Darren Millar: We must remember that the existing system of elections has delivered 50:50 representation on a gender basis in this Senedd in the past. And on that basis, there's no actual need to take this particular action. So, why on earth would this Welsh Government want to embark upon a journey that is going to end in the Supreme Court on the current basis of the devolution settlement? Because that's...
Darren Millar: ...belief. And I ask the question as well: why do we actually need to take any action on that front when you look at the fact that the Senedd actually had 50:50—[Interruption.]—actually had 50:50 representation?
Darren Millar: ...It said this—. It said this and I will quote. It's on page 64. This is what it said: 'We will build on the work of the Senedd Committee on electoral reform...and develop proposals to improve the representation of the people of Wales in their Parliament.' It said nothing, nothing whatsoever, about more Members. It said nothing whatsoever about scrapping the voting system. Nothing...
Darren Millar: I don't believe that it has ignored the representations that have been made.
Darren Millar: ...and Australia. I'd be very interested to hear in particular whether you've done any work to identify specific Welsh interests in relation to any trade deals that could be done, and any of the representations that you might have made to the UK Government on these. As you will know, there's been significant support across the UK for a CANZUK sort of trade deal amongst the public. Many...
Darren Millar: ...those young people inform my views that I bring to the Chamber. The views of their parents and their grandparents, of course, who are interested in the views of young people too, help to shape the representations that I make to Ministers and others in this National Assembly too. So, in terms of engagement with young people, you can still engage, you can still listen to them, we can still...
Darren Millar: ...hunger strikes by Leyla Güven and others. They have made it clear that the UK expects Turkey to ensure that prisoners' human rights are observed, including access to medical treatment and legal representation, and that all sides in this conflict, all stakeholders, need to return to the peace process. And to this end, the UK Government has provided funding to civil society organisations...
Darren Millar: ...to young people that we are serious about the way in which we engage with them. You made reference to 20 partner organisations that are going to help to make sure that we've got a diverse representation on the new youth parliament. Can you tell us what those organisations are? I assume we'll be able to have a list of those so that we can try to engage with them as Assembly Members and...
Darren Millar: ..., there was a call from the Children, Young People and Education Committee for you to consider what support you might be able to give to people from underachieving ethnic minorities with low representation and proportion of individuals going to university, and the Gypsy/Traveller community. I wonder whether you might be able to comment on whether there might be specific ring-fenced support...
Darren Millar: ...the subject of student voice, I’m very pleased to hear you make reference to the fact that students’ voices must be listened to, and obviously there has been some progress in terms of student representation in governance structures, and I acknowledge that, in recent years. But, I think it’s also important to note that there are different voices within the student bodies of...
Darren Millar: ...the poor quality of some of the financial information, which has already been referred to by the chair of the Finance Committee—it was corrected once during the process. We’ve since had further representations from SNAP Cymru about the cost of dispute resolution. We had information, as well, late in the day, about the role of the designated educational clinical leads and how many other...
Darren Millar: ...letting their customers down. So, I think, Cabinet Secretary, what I’m really looking for when you’re responding to this debate is not just sympathy. It’s not just to say that you’ve made representations to the UK Government either, but it’s to see what we can do creatively in Wales in order to expand the presence of banking services across the country so that people can have...
Darren Millar: ...utmost to protect those Syrian refugees and others who have come to Wales to flee persecution in their countries, and, in particular, the Syrian Orthodox Church, which, of course, does have strong representation here in Wales and has engaged very positively both with the faith communities forum, which you, of course, chair, and the work of the Assembly, with the cross-party group on faith?
