Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: First of all, listen, I recognise that we lost seats in the general election, but we still won more seats than the Tories and that means that we do have still a mandate to speak up for the people of Wales. We have our own mandate here in this Chamber and that is our responsibility, and that's why we do have a responsibility to make sure that we are feeding in to these trade negotiations. I've...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: It's worth pointing out that our trade negotiations with the EU will be unprecedented, as they'll ultimately lead to increasing barriers to trade, rather than removing them. All scenarios envisaged by the Tories lead to increased friction with our closest and most important trading partner. And all the credible evidence shows that the benefits associated with ambitious trade agreements with...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Securing a meaningful role in international negotiations is therefore our absolute priority in the coming weeks, as preparations for negotiations ramp up. We want to ensure a clear role for the Welsh Government, so we will need robust mechanisms, not just for us to effectively represent Wales, but for the integrity of the union as well. We are eager to ensure a clear role for the Welsh...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Llywydd. As the UK prepares to enter into a new phase of negotiations that could fundamentally alter the Welsh and UK economies for decades to come, trade policy has come to the fore. The general election has made clear that Brexit will happen, and with it the potential for multiple parallel trade negotiations arises. And it's worth noting as well that the general election also saw...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We've been very clear with the UK Government that it's imperative that we are a part of any trade negotiations. The Secretary of State has agreed to establish a joint ministerial forum on trade. The problem is that every time we get going here, there's a shift and a change in terms of personnel. So, we develop these relationships with the relevant Minister, we get a long way down the line,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I'm afraid that progress on a concordat for trade, and related inter-governmental machinery, has been paused for the general election.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I do think that the Urdd is an organisation that has done excellent work internationally over the years, particularly that message of peace and goodwill. I think it’s important that we make more of that. The fact that the Urdd have recently been to Alabama to convey that message as to how Wales stood with the people there during those troubled times, as to how people dealt with issues that...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, I have met with the organisers of the Commonwealth Games, and I think everybody is starting to feel that sense of excitement now that something very significant is coming very close to us. What we were discussing is to what extent we in Wales can exploit those opportunities. One of the things we're discussing, for example, is whether we can have some of the teams that are...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Well, I'm not sure if we'll be going into the granular detail of how every community in Wales will be impacted by the international strategy, but what I can tell you is that, specifically, we have earmarked and we are going to be highlighting some specific industries. One of those industries is cyber security, and you'll be aware that the National Digital Exploitation Centre in Ebbw Vale is a...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. The international strategy sets out my priorities to fulfil Wales’s international ambitions, including growing the economy of Wales through exports and inward investment and raising Wales’s international profile. Both of these ambitions have a direct impact on Blaenau Gwent.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: It's absolutely true that people in Wales, I think, are very generous and understanding of the need to support poorer communities around the globe. I'm sure you'll be very pleased to hear that the Welsh Government actually supports the co-ordination of the work of the Disasters Emergency Committee, and we've been actually paying for that co-ordination work by helping to pay for an...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, our work on the strategy and on what we're doing in the international arena has not stopped. We are being very active on lots and lots of different fronts. And if you look at just what we achieved in Japan, I think that will give you an example of how we are reaching out beyond Wales and making sure we take advantage of situations. We are very pleased that Wales now will be...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Yes. In the light of the general election, and the fact that we had some guidance from the civil service that this would impact because of the connection with the Foreign Office, they suggested to us that we should postpone the publication of the international strategy. But that will be coming out, we hope, early in the new year.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We have no plans to bring legislation forward in terms of the private sector. But we do have plans to introduce regulations for the water sector, and we will do that in the new year, as well as those for some health bodies. In terms of the housing associations, I do think at the moment that it is up to them to decide what their priorities are. Having a diverse range of skills is crucial for...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Of course, I was very disappointed to see what had happened in this factory in Ammanford. I don't think it just relates to the Welsh language; it relates to the Polish language too. But I do think that we should respect people's rights to speak their language, particularly when that is the indigenous language of the nation. Of course, we do need to ensure that people are aware that people in...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much. I was also pleased to see the establishment of Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd back in 2017, and I do think it’s crucially important. We know that there is a decline as people leave school and they don't have an opportunity to use their Welsh language skills, and I think it's very important that students have an opportunity to use the Welsh language in a social...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, and it was really a pleasure to meet Martha and others from the Love Zimbabwe group, and it's amazing the kind of energy that they bring to the table and they've really galvanised the community. I think that's really what we'd like to see more of. We've got to harness that energy, and that's some of the things that we do with the Wales for Africa programme. There's an opportunity...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. Well, what's come across very clearly to me in developing the international strategy is that we can't do this alone—we have to use all of the networks available to us, and we have very strong networks and communities, as you say, in particular the Bangladeshi community and those from Pakistan. So, we are trying to develop now a mechanism to make sure that they know what our...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: The Welsh Government recognises and celebrates the value and contribution that our diverse communities make to Wales as a whole. We make every effort to cherish and strengthen those relationships, including ministerial visits overseas and hosting events to celebrate festivals with the international diaspora community in Wales.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. I'm more than willing to have a conversation with the commissioner as regards this situation. One of the things we have to do in future is to look at how we can use software to do much of the work that is currently undertaken by translators. They are aware that we do need to make progress with this technology; they don't see it as any threat to them. But we must ensure that the...
