Andrew RT Davies: He needs all the help he can get. [Laughter.] First Minister, you also went to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and launched a strategy there—the Healthy Child Wales programme, something that we fully support on these benches, because, when you look at the indices around child health, they are pretty appalling, to say the least, here in Wales. And, actually, most major indices have...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, very often at First Minister’s questions you talk at length about what the UK Government is doing. So, for this question, I’d like to focus on what you think would be the best outcome from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Do you think that the best interests of the United Kingdom would be served by having Jeremy Corbyn as the next prime minister?
Andrew RT Davies: It’s nice to see that you’re going to play your part in the trilogy, then, of the demise of the Labour Party by having him as the Prime Minister, because the longest suicide note possible was written in 1983 for the Labour Party, and, by having a Prime Minister who delivers for Wales, it’s vital to have that person in No. 10. You also went to the conference—[Interruption.]
Andrew RT Davies: Will you take an intervention?
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. I’m very grateful to you for taking the intervention. You talked of humility just a little earlier. You surely do recognise that the Welsh Government’s position has changed since 24 June, when point 3 of the six points that were put forward by the Welsh Government talked of goods, services and people. I note that you haven’t once said ‘people’ today. I...
Andrew RT Davies: Obviously, the Welsh Government has taken various steps to reorganise itself in light of the Brexit vote on 23 June. There is this external advisory group. I believe that you yourself, Minister, are chairing a Cabinet sub-committee on the EU discussions, or there is a role that you are doing within Government via the sub-committee. Could you tell us how the advice that might be received from...
Andrew RT Davies: First Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon. It is somewhat disheartening to see that the collective intellectual might of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Labour Party and the Liberals have come up with a document that runs to 15 pages, and that includes the front cover. Fifteen pages for five years’ worth of government hardly fills you with confidence, I have to say. Obviously,...
Andrew RT Davies: So, for you—and I’m questioning you as First Minister—you are saying that is the position of the Welsh Government, which, obviously, within that Government, has a Liberal Democrat Member, and collective responsibility. So, therefore, all Members around the Cabinet table agree that the position of the Welsh Government does not now relate to the free movement of people, which, as I...
Andrew RT Davies: The position has completely changed, First Minister, and you’ve signed your Government up to dropping the prerequisite that the free movement of people is a requisite that you wanted back in your declaration in June. You also have the agreement of Plaid Cymru supporting you in your endeavours, and so I’m assuming that these discussions have been undertaken with Plaid Cymru and you are not...
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, in recent press reports, and namely this morning, you talk about your new position on the free movement of people, should there be an agreement with the European Union to maintain access to the single market. You seem to be referring to some sort of period where no movement should be allowed over a given period, such as when the new eastern...
Andrew RT Davies: Will you take an intervention, Minister?
Andrew RT Davies: Has that campaign been discussed and tested with the professions, such as the Royal College of Nursing and the BMA, to see that the input that they could give at this early stage could be beneficial in the roll-out of that campaign? So, has that discussion taken place?
Andrew RT Davies: I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate this afternoon. It’s an opportunity to look at an issue that affects all health services across the whole of the United Kingdom, and indeed across the whole of the western world, about creating a modern staffing environment and the multidisciplinary teams that form the backbone of the health service in whatever western country you happen to...
Andrew RT Davies: Will the Member take an intervention?
Andrew RT Davies: I’d be grateful. You’re quite right to say that there are many more pieces of the jigsaw to be put together till we’ve got the full picture, but one of the principles that, as I understand it, the Welsh Government stood on in June was that access to the single market was critical and it was goods, services and people that were the basic tenets of its position. That position seems to...
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, the question was what have you been doing via discussions with colleagues in Westminster, and I’d be grateful if you could outline what actions you’ve taken over the summer months to meet with your colleague—your opposite number in Westminster—because the Westminster Government will be on point in these negotiations, and it is vitally important that the devolved...
Andrew RT Davies: Cabinet Secretary, one of the ways that the food and drink industry can be supported, in particular the red meat sector, is by the promotional levy that is taken on livestock at the point of processing. Now, many Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, and other Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers from around the UK, have grappled with this promotional levy, because it is at the point of slaughter...
Andrew RT Davies: We haven’t had a spokesperson yet.
Andrew RT Davies: Just saying we haven’t had a spokesperson yet.
Andrew RT Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, thank you for your statement. I’d like to put on record my appreciation and congratulations to all the sporting men and women who have performed on various pitches in various cities in various sports, across the globe in fact, throughout a summer of sporting excellence and brilliance that I think we all thoroughly enjoyed. And that...
