Questions now from party leaders. The leader of the opposition, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, last week, we had the report into Tawel Fan up in north Wales, and many Members have had the weekend to digest the contents of that report. One of the startling conclusions of the report was the mishandling of the creation of Betsi as a health board for north Wales. It talked of lines of accountability that were impossible to track; a rift between the health board and the ward into how to deal with patient safety; clinical policy was seriously flawed; and senior nurse leaders were disrespected and ignored. All that was the language that was in the report, on their thoughts about the creation of Betsi as a health board for north Wales. You were a Minister in the Government that made the reorganisation of the health service in 2009 a possibility, and you've been First Minister for the duration of that health board's existence up in north Wales. Do you now not regret the way that that reorganisation was undertaken in north Wales, which has led to such observations and, indeed, can directly be correlated to some of the findings of the mistreatment on the Tawel Fan ward?

Well, first of all, it's clear that the report contains findings that will need to be acted on. It's far from a whitewash, as was described by one member of his party. It's a report that does identify many of the difficulties that are rightly there for all to see and will need to be acted upon. I don't believe that, in principle, the reorganisation of the health service at that time was a bad idea. We haven't seen similar situations occurring elsewhere, but it is clear that, as far as Betsi is concerned, they will need to act on the report's findings, and as a Government we will support them in order to deliver what the people of the north of Wales would expect to see in terms of rectifying what has been found to be wanting in this report.  

First Minister, I appreciate your answer, but, really, these findings in the report point clearly to that reorganisation as being the starting point of many of the problems that accumulated in the events on the Tawel Fan ward. I have asked you whether you have any regrets about that reorganisation and, if you had your time again, would you do that reorganisation differently? When you have such a report that talks about accountability being impossible to track, where you have a rift between the health board and the ward, when you have seriously flawed clinical policy, and when senior nurse leaders were disrespected and ignored, because of the process that you politically, as a Government, put in place at that time, then surely, on reflection, you can reflect on the point that all measures were not taken in the right manner to put a health board in place to deliver a first-class health service in north Wales. And is it not now incumbent on the Government to actually start delivering that first-class health service for north Wales? 

First of all, I don't accept that reorganisation was a major cause in terms of what happened at Tawel Fan, although it was obviously part of it. If that were the case, then we would see problems with reorganisation across Wales and, indeed, in other wards and other hospitals across north Wales as well. That it is a factor is something to consider. Now, people will want to know what happens next, because the report is there and it needs to be acted upon. Well, the recommendations are clear. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services will be making a statement later on this afternoon, explaining to Members what the future plans are, but it is important, of course, that the plan is acted upon and that is what we intend to do as a Government. 

I regret that you couldn't identify the flaws that the report identified as being at the heart of the reorganisation that happened in 2009. The language that I used was directly taken from the report, and, obviously, that is what the investigations have unearthed.

But, moving on, First Minister, the health board has now been in special measures for three years—or nearly three years, should I say. In an interview you gave to the BBC some two weeks ago, you said that there was no unfinished business left now that your term as First Minister was coming to a close. We could debate that across this Chamber and we most probably wouldn't move much further forward, but one thing certainly residents in north Wales would appreciate an understanding of—. Given that you think there's no unfinished business, surely one of the items of business that needs to be addressed is the normalisation of the structures that Betsi operates under, rather than direct Government control. So, do you believe that by the time you step down as First Minister, Betsi will be out of special measures come December of this year? 

Well, I suppose there will always be things that will need to continue to be proceeded with when you leave office. That's inevitable. But, for me, what's important is that people continue to see a continued improvement in the health service across the north of Wales. I have never been prepared to put a time limit on when Betsi should come out of special measures. It will remain in special measures for as long as is necessary to ensure continuous improvement. How long that will be will depend, of course, on us being satisfied that there is sufficient progress to enable us to release Betsi from special measures. That's not the case at the moment, and I don't think it would be wise to put a particular date on that. 

The leader of the UKIP group, Neil Hamilton. 

Diolch, Llywydd. The Welsh Government remains committed to the universal adoption of the Welsh baccalaureate, but the elite universities don't seem to be terribly interested in it as a qualification, indeed the top three universities don't require it at all. I've been written to by a school student who says that the Welsh bac is a burden for students and teachers alike and the work is tedious and not useful for more able students, and because these two subjects are compulsory for year nines it will be very difficult to compete with English pupils for jobs and university places as they'll have done two more valuable subjects. So, in the circumstances, does the First Minister not see that this is at best a distraction from more useful use of time in schools?  

Well, it's not correct to say that the Welsh bac is not recognised by the top universities, as he put it. People do recognise it for the breadth it gives to the skills that students are able to acquire when they're in school. My son is in school: I've seen the work that he does via the Welsh bac and, I have to say, both he and I found it extremely useful, because it takes him beyond looking at just academic subjects and enables him to develop more as an individual and therefore have a more rounded education. I believe that students, whatever level they leave full-time education, are more employable as a result of the skills that the Welsh bac gives them. 

Well, that is a debatable point in itself, I believe—it's not one I'm going to pursue at this minute, but, to take the wider point that the First Minister has raised, yes, I do agree that the Welsh baccalaureate course might have some use beyond formal learning in classrooms, making students think about wider issues in the world. That, in itself, could be a good thing. It depends on how the course is structured and how it is taught. One of the things that the Welsh bac contains is a global citizen challenge, which deals with issues such as cultural diversity, fair trade, future energy, inequality and poverty. These are all highly political topics, which need to be taught in a balanced way if education is not to degrade itself into mere propaganda. There are serious debates, for example, about the causes of poverty in other parts of the world: why is a potentially rich country like Venezuela reduced to destitution? We know that's because it has a Corbynite Government. Why is a country like Singapore, which has virtually no natural resources, now the country in the world that has the highest per capita income? None of this features in the Welsh baccalaureate course on poverty. So, does the First Minister not agree with me that we need to be very careful about the way these political subjects are taught in schools to make sure that the course is balanced and it teaches students how to think critically about issues, rather than just to swallow what they're told?

I trust our teachers, bluntly, and I also trust our students to be able to think critically for themselves. There are education systems that, if you look at the Programme for International Student Assessment, perform better on the figures than ours, but I'm not sure they necessarily give students the ability to think critically. They can pass exams, but that's not the same as being prepared for the world of work or to think about the world around them. The issues that he has identified there are surely issues that concern us all. There'll be different views on how to address inequality, different views on how to address poverty, nevertheless, they are hugely important issues that I think every young person needs to think about. But I've seen no examples at all of any kind of bias being introduced into the curriculum, and, from my perspective, I think it's hugely important that our students do have the ability to go beyond academic subjects, because I think it makes them more rounded individuals when they do think more critically and more widely.

Well, all I can say is, having looked at the various materials that are used in teaching these courses, they're all from a centre-left disposition. Now, we can all—[Interruption.] Well, matter of fact—and I think the false indignation coming from the other side proves the point that I'm trying to make here, that, because they control the education system, it is being used as a tool of propaganda. There is nothing, for example, in the topic of wind energy that calls into question the efficacy of this even to deal with the problems of man-made global warming if that is held to be a problem. So, what I'm saying to the First Minister is that parents should be very worried. And, yes, the First Minister has said he trusts teachers, and, of course, I'm not saying that teachers set out in order to propagandise children, but the mindset of a teacher is very important as a background to this, and considering that 72 per cent of secondary school teachers, according to the Times Educational Supplement, vote Labour, 10 per cent vote Liberal, only 8 per cent vote Conservative, there is clearly—[Interruption.] There is—[Interruption.] Well—[Interruption.] That, of course—[Interruption.] That, of course, is a highly unrepresentative sample of the population as a whole. And, therefore, even if bias is subconscious, it must be regarded as a potential danger.

You do wonder. Well, it's quite clear why teachers are reluctant to vote UKIP then, given what they've just heard. I do wonder, listening to the leader of UKIP, whether he regards, from his perspective, George W. Bush as a dangerous communist, because—. Was he somebody, for example, who backed section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 and the demonising of gay and lesbian people as a result of that? Well, if he did, and I think I'm right in saying that he did do exactly that, then, yes, anything is centre-left from his perspective. From our perspective, we want to make sure that young people get a balanced view of the world and not a view that says, for example, well, man-made, as he put it, global warming, if such a thing exists—the vast weight of evidence supports that. The fact that a few people choose to say it differently doesn't mean that the proper weight should be given to their evidence, because there are so few of them. If he is really saying that the point of teaching young people, through the Welsh bac, information about energy, for example, is to ignore the full weight of science, then that gives us some idea of what he would like to be taught in our schools. We prefer balance; he wants right-wing revisionism.

Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood.

Diolch, Llywydd. The EU withdrawal Bill, as amended, will still allow the Assembly's competence to be restricted without its consent, and the inter-governmental agreement does not provide water-tight assurance that this will not happen. Does the First Minister agree or disagree with that statement?

I disagree with the way that it's been put, because I think we've come a long way from where the UK Government were; they have given a lot of ground. It's not ideal from our perspective, of course not, but the nature of an agreement is that you come to ground that you believe to be common ground. What the agreement says is that the UK Government will not normally legislate in devolved areas. That simply reflects what's already said in the devolved settlements across the UK. It is something, I think, that will need to be addressed in the future, but I believe we have an agreement that shows that a lot of ground has been given by the UK Government, particularly the introduction, in effect, of the Sewel convention into secondary legislation, something that didn't exist in the same way before, and I believe it gives us the protection that we need. We will, of course, be very vigilant in making sure that the UK Government keeps to the terms of the agreement.

The words in that statement, First Minister, were not my words. They were taken from an analysis by the National Assembly for Wales's legal team that confirms the damning repercussions of the dodgy deal between the Tories in Westminster and your Labour Government. Last week, Labour frontbench Members claimed that Plaid Cymru didn't understand the outcome of this deal when it came to the powers of this Assembly and its ability to withhold consent. First Minister, the legal advice shows the opposite to be true. The advice says any indication that this Assembly will be able to block Westminster by withholding consent is, and I quote, 'misleading'. It goes on to say, and I quote again, 'the Assembly's competence can be restricted without its consent'. Does the First Minister agree with the Assembly's lawyers that Westminster can now meddle in our Assembly and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it?

The way she presents—. This has been the case since 1999; it's not new. The reality is that it's always been the case, both in Scotland and in Wales, that the UK Parliament—the expression is 'would not normally legislate' in devolved areas, but it's always been able to do it because of the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The agreement's not going to change that. Now, in the future, I agree that there needs to be a debate about whether parliamentary sovereignty is appropriate—and I've said it before—publicly, for the future. I think we do need to move to a constitutional settlement that recognises that there are different centres of democratic legitimacy within the UK itself. But, as far as the current devolution settlement is concerned, we now have a situation where, in effect, there will be a very high political cost for any UK Government to pay if it wished just to ram through whatever it wanted to. Can I say as well, if it was the case that the UK Government wanted to ignore completely the Assembly or Scottish Parliament, it would've done so already? It hasn't done so—not for me to defend it, and I don't do it often—but, in reality, the UK Government has come to an agreement where they have conceded, I recognise, a great deal of ground. And we are in a position where—whilst we would have preferred to get rid of clause 11 completely, we are in a position where safeguards, sufficient safeguards, have been put into clause 11. A level playing field has been created in terms of the making of legislation that we were nowhere close to a year ago. I certainly pay tribute to my colleague, Mark Drakeford, for the work that he did on a week-to-week basis in coming to the agreement that we did.

First Minister, this is a dodgy deal, and it's one that you have signed up to. And it's not simply created constitutional chaos. Your decision to give this Bill consent will have ramifications for our economy as well. Whilst your party is all over the place on this question, your Ministers and Labour Members continue to campaign for membership of a customs union. By advising that we consent to the withdrawal Bill, however, you are serving up a hard Brexit to the Tories on a plate. Will the First Minister confirm that he understands that by consenting to the withdrawal Bill he is ensuring that it is Westminster that will decide whether Wales leaves the customs union and the single market?

Well, it was always the case that, in law, it's Westminster that decides whether we leave the customs union. In reality, as she has heard me say many, many times, that would be madness as far as the UK is concerned. It is hugely important that the UK remains within the customs union. Trade policy is not devolved—that is reality. But we have ensured that we have a voice to make sure that the voice of Wales is heard.

I have to say, last week—I listened to Plaid Cymru last week; it was almost as if there were two different debates. I listened to Rhun ap Iorwerth and what he said—a measured, detailed response. It was a measured, detailed response compared to what we had before from the leader of Plaid Cymru, where she used words like 'capitulation', 'betrayal', 'dodgy deal'. She sounds like Jacob Rees-Mogg when talking about Brexit. I don't mind criticism, but at least—[Interruption.] Let's look at the detail. Let's look at the detail. [Interruption.] Let's look at the detail. If there are disagreements on the detail, fine, but, in the answers that I gave, not once did she come back to me and say, 'Well, look, what about this? What about this? How does that provide us with reassurance?' I have to say that I thought the answer that was given by, or the speech that was given by, Rhun ap Iorwerth, certainly, last week, was measured and something, I thought, on which we could have a proper debate.