Andrew RT Davies: I couldn’t agree more with some of the sentiments that you’ve expressed today, Cabinet Secretary. These are hugely troubling times for the 1,100 employees at this facility in Cardiff, which has a very good record over 27 years of establishment in the capital city of Wales. The dedication and professionalism of the employees deserve better treatment than they received last week, I have to...
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, obviously the ability to determine the TAN guidance that’s given by Welsh Government is a vitally important measure in any planning system. The role of community councils and parish councils in playing their part in determining applications is very much overlooked very often, and there is a lack of understanding of exactly how the technical advice notes can assist town...
Andrew RT Davies: I haven’t got the time. What we will make sure, from the Welsh Conservatives’ point of view, is that instead of being sidelined, like the First Minister will be, we will work to make sure that the resources are made available to bring forward projects for Wales’s benefit, that this country does get the stable Government it requires to take us through the Brexit process, and ultimately,...
Andrew RT Davies: I would draw your attention to what Lord Adonis said when he was negotiating with the DUP in 2010, when he said ‘We have written the new numbers down’ when it talks about money—for what the DUP vote was at that time. So, we won’t take any lectures from the Welsh Labour Party or the Labour Party when it comes to doing deals around securing votes. What is transparent about this deal is...
Andrew RT Davies: The United Kingdom—[Interruption.] The United Kingdom needs a Government, and a majority Government, to get on and get on with its business. And so, to achieve that majority status, obviously a deal was concluded with the Democratic Unionist Party, along the same lines—[Interruption.] I can see the Member for Ogmore chuntering away there, but it is a fact that Shaun Woodward, when he was...
Andrew RT Davies: I’ll take the intervention in a minute. Where benefit has gone over to Northern Ireland, we need to secure those benefits here for Wales. And yes, I was talking to Downing Street yesterday morning, First Minister. While you were on the balcony talking to the BBC, I was talking to the people that count. That’s the difference—[Interruption.] That’s the difference—[Interruption.]...
Andrew RT Davies: I do welcome the opportunity to stand here today and address the debate. Sometimes, when a batsman is sent out to bat, he looks around the pitch, just to make sure he’s got all the fielders in view, and then he makes sure that none of the googlies get him caught on the wrong side. Ultimately, I hope to be able to, obviously, make sense of the deal that was put forward yesterday in the...
Andrew RT Davies: I’m grateful to you for taking the intervention. The Bill is widely supported, and, hopefully, when it reaches the statute book, it will achieve the aims that are set out. But to be so wide of the mark on the financials of the Bill is of huge concern given all the work that has been done, as I referred to—the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee’s report on this matter. It...
Andrew RT Davies: Can I thank the First Minister for his statement, and, indeed, the Business Committee and the Llywydd for changing slightly the format of the way this business is going to be transacted this afternoon into statements/debates that hopefully will offer a greater opportunity to scrutinise the proposals the Government have put forward, and hopefully get a full response from the First Minister to...
Andrew RT Davies: After nearly two decades of over-promising and under-delivering, it is a deep regret that the Welsh Government’s legislative programme lacks the ambition and innovative thinking needed to bring the necessary changes. For our country to succeed and to unlock its true potential as a great place to live and work, and to create a truly inclusive society that empowers all, no matter where you...
Andrew RT Davies: Just to endorse the comments that the Member for Cardiff North raised—and many politicians from across the political divide have met with Tesco. What alarmed me last week was, obviously, the Cabinet Secretary confirming that the Government had had no notice of these redundancies, or potential redundancies, because that’s the term we have to use because it’s subject to consultation. In...
Andrew RT Davies: I would like to reply to that, because when you accuse someone of cowardice—
Andrew RT Davies: That is out of order to call someone a coward.
Andrew RT Davies: Well, you will not be delivering the vast majority of the jobs, as proposed in the original concept, because there were 6,000 jobs proposed around this project—
Andrew RT Davies: [Continues.]—and the actual park that you are talking about delivering is a potential of 1,500 jobs with a 10-year delivery programme for that park. So, there is a dislocate. But the point I am driving at here, First Minister, is that you have the permanent secretary in that department at complete loggerheads with the Cabinet Secretary in his interpretation. The evidence is there, from the...
Andrew RT Davies: I’m afraid that’s not what the statement that came forward from the Cabinet Secretary this morning indicated. As I said, in his written statement, he says that there is little evidence of a project like this delivering, on the numbers that have been talked about. In fact, it actually talks of only 100 whole-time equivalent jobs being delivered, on the circuit—I take that, and there is a...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, this morning, the Cabinet took the decision to not proceed with the funding package for the Circuit of Wales—and I appreciate that the Minister will be making a statement later on this afternoon. Yesterday, the most senior civil servant in the department gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, where he talked of this project having a...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I formally move the amendment in the name of Paul Davies, and I thank UKIP for bringing the debate today. I will try not to detain the Chamber too long today, as they are already reporting it’s the hottest day possible outside. After spending yesterday talking again about Brexit, on the First Minister’s statement, where there wasn’t much that, as an...
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, it was a huge success, the UEFA cup final here in Cardiff, but, obviously, a series of events before that came to Cardiff, to show that Wales, and Cardiff in particular, could obviously accommodate such a mega event. One things that has been disappointing is the Welsh Government’s lack of ambition to bid for a Commonwealth Games here in Wales. And, as we’ve proven that...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, thank you for your statement, and, indeed, thank you for early sight of that statement that was made available to the parties before we started Plenary today. I did notice that in the last paragraph you talked about ‘secrecy, lack of consultation, imposition of diktats from the centre’. I have to say that, sitting on this side of the Chamber, I almost feel like saying to...
