Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: Oh, there we are.
Mick Antoniw: —to article 50 and I reject the UKIP amendment.
Mick Antoniw: I think the point is you don't actually need to have written them, because your apologism for apartheid South Africa, your apologism for the Pinochet regime and the tens of thousands murdered and tortured is absolutely well known and on record. In respect of the motion today, I think the decision isn't, obviously, going to be taken here, but the solidarity that we can express in terms of our...
Mick Antoniw: Well, I thank you for that intervention and you've put that point very, very eloquently—
Mick Antoniw: I'll take the intervention, yes.
Mick Antoniw: I got involved in the EU debate right at the beginning because, for me, the bigger issues were never the economic issues, the trade issues and so on, but it was because of the contribution that the EU had made to European peace and how inconceivable it would've been, when the Soviet Union broke up and those former Warsaw pact countries began to develop democratic systems, inconceivable that...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Llywydd. We considered the Welsh Government's legislative consent motion in respect of the Bill at our meeting on 4 February and, as the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, of course, we look at the technical and constitutional aspects of the Bill per se, rather than the specific policy objectives. We've noted the Welsh Government's reasons as to why, in its view,...
Mick Antoniw: Counsel General, you'll have heard it said before that access to justice is a bit like owning a Rolls Royce—everyone can have one. And I think our planning system is a bit like that at the moment. I've recently had inquiries where large development companies, represented by QCs and a host of expensive experts, are stood against the Ramblers' Association and local citizens. And it seems to...
Mick Antoniw: It's very clear that the reason we're in the constitutional paralysis we're in is because we have a Government that is only capable of hanging on to power by bribing 10 Northern Ireland Members of Parliament. It's also very clear that a further referendum or a further vote will take at least six months. So, do you agree with me that, really, one of the key objectives at the moment has to be...
Mick Antoniw: I was previously a member of the Committee of the Regions for two years in the last Assembly, with Rhodri Glyn as alternate. We worked well together, covering as many of the key areas of influence relevant to Wales that we could, from the economic and social policy in the EU to environmental policy. We both had a number of successful opinions that directly related to Welsh policy or issues....
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion and also refer to the document prepared by myself and Bethan Sayed on Wales's future relationship with the Committee of the Regions. Llywydd, by the end of next month, it is likely we will have left the European Union. Nothing, however, is certain. There could be an extension to article 50, there could be a general election, there could be a referendum or...
Mick Antoniw: Minister, one of the important services that are very much appreciated in our communities are, of course, leisure services. Some councils at the moment are investing very heavily, particularly my council, Rhondda Cynon Taf. Others, of course, because of the financial position, are looking at closures. Of course, local authority leisure centres, which tend to also provide better terms and...
Mick Antoniw: Presiding Officer, just to make a comment, my system has crashed for about the third time today, and I'm happy to vote manually.
Mick Antoniw: There are only a few points I want to add, and those really aren't to do with the pros and cons of what's happening, but actually the state of the constitutional crisis that we're in and I think having an understanding of how serious that crisis is. We have a Government that doesn't have a majority, it no longer has a mandate, and as I've said before, it really doesn't have any legitimacy and...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: What is the point of actually having a meeting with a Prime Minister who says, 'Come and meet with me and discuss, but I will not change any of my red lines'? The point now, of course, is that Parliament has said 'no deal' has to come off the table. It has said that, and the question is whether Theresa May will listen to Parliament.
Mick Antoniw: I appreciate it's an idea and it's a proposal and so on, but will you recognise that, in terms of the position representing the Welsh Assembly, you've got a First Minister who's almost living in Downing Street at the moment trying to engage with UK Government, and, of course, at the inter-parliamentary forum, which is a meeting of all the constitutional and legislative bodies, the Welsh...
Mick Antoniw: Will you take an intervention?
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for taking the intervention. Well, of course, the UK Parliament voted last night that 'no deal' was not an option. In that case, in negotiations with all the parties, a Prime Minister who's been accused of having an open door but a closed mind, do you not think it would be logical for the Prime Minister to now say that 'no deal' is not an option and that she should support the...
