Adam Price: I have to say to the First Minister, and with regret, that I’m not hearing resistance from him; I’m hearing resignation. What if Labour loses the next Westminster general election, and the one after that? What if Boris Johnson is the Prime Minister well into the 2030s, as has been recently reported? What do we do then? Now, you've consistently said that the United Kingdom must be a...
Adam Price: How can we in Wales—at least those of us who care about our democracy in this Senedd—respond now in a way that makes Westminster rethink and retreat? A letter isn't going to work; that's been tried before. We can no more look to the Supreme Court for protection than progressives in the US can, because they have already ruled that Westminster has an unlimited power to legislate, even in...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Michael Gove said last year, after your prompting, First Minister, that the Westminster Government wanted to reset the relationship with the devolved nations. We now know what they meant by that, of course—they want it to be a relationship where they are in control and we are subservient, where their Parliament is supreme and ours is subordinate. In announcing, without a...
Adam Price: Faced with the mounting cost-of-living crisis and a stagnating economy, the return of 1970s-style stagflation, we have a Westminster Government that thinks the appropriate response to this crisis is to cut workers' wages even further—a return to the dogma of the 1930s. It's no wonder that teachers and nurses are considering strike action. It's perhaps a sign of the times that even...
Adam Price: In relation to the devolution of railways, I think it is important that we have a clear position on that here in Wales, but also from the UK Labour Party as well, that have been at best ambiguous, and, in fact, supported an integrated UK railway at the last election. Now, in Westminster's rail crisis, there seems to be a competition between politicians to see who can be the most invisible. Is...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. I have to say, in the week where thousands of flights have been cancelled and the railway network has ground to a halt and petrol prices have gone up yet again, the Tories deciding to go on transport in First Minister's questions and in their opposition motion this week is a very courageous choice. They say the transport network in Wales is not fit for purpose. What they omit...
Adam Price: Westminster, of course, is now risking a trade war over the Northern Ireland protocol, which will not just plunge Northern Ireland into political uncertainty but also add further to the economic pain families are already experiencing throughout the United Kingdom. Now, given that cost-of-living crisis and the challenges we're facing in every sector of the economy, as the First Minister said,...
Adam Price: Indeed. The First Minister is absolutely correct. Of course, even the Government's own advisory body, the Office for Budget Responsibility, made this very forecast, which has been borne out by the evidence presented. The latest regional gross domestic product figures show London and Northern Ireland are the only parts of the UK that have grown beyond pre-pandemic levels. As the economist...
Adam Price: Thank you, Llywydd. Gross domestic product is down in the UK for the second month running, an initial drop of 0.1 per cent in March followed by an unexpected slump of 0.3 per cent in April. Some would point to COVID and the war in Ukraine as the overriding reasons, but that doesn't explain why the UK is doing so much worse than other countries. According to the Organisation for Economic...
Adam Price: I've listened with interest, as I always do, to the Conservative Members, but can I ask, if it is your view that it is not legitimate to introduce a change to the electoral system without a referendum, why did your Conservative Government at Westminster not introduce that clause into the Wales Act 2017? What you did was you said that it was subject to two thirds of the Members of this Senedd...
Adam Price: Football has given Wales this incredible opportunity. There is huge potential here to inspire, connect people, change lives, transform communities, build the nation, but we have to invest, don't we, to make the most of that. There will be a massive rise of interest in football among boys and girls—and we need to support the women's team to reach the FIFA World Cup in Australia and New...
Adam Price: I think the fact that, even on this momentous occasion, the first thing the Welsh players did was to comfort the Ukrainian players and to applaud the Ukrainian supporters, I think was an encapsulation of the best of our Welsh values of compassion and internationalism. The chief executive, Noel Mooney, if we could only bottle that Celtic energy, would be more popular than Guinness. He said...
Adam Price: Thank you very much. This Sunday evening, some of us, such as the Llywydd, who had the incredible privilege of being there, but also the millions who were viewing on television, will have seen history being written, not only for Welsh football, but also on a broader level for the whole of Wales. So, First Minister, what to you think the legacy of reaching the World Cup for only the second...
Adam Price: Diolch. [Interruption.] Yes, follow that, yes. Among her predecessors, Elizabeth II cannot claim to have spent the longest duration of time in Wales—the two Henrys and single Edward, actually born here, can battle it out for that particular crown—but she is, without a doubt, the British monarch who will have visited Wales most often, and the First Minister has referred to some of those...
Adam Price: First Minister, a first case of monkeypox in Scotland yesterday brings the total UK numbers up to 57. While health experts have stressed that risk remains low and that the disease can be contained, to some, this unusual multiplication of the virus will be familiar and seem like an echo of early 2020. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS agency has expressed concern that some of the...
Adam Price: When asked what are the challenges when educating pupils about anti-racism in the report, 51 per cent of teachers responded that it was their lack of confidence, and 61 per cent claimed that it was lack of time in the classroom. Educators are under extreme pressure, and workload has been raised as an issue, for example in teacher retention. Anti-racism education is currently being delivered...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, Raheem Bailey, an 11-year-old boy who should have felt safe in his own school, had to have his finger amputated following a bullying incident. His mother, Shantal, has explained how Raheem has been subject to racial and physical abuse. Now, while Raheem's case, naturally, has shocked us all in Wales and has led to an outpouring of support for him from across...
Adam Price: We look forward to working with him positively to ensure that vision for Wales as soon as possible. Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, and on this day it's a real pleasure to pay tribute to Jake Daniels, in becoming the UK's only openly gay currently active male professional footballer. I feel sure that his courage will give confidence to...
Adam Price: Far from being the cause of the cost of living crisis, public sector workers are its victims, like every other worker. It's not cutting their jobs, but raising their real wages—especially for the lowest paid—that surely should be the urgent focus now. So, what can we in Wales do to help make this happen? The Senedd and the Welsh Government are both committed to paying the real living wage...
Adam Price: Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, the Prime Minister signalled his intention to sack 91,000 workers, more than one in five of the total UK civil service, over the next three years. This would amount to over 6,000 job losses here in Wales. Has the UK Government shared the detail of their proposals with you as to where their axe is going to be wielded here in Wales, or was the first you heard about...
