on the Tory benches. The IFS is saying that we won't return to the pre-crisis level of...
Adam Price: Yes, certainly.
Adam Price: Absolutely. I think there are deep structural reasons why we are in the crisis that we're currently facing and the Institute for Public Policy Research's work on the Commission on Economic Justice points to that. There's both a conventional social inequality aspect and that is also reflected in a territorial inequality. In our case, of course, they're both intermingled. Unless you address...
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I was going to say it's a pleasure to rise to introduce this debate, but, actually, if we look at the substance of what we're discussing, then pleasure is anything but what one must feel. I was struck when I took part in the Wales Live debate on the budget that the BBC held, and they did a montage, actually, of television reports from BBC Wales news...
Adam Price: Will you give way? I'm listening to her very carefully, because, obviously, as leader of the house, she has a wider responsibility—she is leader of the entire house. Is she suggesting that our right, our ability, in fact our duty as Members of this Parliament to ask questions of the First Minister is somehow limited, is somehow curtailed—that there are some no-go areas? Because, as I...
Adam Price: Would the leader of Plaid Cymru give way?
Adam Price: Could I add further to those questions—because these are the very specific allegations made by Leighton Andrews—was a formal investigation requested of the First Minister in response to the allegations, or the concerns or issues, that he raised with the First Minister?
Adam Price: I'm very grateful to the Member. We, obviously, all welcome the creation of an independent adjudication process, but, as has already been said, that should never mean that the First Minister then does not subject himself to ordinary parliamentary scrutiny by Members of this place, and I, and probably other Members now, have received written replies back to written questions where the First...
Adam Price: As the Cabinet Secretary is aware, I believe Professor Gerry Holtham has been promoting the idea for some years that there’s an opportunity here for Wales to develop a centre that would be internationally renowned, to create an école nationale, in the words of Professor Holtham, for leaders and managers within the public sector. There are many things that you can say about Professor...
Adam Price: I was wondering—if we could step back a little bit as well—if we can ask ourselves a deeper question, which I'm not sure is sufficiently addressed yet in the plan that has been published, which is why the initiatives of the past have failed. Because the most sobering reading of all—. I urge honourable—oh, falling into bad habits there. I urge Members to read the engagement study,...
Adam Price: Cabinet Secretary, I suppose you and I kind of represent the arc of the Valleys, the former coalfield area—you representing the eastern Valleys, me representing the west. I was wondering if the geography, really, of this strategy at the moment is out of kilter. As we've heard from the leader of my party, really, there are areas in the Rhondda, Cynon, et cetera, which are not represented at...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to return, if I may, to the Valleys taskforce implementation plan. I think all of us would agree that it contains, at a high level, very, very laudable aims in terms of our communities, and we thank members of the taskforce, and, indeed, all those who took part in the various consultations that occurred across the Valleys areas. But as the Cabinet Secretary, I'm...
Adam Price: 3. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on the Welsh Government's plans for a national academy of government? OAQ51380
