Mr Simon Thomas: I speak to echo what has already been said by Rhun ap Iorwerth and some others. I’m very grateful to the petitioners and the Petitions Committee for a very detailed report on these issues, and I would also refer to the correspondence with the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee and with the Minister on these issues. I would just like to start with the fact that this...
Mr Simon Thomas: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The DPJ Foundation was founded in July 2016 following the death of Daniel Picton-Jones. Daniel had suffered with his mental health and sadly chose to end his life on 5 July 2016. The DPJ Foundation was born from the struggle Daniel faced in getting support in a rural area and in the isolated occupation of farming. His wife, Emma, has campaigned ceaselessly to...
Mr Simon Thomas: Well, I'm afraid the vision that you've set out is not the reality in Pembrokeshire for access to GPs. In the last two months, I've had constant updates from Hywel Dda health board about the lack of availability of GPs over the weekend. Only last week, a Narberth constituent contacted me after having phoned her GP surgery 82 times before she got an appointment. My discussions with my...
Mr Simon Thomas: Of course, it’s important to highlight that Welsh-medium education can also enrich the education and attainment of pupils and there is unmistakable proof of that. I turn to the other end of Montgomeryshire to ask a question of the Cabinet Secretary on the reorganisation of schools in Newtown. There’s almost £120 million allocated for that purpose and that’s been approved by Government,...
Mr Simon Thomas: Could I ask for two statements or actions from the Government? Fist of all, can we start with the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill? Since we passed the legislative consent motion as an Assembly, the Lords has amended the Bill. As it happened, it placed the environmental principles on the face of the Bill, something I support, but we weren't consulted about, so we see what this process leads...
Mr Simon Thomas: Of course, I support the proposal by my colleague to bring this legislative proposal forward, but I do that for a number of reasons. First of all, it’s my aspiration and Plaid Cymru’s aspiration that we cease selling new cars that are reliant on fossil fuels by 2030, and I’m shocked that the Westminster Government hasn’t taken steps to hasten this process. We are still looking to 2042...
Mr Simon Thomas: Just to remind him we had a debate, or questions rather, on broadband access and infrastructure about an hour ago, when the Minister was very unhappy that new developments are not required to have broadband access as part of the development. That's precisely what we cannot allow to happen with this move to electric vehicles.
Mr Simon Thomas: What discussions has the Leader of the House had with the UK Government regarding the availability of visas for migrant workers in key sectors of the Welsh economy when the UK leaves the EU?
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you very much, Deputy Llywydd. I welcome today’s statement from the Cabinet Secretary. Of course, Plaid Cymru welcomes the fact that we are using these new powers, and that there is a process in place to reach agreement with the Westminster Government as to how these powers should be transferred to Wales. It is important, as the Cabinet Secretary has said, that we look at the...
Mr Simon Thomas: When I think of this idea of parliamentary sovereignty trumping everything, when I look at my political history from 1979 on—from the miners' strike, from the erosion of workers' rights and trade union rights to the poll tax, to austerity as a result of the crash—I don't see parliamentary sovereignty protecting the people of Wales. I see it as an entrenched narrative to justify inequality...
Mr Simon Thomas: I don't know if it's true or if it's an Assembly myth, Llywydd, but I'm told that if you stand on that piece of glass in the middle of the Assembly Chamber, it will crack and let you fall into the fault that lies below. I don't know if that is true or not, but the debate here—[Interruption.] I'm not going to try it, don't worry. You can try it, though, Alun. It would be a good place for...
Mr Simon Thomas: Would the Member give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: I thank the Member. Can he name one occasion when any Member here has argued against a UK framework?
Mr Simon Thomas: Further to the point just raised around the QC-led inquiry that Andrew R.T. Davies asked about— another opportunity to answer that aspect, but, in particular, if you could confirm something that I've asked you in the past, whether the terms of reference of that inquiry will also be published by means perhaps of a First Minister's statement to the Assembly. Because I think we all have an...
Mr Simon Thomas: It's been a delight today to welcome Elly Neville to the Assembly, and many Assembly Members have met her. She's raised nearly £160,000 now, as a six and seven-year-old, for ward 10 cancer treatment in Withybush, and I'm sure you'll join me in a minute, First Minister, hopefully, in thanking her for her efforts. But what it really underlines, of course, is how important those services are to...
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Minister give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: I'm grateful. He will be aware that, if we are able through this Bill and other measures to reduce the amount of strong alcohol that people are taking and move people into more—if I can put it in a roundabout way—healthy ways of drinking, we will have succeeded in reducing the harm that comes from alcohol. The Bill is one way of doing that. Another way, of course, is to have more...
Mr Simon Thomas: Will the Member give way?
Mr Simon Thomas: Thank you. He'll be aware that I broadly support this Bill and what the Government is trying to achieve, but I think it is important to put on the record that what he's just quoted to us is modelling, not evidence. We can't use evidence because we haven't got anything like this. Scotland's just begun its journey, but we haven't got that. The modelling he has set out is important, but what...
Mr Simon Thomas: I wasn’t going to get completely diverted down that track. I was merely going to point out that he’s asking for a low-tax economy. This tax rate we've talked about in Wales, which we all approved, has no tax for a higher band of commercial properties. So, maybe we'll see the growth there.
