Mr Neil Hamilton: Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the provision of services for people with epilepsy in Wales?
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, Simon Thomas lamented at the start of his remarks that there weren’t many questions left to be asked and now there are even fewer, but I would like to join everyone else in welcoming this statement and actually congratulating the Cabinet Secretary on her willingness to engage with farmers and to listen to all views, and for the flexibility of her approach. I do think that this...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I welcome the statement today. In particular, I welcome the tone that the First Minister has adopted, which I think is both realistic and reasonable and all the more persuasive for that. I’m glad that he’s moved on from the referendum in the last 12 months, in marked contradistinction to the tone that we heard from the leader of Plaid Cymru earlier on today. That’s the way, I think, to...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply. Will he join me in congratulating Elly Neville who’s aged nine years old and has raised £109,500 for the support of work in ward 10 in Withybush hospital, where her father was treated for cancer? Although I acknowledge that the Welsh Government has been doing a great deal to try to reduce waiting times in hospitals for cancer treatment, we’re...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, it’s very far from a cheap political point. I was quoting from one of our national newspapers—[Interruption.]—where the headline is ‘Let inferno victims seize empty homes, says Corbyn’. He’s the one who said it. I have no objection, obviously, to Jeremy Corbyn articulating the views of people, particularly those of his constituents. We all do that. But in these highly...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I’m sure we’ll explore this point further later on this afternoon in the statement on the Government’s paper on Brexit. I want to move to another issue. As a result of the dreadful fire in Kensington and the terrible loss of life that was suffered there, is it not rather undesirable for the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, to try to weaponise this as an issue and to...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. I’m sure the First Minister, like me, is looking on with envy at the Democratic Unionists in Northern Ireland using their muscle in the House of Commons to extort the best possible deal in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. And instead of refighting the last war, as the leader of Plaid Cymru seems intent on doing, wouldn’t it be better for Plaid...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on oncology provision in Mid and West Wales? OAQ(5)0668(FM)
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, Llywydd, I was intending to begin my remarks by saying that I agree with everything that’s been said hitherto, but I’m afraid that Dai Lloyd’s lapse into European controversy just a couple of minutes ago precludes me from doing that, sadly. It’s one of the very few disagreements that we have on the committee. Bethan Jenkins began her speech earlier on, on autism, by making an...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It’s the misfortunate of somebody who comes this low in the proceedings that most of the intelligent questions have been asked already, but I’ll try and till a new furrow. I broadly welcome the statement from the Cabinet Secretary, although I must say some of the language doesn’t seem to bear the normal professorial detachment with which the Cabinet Secretary has added so much lustre to...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the First Minister for that reply. I don’t know whether he is aware of a poll that is being conducted by the debt charity called StepChange. This has discovered that 59 per cent of people report having received one cold call a week, and 8 per cent have had more than one call per day. And one of the principle concerns about this is these calls offering high-cost credit. About a...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I notice that the First Minister neatly sidesteps the question. UKIP did actually support the introduction of the minimum wage, and, certainly, we support policing it effectively, because the law of the land should be obeyed. And it’s no answer to the problem of wage compression to say that we will take strong action against employers who are breaking the law. What is of more concern is...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I read, of course, the Government’s White Paper on Brexit, which, effectively, isn’t in favour of border controls at all in any meaningful sense. My interest in this is on the impact of unskilled and semi-skilled labour being imported in uncontrollable numbers and the effect that that has upon working class wages. Now, the Bank of England has published a substantial report on ‘The...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. It’s clear now that the failure of the Prime Minister’s cynical, opportunist snap election gamble has thrown the whole Brexit negotiating process into confusion, perhaps exacerbated by the fact that she’s appointed 16 Remainers to her Cabinet of 23. And, in particular, this throws perhaps more into question than previously the nature of our border controls post...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 3. What progress has been made towards Wales becoming a no cold calling nation? OAQ(5)0655(FM)
Mr Neil Hamilton: I think I’ve taken one contribution. We’ve only got four minutes to speak, so, regrettably, although I’d like to give way, I don’t think I can. Obviously, I accept point 3 of Plaid Cymru’s motion. I strongly believe that every single penny of what Brussels currently spends in Wales should be replicated by a UK Government promise, and I don’t think anybody who has the interests of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Yes.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, clearly, that’s a preposterous proposition, as the Prime Minister has already said that the current funding arrangements will be preserved up to the end of 2022, and no Government can bind its successors, and, as there must be a general election by 2022, any promise given now would be worthless, and therefore not worth making. But it’s all our money anyway, the money that the EU...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Listening to Plaid Cymru, you’d think that by staying in the EU the future would be absolutely assured forever and a day, but we know that beyond the current multi-annual framework there is no guarantee of agricultural funding for Wales in the European budget. I remember, when we first joined what was then the European Economic Community 40-odd years ago, agriculture accounted for 65, 70...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Would the leader of the house agree with me that we should exercise the greatest caution before getting involved in any war of words in relation to internecine disputes in the middle east? Of course, we would deprecate in the strongest possible terms any country financing terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. It’s important to note that Qatar denies any such involvement. But the importance of...
