Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Gweinidog, for that answer. Clearly, this question was tabled before the seriousness of the current situation developed. You'll probably be aware that the dream of twinning Abergavenny in my constituency with Chinamhora town in Zimbabwe has moved from a dream to a fast-developing reality, with several meetings recently. This is great for Wales-Africa relations. You were involved from...
Nick Ramsay: 3. How is the Welsh Government supporting international town-twinning initiatives across Wales? OAQ55268
Nick Ramsay: Will you take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for that, Rhun. You mentioned the importance of the independence of the community health councils. It's not just a question of independence though, is it? It's also a question of their agility, because they're able to go into those health establishments with very little notice, be a genuine friend and voice to the people who are there, and inspire that sort of confidence. So, it's that...
Nick Ramsay: Trefnydd, as we've heard from many contributions today in this Chamber, these are worrying, dark times, with currently little light to be seen at the end of the tunnel; we don't know where the end of that tunnel will be. As is always the case in Wales, when a crisis looms large, our communities rise to the challenge, and numerous individuals come forward to support those most in need, as...
Nick Ramsay: Will you take an intervention?
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way. You mentioned that some cancers are harder to diagnose than others and it's reminded me of a constituent's case that Angela Burns, our health spokesperson, has been involved in with me as well. The constituent that we saw, his wife sadly died of ovarian cancer; I don't think it was diagnosed until stage 4. Certain cancers like ovarian cancer are incredibly difficult to...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. You very cleverly chucked in air passenger duty there, knowing full well that this side of the Chamber do support fully the devolution of air passenger duty. So there are certain things we agree on, and there are other things that we do not agree on. The income tax changes mentioned were around thresholds, but that's aside. Can I just, in terms of my final question, go...
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister. I was being mischievous when I mentioned the 'austerity' word—I knew that it would trigger a response similar to that. And some of what you say, in terms of growth, of course there's a basis there, and you're right to point those things out. But I do think that we need to look on the bright side as well. And there is good news in this UK budget, and hopefully the Welsh...
Nick Ramsay: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has today, in his budget, announced a number of key funding commitments to small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as to the hospitality and retail industry, in light of the threat of COVID-19, which was just raised by the Plaid Cymru spokesperson. Today's announcement also includes an extra £360 million a year to the...
Nick Ramsay: Minister, you've just given a perhaps understandably clinical analysis—certainly at the start of your answer there—as to the effect on revenues of income tax changes. What you've said is, of course, totally technically correct, but increasing or reducing taxes does, of course, have other effects, which UK Government has been dealing with for a long time: behavioural changes, for instance....
Nick Ramsay: Will you give way, Jenny?
Nick Ramsay: Just on your previous point there, the statistic I've got in front of me is definitely that the Welsh Government has now fully drawn down that £38 million, but I'm willing to discuss that with you later. It may be that I've got the wrong end of the stick, but I think that that money has been drawn down.
Nick Ramsay: It's quite clear that an airport such as Cardiff is an important piece of not just Welsh transport infrastructure, but also of the UK transport infrastructure as well and, indeed, of course, as a link to other parts of the world and, more recently, to Qatar through the links made with that airline, of course, becoming a global hub as well. And the issue of funding is, I don't think, in doubt....
Nick Ramsay: It's a pleasure to contribute to this debate. I was a bit overeager earlier in that I made one of my substantive points, actually, to the Minister not long after he started speaking. He enthused me so much that he knows where I'm coming from on this.
Nick Ramsay: Thank you, Minister, for taking the intervention. As you know, as Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, which has been looking at this issue recently, we as a committee certainly have no interest in talking Wales down or being negative for negative's sake. You will know, however, that we have asked officials, in terms of those loans and those repayable loans—we accept that loans are...
Nick Ramsay: I appreciate time is short, so I'll be brief. First of all, an issue raised by a number of Members in this Chamber today: that of flooding. Can I concur with those previous comments in terms of support that's available to businesses and homes, indeed, across Wales? Particularly those homes that may not have access to conventional flood insurance. I visited one home in Monmouthshire, in the...
Nick Ramsay: You just took me back to 2007, and I think your cross-party group on eating disorders was one of the first CPGs that I attended, and you brought a young man along with you to that meeting who had been suffering from an eating disorder. So, I think the point you made there, about, often, men don't want to own up to the fact that they've got an eating disorder or a wider mental health issue, is...
Nick Ramsay: Thanks for giving way, Julie. You mentioned at the start of your contribution the work of the Public Accounts Committee in this area that looked at all of these areas. As you'll know, we made a point of taking evidence from the young people themselves, and one of the overriding messages that we got from those young people was the importance of stability, particularly when it comes to...
Nick Ramsay: Will the Minister give way?
