Darren Millar: I have the great fortune of being able to represent half of the wonderful county borough of Conwy, but unfortunately, residents in that county borough this year are facing the highest level of increase in their council tax bills on record, and, of course, it is the highest this year across the whole of Wales, at 9.9 per cent. That is an unacceptable increase, in my view, at a time when people...
Darren Millar: I actually want to speak against the proposals before the Senedd today, not because I don't support the need to facilitate both short- and long-term leave for parents, for those who are sick or injured or with caring responsibilities or because of a bereavement, but because we have a system that has served this Senedd for over two decades, which has worked exceptionally well in order to...
Darren Millar: I share the astonishment at the fact that we have yet another report before us that regurgitates many of the same concerns that we've seen twice before. I note that this inspection by HIW actually took place in November of last year. Why on earth has it taken so many months for these reports to see the light of day? And the Minister may well say that there have been improvements, and there do...
Darren Millar: Will you take an intervention?
Darren Millar: It is important that we have parliamentary democracy and that things are properly scrutinised. This piece of legislation, of course, is being scrutinised by the UK Parliament, in which there are 40 Members sent from Wales. But I did not hear, at any point, while we were members of the European Union, any complaint or gripe about the fact that you were not able to scrutinise much of the...
Darren Millar: Look, I know we hear a lot of twaddle in this Chamber, but that was absolute tripe, frankly. The UK Government has not stopped anybody joining a trade union in any way, shape or form, and it's not stopped anybody being able to strike; what it has done is it's set out a very clear route to protecting minimum standards in our important public services that should be upheld from a public safety...
Darren Millar: I'm very sorry to hear the tone of the Government's contribution on this very important matter, because it seems to me to be nothing more than an attempt to simply try to reopen old wounds—old wounds that were healing—over the issue of Brexit. And I know you want to keep refighting those old battles, but, frankly, you've already lost. The majority of people in Wales—and I know it's an...
Darren Millar: They do have a huge opportunity to drive significant growth across Wales, make that huge impact as well on the UK economy as a whole, levering in billions of pounds worth of investment and creating at least 20,000 jobs overall. It was obviously a disappointment for Newport that their free-port bid was not successful, but I was very pleased to hear you refer to the need to look for other...
Darren Millar: Can I thank you, Minister, for your statement today? It is indeed wonderful news that Wales is getting two free ports, not just one, and I'm delighted that there's been such close and effective working between both the Welsh and UK Governments in delivering this objective that all of us in this Chamber, I know, shared a passion to achieve. I have to say as well, my colleague Paul Davies, the...
Darren Millar: Trefnydd, can I call for two statements this week? The first is from the Deputy Minister for Climate Change in relation to his transport responsibilities and seeking an update on the blue badge scheme in Wales. I've had a number of constituents who've been coming forward with concerns about the renewals process for the blue badge scheme. I appreciate that it's only right that these things are...
Darren Millar: I’m very grateful for that response, First Minister, and I applaud the leadership that the Welsh Government had shown back in 2017 when it did adopt the IHRA definition in full, but we are six years on, and there are still organisations across Wales that are in significant receipt of funds from the Welsh Government that are yet to adopt the IHRA definition; and indeed, some of them have...
Darren Millar: 8. What action is the Welsh Government taking to promote the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism by organisations in receipt of Welsh Government funding? OQ59334
Darren Millar: No, I won't, Joyce.
Darren Millar: So, we've had no apology, there's no admission of a crisis, and we've seen poor judgment exercised in your refusal to positively engage with other political parties, and some on your own back benches, to try and resolve situations that we've been confronted with since you have been appointed as health Minister. And we saw the most despicable act, in my view, that we've seen from a health...
Darren Millar: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I must say, I'm rather disappointed with the way that this debate has gone at times, because we tabled the no-confidence motion today with a very heavy heart, not because of politics but because, frankly, of poor judgment. And we've just seen some examples of that poor judgment being exercised, unfortunately, before our very eyes this afternoon in the tone and...
Darren Millar: You have wholehearted support on these benches for consequentials from the HS2 project and the Northern Powerhouse project coming into Wales. That is our position, and that is very clear. Can I ask you what you're doing to make sure that there's a fair share of investment across Wales, and not just in south Wales, from your transport budget? We already had a discussion earlier on in this...
Darren Millar: Let's have a look at the evidence, shall we? Let's look at transport—let's look at transport: £800 million you're investing in a metro system in south Wales; north Wales, a paltry £50 million for the north Wales metro. Let's have a look at the airport that you're investing £250 million in, in south Wales; so far—so far—north Wales, diddly-squat. The roads review: you cancelled...
Darren Millar: Well, I’m afraid that answer didn’t give me a great deal of hope, Minister. As you know, this is £180 million-worth extra that is coming to Wales, and this is on top of—this is on top of—£600 million that was announced in the autumn statement last year. So, that’s £780 million, £0.75 billion extra, that you have to spend in the financial year 2023-24. And we have a situation...
Darren Millar: Diolch, Llywydd. As the Minister for north Wales, can you tell us how the Welsh Government is ensuring that people across the north Wales region will benefit from the additional funding that was announced in the Chancellor’s budget for growth last week?
Darren Millar: Thank you for that response, Minister. I recognise that local authority members themselves are responsible for setting council tax, but as you will know, in Conwy, local residents there are facing an eye-watering increase in their council tax bills of 9.9 per cent this year, which is the largest increase in Wales, and one of the largest in the whole of England and Wales. Such an increase...
