4. Will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government's lobbying rules? OAQ54503

Llywydd, the rules in relation to lobbying are set out in the ministerial code.

First Minister, you were elected to lead your party claiming to be a twenty-first century socialist, but the simple truth is that there are no rules on corporate lobbying in Wales, making our Senedd the least protected in the UK and in Europe, in fact. Labour is the party opposing these rules. In the US, democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is working with none other than Ted Cruz to make a deal on banning lawmakers from lobbying. US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has launched a plan to curb corporate lobbying, including making it so that former members of Congress or senior staffers are not able to lobby. But there are no such rules here in Wales, or, indeed, plans. The lobbying firms are packed with former Assembly Members and special advisers, which is a recipe for corruption. Your Government has opposed bringing in even a statutory register of lobbyists, let alone something stronger. Do you recognise the need for stronger lobbying rules? And will you, as a self described socialist, join what is going on in the US by bringing in tough rules on corporate lobbying?

Llywydd, these matters have been discussed and considered at the standards committee, a committee with which I think the Member has some familiarity, and I am content to abide by the advice that the standards committee provides. 

As Neil McEvoy has said, or indicated, I think if one thing is clear about lobbying in Wales at the moment it's that there is a distinct lack of clarity, which has caused some of the issues over the last, well, few months and years. So, it's clear, as you mentioned, the standards committee report—I think my colleague Paul Davies was on the committee at the time that was looked into—came forward with various proposals of how to clarify matters within Wales. I think the idea of a lobbyist register was mentioned, whether that be voluntary or not. Can you tell me, since the publication of that report—yes, that has been discussed by standards committee, but, obviously, Welsh Government will need to provide a way forward through this—have you come to any conclusions in terms of whether a register would be a good way to go in the future, and whether that should be voluntary or non-voluntary, and how it would be regulated, in fact?

Well, Llywydd, as I said, I think these are matters for the standards committee to advise on, and my understanding is that, when the standards committee considered the matter of a register, it decided to make further inquiries and to give further thought to that matter. I look forward to receiving any advice that the standards committee provides, because these things are not matters for Government, they are matters for the standards of conduct of all Assembly Members, and that's why we have a standards committee to advise us on the best way to resolve these matters.