Questions now from the party leaders. Leader of the opposition, Paul Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, will you now take the opportunity today to publicly apologise to those farmers whose confidential details were released last year by the Welsh Government to animal rights activist groups?

This has been well rehearsed as an issue. I don't think there's anything further that I need to add to what has already been put on the record many times in relation to it.

Well, I'm extremely disappointed that the First Minister can't say 'sorry', even though this was an administrative error by your Government. The buck stops with your Government, and it's not difficult to say 'sorry', First Minister, so I would expect you to say 'sorry' on behalf of the Welsh Government. Let's not forget; the farmers whose details that were revealed by the Welsh Government were acting completely within the law here in Wales, in an attempt to protect their livelihoods from the spread of TB.

Now, in the 12 months to September 2018—these are the latest figures—Wales has seen an increase in the number of cattle slaughtered because of suspected TB, with 9,700 cattle lost. This has had a devastating impact on farmers, their livelihoods and the localised economy, and is costing the taxpayer huge amounts of money. You are clearly not doing enough to tackle this problem, given that the number of cattle being slaughtered is increasing. Therefore, under the circumstances, do you accept there is absolutely no prospect of bovine TB being eradicated in Wales by your target date of 2041? Surely we should be tackling this awful disease well before then.

Well, Llywydd, let me respond again to the opening part of Paul Davies's second question by saying that, of course, when things go wrong, we recognise them, as we did at the time, and said the necessary things then. In his general point, of course, I agree with much of what he has to say; bovine TB is an awful experience for farmers who have to encounter it, and the Welsh Government works really closely with the industry to make sure that we are able to do all the things that we can put in place that we think are effective in tackling the disease. There are many good things that have happened as a result of all those endeavours, including better biosecurity at farms, including better traceability and better testing as well, which partly explains some of the ways in which the numbers that he referred to rise. Because if you have a better understanding of the disease, know its prevalence, know where it is to be found, then—hugely difficult as I understand it is for farmers involved—dealing with cattle who are infected has to be part of the way in which the long-term eradication of the disease is brought about.

Well, clearly, your Government policy is not being effective; otherwise we wouldn't be slaughtering the number of cattle that we're actually slaughtering. Let me highlight the situation to you in the south-west of England. In Gloucester and Somerset, there has been a 50 per cent reduction in the number of TB incidences in the last four years, which is in stark contrast to south-west Wales, where, despite having strict biosecurity measures in place, prevalence of TB in herds has not changed. In fact, we have seen the number of cattle slaughtered increase due to bovine TB. Now, in light of the growing body of evidence, will you now reconsider your Government's position on a TB eradication strategy and support a strategy that both protects our wildlife and cattle populations from this dreadful disease in an urgent manner?

Well, I agree with him again, Llywydd, about the awful nature of the disease and the impact that it has in the farming community. I think he implies in his question that there is some sort of straightforward and easy answer waiting on a shelf simply to be deployed here. He knows, doesn't he, that that is not the case. Where there are lessons from elsewhere, then of course we want to learn them, just as others learn from some of the experience that we have had in working successfully with the industry here in Wales. My colleague Lesley Griffiths will report on the current regime we have for testing and eradicating the disease in Wales, and where we can do better, then of course, we all have a shared ambition to do just that. 

Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price. 

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I'd like to take this opportunity to further put on record the huge contribution made by our friend and colleague Steffan Lewis to our national life by asking about three of those issues that were very close to his heart. 

Steffan Lewis's first contribution in this Parliament was in support of mining communities across Wales and, in particular, the injustice of the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme. As the First Minister will no doubt be aware, a deal in the 1990s saw the UK Government agree to underwrite mineworkers' pensions, but in exchange it can receive 50 per cent of the surplus each year. Over the decades, the UK Government has benefited from £8 billion from this surplus, at a rate of £1 million a day. Steffan was a champion of the cause of mineworkers, supporting their petition and making countless representations to the UK Government. The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in July last year that she would explore options for the future of the scheme, with little progress being made to date, it seems. So, is the First Minister able to commit today to supporting the endeavours of former mineworkers, and will he meet with a delegation of the campaign to map out how we can achieve a fairer settlement, giving miners a greater share of the surplus the scheme generates?

I thank Adam Price for that question. Of course, I recognise that it is appropriate to focus this afternoon on those issues that Steffan Lewis had supported here in this Chamber. 

I do remember, Llywydd, not long after Steffan had arrived in the Assembly, I was responding to a short debate here in the Assembly, and for reasons I cannot now recall, I made a reference to Mabon's Monday. And I thought when I did it, 'Well, whoever else will know here?' And I looked up, and there were Steffan and Dai Lloyd sitting in the back row, both nodding, and I thought, 'Well, what other democratic forum are you likely to come across where you can make a reference to something steeped deep in our history and know that there will be people elsewhere in the Chamber who are as familiar with it as you'd hope people would be?'

So, specifically in relation to his question, then, of course, this Government wants to support the endeavours of former mineworkers, and I'm very happy to make a commitment to meet with the delegation of that campaign to map out ways in which we can work together in the future. 

I'm very grateful to the First Minister. As part of the 2018-19 budget, Plaid Cymru, at Steffan's behest, negotiated and secured a commitment from the Welsh Government to reinstate an in-patient perinatal mental health ward in Wales. Steffan was so passionate about perinatal mental health services that the First Minister, during his time as finance Minister, included funding for the re-establishment of the service. Can the First Minister today confirm that, in response to Steffan's efforts, his Government will do everything necessary to ensure that all expectant or new mothers in Wales will have the perinatal mental health treatment they require in Wales, and that no-one will be put in the tragic position of having to potentially be separated from their baby and families for treatment? 

Would he also consider exploring Steffan's idea for creating a centre of excellence for healthcare innovation in Tredegar, celebrating its past, of course, as the NHS birthplace, and making it a base also for shaping its future?

Well, Llywydd, I'm probably more familiar with the first of those two propositions than the second. A lot has been done in Wales to improve perinatal mental health, concentrating, in the first instance, on improving community services. Because most of all, we wouldn't want women and their babies to have to be looked after away from their own homes when they are going through those sorts of experiences. But the discussions we had—and I remember having them with Steffan Lewis as well—was that, where in-patient treatment is needed, then of course we want that to be as close to people's homes as it can. I know that Siân Gwenllian has this week raised concerns about those services in north Wales, and that the Minister was answering questions in front of committee on these services as well. So, we have an ongoing and shared commitment to the improvement of perinatal mental health treatment, both in the community, and in those rarer occasions when women and their babies need more intensive and in-patient care, and to try to make sure that that is properly available for them as close to their homes, wherever that might be in Wales.

Well, certainly, from our side, we would be grateful for opportunities, perhaps, to sit down with the First Minister and the health Minister to continue this discussion.

We’ve heard earlier, of course, just how much influence Steffan had in terms of shaping this place’s response, the Government’s response, and Wales’s response to Brexit. He was a voice of great authority, of course, who had respect and credibility beyond party lines. It was clear from my visit, along with Rhun ap Iorwerth, to Ireland last week that Steffan had made quite an impression, and had gained respect, on the international stage too. And Ireland was, of course, a nation that was so dear to him.

And in his final press release, Steffan called for a summit of the nations to be brought forward within these isles in order to find a way forward in terms of Brexit. Would the First Minister be willing to consider extending an invitation to the other Prime Ministers and First Ministers, making right Steffan’s calls, if that proved necessary, over the next few days?

Thanks, of course, to Adam Price. We’ve heard more than once in this Chamber this afternoon about the work that Steffan did abroad, and I remember speaking to him when he returned from Ireland about the people he’d been speaking to over there, and the ideas that he had raised with them, and about the work that he was doing to try and strengthen the relationship between ourselves and the Government in Ireland too. And, personally, I have received a very warm letter from the Taoiseach, and, of course, I have responded in similar terms.

My office has been working very closely with the office of the First Minister of Scotland over the past few days, discussing what we can do jointly following the vote in the House of Commons today. And I am of course willing to consider Adam Price’s suggestion, and that we should do that in the context of the work that we’re already doing with others in the United Kingdom and abroad too.

The leader of the UKIP group, Gareth Bennett.

Diolch, Llywydd. And can I also take the opportunity to add my condolences to the family of Steffan Lewis?

First Minister, this is the time of year when many people have to complete their tax returns, and, therefore, the subject of taxation is in their minds. Of course, we know that governments wouldn't function if we didn't have taxation, but I would add, from my own observation, that most ordinary people are rarely enthusiastic about the prospect of taxes, and particularly of new or additional taxation. I did notice, in your previous role as the Finance Minister, you did seem to get quite excited about the Welsh Government's new tax powers. I quote what you said at one point:

'It's what devolution was always meant to be: a living laboratory in which different parts of the United Kingdom are able to try out new ideas, to learn from one another, to see what is effective.'

Do you still believe that here in Wales we are all part of a living laboratory? And do you think, First Minister, that all Welsh residents should happily accept new taxes and tax increases from your Welsh Government because we are all part of some exciting experiment?

Wel, Llywydd, I definitely do believe that one of the great advantages of devolution is that it does provide a living laboratory inside the United Kingdom and an opportunity to try different ideas in different places and to learn from one another in doing so. And I also completely stand by what I said previously, that the process of the maturing of devolution is assisted by the changes in which this Assembly becomes not simply a spending body, but a body that has to take responsibility for raising some of the funds that it disperses. 

I thank you for clarifying your position on that. Now, on the issue of income tax variation, that's something that's coming up later on today—it does sound as if your long-term view may be that a variation of the income tax rate in Wales may be a lever that you can legitimately use, and which you may be enthusiastic about using in the future. 

Well, I've never said that, Llywydd, to my recollection. I've said that it's my intention to stick to the manifesto commitment that our party provided at the last election—that we wouldn't use the power to vary income tax during this Assembly term. I'm sure I remember debating in this Chamber with the Member's colleague in UKIP that growing the economy is a better strategy for collecting more money in to provide for public services than obsessing about whether we can use the incremental powers we have in relation to varying income tax. If we had a stronger economy, with more money coming in, the debate would be different. 

I think that's an excellent point, First Minister. However, we do have the evidence of 20 years of a devolved Wales in which the economic performance of the region has signally failed to improve. [Interruption.] The region, the country—call it what you will. Call it what you will. The economic performance of Wales has not signally improved over the past 20 years. The latest gross value added figures show that, once again, Wales is bottom of the four nations of the UK, by doing even worse than we were before we had your Labour Party running Wales through the Assembly. So, given that, do you conceive that under your leadership over the next few years we are going to get a quick turnaround and these figures are going to change, and at some point we are going to get some improving statistics regarding the economic performance? 

Well, I'm afraid, Llywydd, that the greatest threat to the Welsh economy is the policy that has been so much promoted by his own party. If there is to be a quick impact on the Welsh economy, it will be if we were to leave the European Union, and to leave it on the terms that his party has so long advocated. In fact, the Welsh economy is robust, it has withstood the difficulties of the period of austerity, it goes into the next few years with levels of employment higher than for many years past, and with levels of unemployment that are lower for many years past. We will do everything we can, but we will be doing it in the teeth of the policies that his party advocates, rather than being assisted by them.