Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 31 January 2017.
First of all, it is right that we engage the US Government; I’ll be in America at the end of next month, as I am, at Capitol Hill hosting a reception, working with the Welsh caucus of Congress members as well, and I’ll keep on doing that. But it was Theresa May herself who said that we should speak frankly to friends; she has not done that. She has not done that. And I think it’s hugely important that these points are made. The phrase that I’ve used is that I think it’s very difficult to imagine a successful state visit at the moment, given all the controversy. I’m also surprised at the timing of this. Bill Clinton never had a state visit, nor, to my knowledge, did George Bush, nor did Ronald Reagan. Two other Presidents had state visits, but at least two years after they became President. So, the timing is strange, I have to say. I don’t criticise Theresa May for trying to forge links with the US Government regardless of who is in power; that is the nature of international diplomacy. But it also means that if we are truly to be, as it were, friendly critics—if I can use that phrase—of the US Government, then the British Government surely should not refrain from doing that.