Mr Neil Hamilton: Against.
Mr Neil Hamilton: In favour.
Mr Neil Hamilton: In favour.
Mr Neil Hamilton: In favour.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Llywydd. Well, the First Minister, like all the Governments of the United Kingdom, says that his policy will be based upon the science, but what do we mean by 'science' in this context? It's not medical science. We're talking about statistical modelling, and nobody thinks that econometricians and economic modellers are scientists, so why should we think that statistical modellers...
Mr Neil Hamilton: In favour.
Mr Neil Hamilton: The reason for introducing the draconian restrictions upon human freedoms and people's right to work started out as being to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed. It seems now to have morphed into stopping the R factor, the reproduction factor for the disease, from rising above 1. But does the First Minister not understand that this is a fool's errand? Professor Giesecke, the Swedish...
Mr Neil Hamilton: In six weeks' time, we will reach the fourth anniversary of Britain and Wales voting to leave the EU. As Minister for European transition, does the Minister agree with me that it's vitally important that the coronavirus pandemic is not used as a further reason for delay in delivering on what the people chose four years ago? Because there are great opportunities once we are freed from the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The cost of the current lockdown will be felt not just in financial terms but also in healthcare terms. Cancer Research UK recently said that we're missing 2,300 cancers a week because of the reduction in GP referrals. It's clear that we need to spend a lot more money on health in the future, but we'll only be able to do that if we have a successful and growing economy. The Office for Budget...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Against.
Mr Neil Hamilton: [Inaudible.]—for administering the small business rate relief grant of £10,000, which was supposed to go to all businesses that pay business rates. I have had many complaints from people around furnished holiday letting businesses in Dwyfor Meironnydd that Gwynedd county council is withholding payments because Welsh Government has set new criteria that apply no other form of business which...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The consequence of the dramatic restrictions on economic activity in recent weeks are likely to be even greater than those of the great recession of 1929-31. That means that the tax base is going to be significantly reduced and there'll be less money to spend on health and social services in the future. So, it's vitally important that restrictions are relaxed as quickly as possible. Of...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister said in his statement that whilst a lot has been done, there's still a lot to do, and that's certainly true. The Government has effectively put most of the economy into a kind of medically induced coma and many businesses fear, with some justification, they're not going to come out of that coma alive, so it's vitally important that we start the gradual process of lifting...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Against.
Mr Neil Hamilton: Well, I think this is an extraordinary time to be bringing this Bill forward. This is a constitutional measure, and we are in a highly attenuated forum in this debate today. Despite the marvels of modern technology, which have enabled us quite effectively, I think, to participate in proceedings in the last two weeks, I don't believe that it's right, when two thirds of the Members of the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister will appreciate that for Mid and West Wales in particular seasonal businesses are vitally important to the economy, and this is particularly true in rural areas as well. Inevitably, the bulk of their season's income is now under threat, and it's very possible that some businesses will earn nothing during the spring or the summer. That poses very severe threats for what comes...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The overriding objective of all restrictions on economic activity is of course the saving of lives, and we all agree with that objective, but does the Minister agree that we shouldn't throw out altogether questions of proportionality of response? Supermarkets are allowed to remain open because obviously distribution of food is an essential service, but there are other businesses of similar...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Can I commend the Welsh Government also for the constructive role that it's played in this national coalition that's been formed to cope with and, ultimately, defeat the coronavirus outbreak? In answer to Dawn Bowden earlier on, the First Minister encouraged people to stop buying and start eating. Can I also encourage him to put out another message: start growing? We have a massive deficit in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you for that response.
Mr Neil Hamilton: I was very pleased to see the Catalan flag flying today, but, on a more regular basis, I wonder whether we could continue to fly the Commonwealth flag, which I saw earlier in the week. We have been members of the Commonwealth, obviously, since the inception of it. It has 54 member states, it encompasses 11 million square miles, spans all six inhabited continents, has 20 per cent of the...
