Adam Price: 8. When will the Cabinet Secretary publish plans, in accordance with the Diamond Review recommendation, to incentivise graduates to work or return to work in Wales? OAQ(5)0068(EDU)
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As we’ve heard two speeches from two committee chairs and one from a party spokesperson from one of the opposition parties, I think I will keep my comments brief, because I don’t want to rehearse the same old issues. But generally speaking, we welcome and accept, as Nick Ramsay said, just how necessary the introduction of this tax is, considering, as...
Adam Price: I’m not sure if the honourable Member was following me in that section of my speech. I think I did say pretty clearly that we did not agree with everything in the budget and, indeed, there were demands that we made as part of our discussions that were not met. So, we’re very clear: we were able to improve the budget, but we are abstaining because we do not agree with the budget as a whole.
Adam Price: Thank you to the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today and for introducing the final budget of the Welsh Government. As has already been mentioned, of course, this budget is partly the fruit of discussions between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government—discussions that arose from this new method of collaboration that we have devised. I have to say that I do believe that our politics and...
Adam Price: Norway, which, as we heard, he visited recently, the Republic of Ireland, the German region of Hesse, and others, all have an official, widely recognised country-of-origin brand that, in large part, is aimed at domestic consumers. Now, if, as it seems, we are going to be ejected out of the single market by that regressive alliance of Corbyn and May, import substitution will be even more...
Adam Price: 6. What plans does the Welsh Government have to encourage Welsh consumers to buy Welsh-produced goods and services? OAQ(5)0357(FM)
Adam Price: I'm grateful to the Deputy Minister for standing in the breach here and answering this urgent question, that, today, the Government did announce what it said was the biggest investment in infrastructure since devolution, and yet, in a democracy, we would have expected that statement, that major claim, to be made in a parliament and not in an airport at a business breakfast. It's an extreme...
Adam Price: Thank you kindly, Presiding Officer. At least, I think so.
Adam Price: I attended a public meeting locally last week, and I have to say there was some disquiet among local residents in light of the absence of the Valero company, but also because of a lack of information provided by public authorities. So, can I ask the Cabinet Secretary to insist that NRW does publish the results of all the tests that they have conducted on the rivers and the ground? They should...
Adam Price: 9. What assessment has the Minister made of the consequences of the oil pipeline breach at Nantycaws? OAQ(5)0077(ERA)
Adam Price: Will the Minister provide further details of the multibillion pound infrastructure investment plan announced today? EAQ(5)0100(EI)
Adam Price: As the Cabinet Secretary has explained, these regulations do offer some temporary relief to businesses, particularly in the wake of the revaluation. To that extent, we have to welcome that, because, as we’ve heard from this party and from other parties in the Chamber, there are businesses that are going to suffer very badly because of this revaluation. There is a very different geographical...
Adam Price: I very much welcome this update from the Cabinet Secretary and the advance copy of his statement. It’s 30 years since Wales lost its only independent banking institution at the time, the Commercial Bank of Wales, and I think we’ve suffered as a result of that glaring gap in our institutional architecture as an economy. I think the question that has to be posed now is: are we going to...
Adam Price: There can be no doubt at all that after an intensely difficult year, some degree of certainty, at least in the near term for steelworkers and their families, is very good news indeed, particularly at this time of year. ‘Crisis averted’ for the Welsh steel industry will be welcomed on all sides of the Assembly, but ‘crisis merely delayed’ would be a very different proposition and...
Adam Price: Well, I welcome that very warmly, and if this place can speak with one voice, then I truly hope that that voice will be heard in the corridors of Whitehall and Westminster. Finally, and to the same end, if truth be told, I hope that there will be support for this too. We do need progress with this golden opportunity that we have with the tidal lagoon. Dai Lloyd insists that it should be...
Adam Price: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to move amendments 2, 3, 4 and 5 tabled in the name of Plaid Cymru. Of course, in these amendments, we are focusing specifically on the things that were omitted from the autumn statement. It may be some sort of reflection of the different personality of this Chancellor. There is some suggestion that he didn’t want to...
Adam Price: The other area that is highlighted by the CBI report is skills. It’s absolutely vital that we get workplace training right, and we can only do that if we talk to the employers. There’s a worrying lack of information and clarity at the moment about how the apprenticeship levy is going to be operated. The UK Government did hold an initial consultation, Scotland and Northern Ireland have...
Adam Price: I’m all for optimism and enthusiasm and passion. I admire that in the Cabinet Secretary, but we have to remind ourselves, don’t we, that we’re at 71.3 per cent of the UK average already. The first step in turning around our abysmal economic performance is a reality check on where we currently are. As he devises his new economic strategy, could I urge him to read the recent CBI report...
Adam Price: Diolch, Lywydd. It was expected for the regional gross value added figures to be released today by the Office for National Statistics, but they’ve been postponed for a week—perhaps realising the Welsh Government have already had a tough enough week with yesterday’s PISA results. However, I would like to bring to the attention of the Cabinet Secretary a report released by Ernst and Young...
Adam Price: Will the Welsh Government make a statement on the outcome of recent talks between Tata Steel and unions over the future of its Welsh and British operations? EAQ(5)0097(EI)
