Mr Neil Hamilton: Rape is second only to murder in the catalogues of crime, and it is rightly condemned and rightly severely punished when perpetrators are convicted. But the one thing that this motion neglects is, on the other hand, if rape is so serious a crime, accusing somebody falsely of rape is a very serious matter as well. Everybody knows the stigma that attaches to allegations of that kind. And I do...
Mr Neil Hamilton: We have these heart-searching sessions so often because of extraordinary pressures on the health service, but that indicates that the extraordinary pressures have in some ways become routine and that's the systemic problem that we've got here. Operations have been cancelled now for the third consecutive day in Hywel Dda and people might be forgiven, therefore, for thinking we should change...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister will know there's no shortage of candidates for increased spending where there is a real need, whether it's the health service or reducing fuel poverty or whatever. I think most Welsh taxpayers will scratch their heads, therefore, when they discover that £1.2 million is to be spent on organisations like the Welsh Centre for International Affairs—two thirds of whose income is...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 5. Will the Minister provide an update on how the Welsh Government is managing its resources to ensure value for money and effectiveness? OAQ54857
Mr Neil Hamilton: The Minister said in the statement that we must, in the UK, build a shared vision of the kind of economy and future trading relationships that we want with the EU. Of course, I applaud the sentiment, but it doesn't really bear much scrutiny because all the language of the statement and the attitudes that the Minister herself, in particular, has adopted in recent years, point in the opposite...
Mr Neil Hamilton: What discussions has the Welsh Government had with the UK Government on implementing the decision made in the EU referendum?
Mr Neil Hamilton: I accept what the First Minister said in the sober and serious answers that he has given to earlier questions, and in contrast very effectively with the pantomime that we had at the beginning of questions today. The fact remains that Wales does have one of the lowest cancer survival rates in the world amongst countries of comparable data. For surviving five years we're thirty fourth out of 36...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The Minister said in her statement: 'for the first time ever, we are performing at the OECD average in all three domains: in reading, in science, and in mathematics.' But will she acknowledge that there's less cause for self-congratulation here, perhaps, than meets the eye? Because her own graphs show that the OECD average is itself falling; it's getting...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I'm sure that the Minister will agree with me that, ultimately, governance arrangements can't be separated from those appointed to perform the acts of governance themselves that are needed. The Minister himself, in the case of Betsi Cadwaladr, of course, plays a very active personal role. He's chaired the monthly accountability meetings since July 2018 and the chief executive, Gary Doherty,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 6. Will the Minister provide an update on the governance arrangements for health boards in Wales? OAQ54757
Mr Neil Hamilton: So, last year, China had a nearly 5 per cent increase in its global emissions, and India 7 per cent. India, in 2018, increased its global emissions by 10 times Wales's total annual output of carbon dioxide. So, even if we were able to close down the entire Welsh economy and, indeed, if Wales didn't exist on the planet and suddenly was vapourised, India would make up the gain to the word in...
Mr Neil Hamilton: It appears that talking climate change, decarbonisation and creating more renewable energy sources are the key aim, regardless of economic growth supporting tourism or indeed changing landscapes. On page 36 of the document, it says that the Government aims to tackle the causes of climate change and has a key commitment to carbonisation. It also says that the Welsh Government will work with...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I have—[Interruption.]
Mr Neil Hamilton: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I've selected this topic for debate this afternoon because I believe that the 'National Development Framework 2020-2040', which was published recently, poses, for Mid and West Wales in particular, the environmental equivalent of Henry VIII's despoliation of churches and monasteries. In the foreword to this document, the First Minister says that, by 2040,...
Mr Neil Hamilton: The First Minister probably knows that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs have calculated that Wales contributes approximately £5,800 per head in tax, and Her Majesty's Treasury calculates that public expenditure, at all levels in Wales, amounts to about £10,300 per head. And so that, in effect, is a massive subsidy, largely by the taxpayers of London and the south-east. Therefore, the...
Mr Neil Hamilton: Whilst I share the Welsh Government's reservations about having a line drawn in the middle of the Irish sea, and therefore making Northern Ireland effectively part of the EU, rather than the UK, for trade purposes, isn't the real problem here that the Labour Party, and indeed all of the remainer-supporting parties in the House of Commons, fundamentally will do everything they possibly...
Mr Neil Hamilton: I thank the Minister for that reply, but can I supply a translation for the benefit of the Assembly of what he's just said? The figures released last Friday showed that waiting times in Welsh A&E departments are the worst on record. That is, more people than ever before are waiting longer than the target waiting time set by the Welsh NHS. Twenty-five per cent of admissions to A&E spent more...
Mr Neil Hamilton: 1. Will the Minister provide an update on waiting times in Welsh hospital emergency departments? OAQ54596
Mr Neil Hamilton: The absurdity of the assertion that Wales would be equal to Germany in the European Union requires no further demolition in my view. We all know the internal dynamics of the way the European Union works. [Interruption.] I think I must move on with my speech. [Interruption.] I must move on with my speech.
Mr Neil Hamilton: The honourable gentleman, who I greatly respect, can make his own speech, but I’m going to get on with mine. This fundamentally is ultimately a question of democracy, and we cannot have a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union until we have delivered on the first. That is the whole point of this process. This is why, as David Melding has pointed out, as a...
