14. Debate: Legislative Consent Motion on the Coronavirus Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 1:30 pm on 24 March 2020.

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Photo of Neil McEvoy Neil McEvoy Independent 1:30, 24 March 2020

Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd. Dirprwy Lywydd, actually—there's a mutation there. 

It is an extreme measure. I do have lots of concerns. I have concerns that councils can downgrade, as mentioned, care for the elderly and disabled with the suspension of the Care Act. I'm concerned about the use of remote technology in court cases in terms of fairness of trial. I'm concerned about how people can be detained.

It is an extreme measure, but we do live in an extreme time—unprecedented. I think, as everybody has said, there are aspects of the Bill that I certainly dislike and have huge concerns about. I have huge concerns about giving away liberty to people for any period of time. Individual rights are the cornerstone of what we should be about, but there are community rights as well. When we saw the crowds on the weekend, people out and about, treating it as if it were a bank holiday, then something had to be done. It's a pity, I think, that things weren't done beforehand, when maybe some actions could have been taken sooner. 

I'm pleased to hear that Welsh aspects of the Bill can be stopped here, from this Senedd. I'd like a bit more detail on that. I'm very uncomfortable with a two-year timeline. Six months is much better, but I just want to flesh out the detail on what is needed after the six months. Is it a straight majority? Is it two thirds?

I think concerns have been raised about people suffering domestic abuse at home. There's also the issue of children in care having less supervision now. I'm concerned about the amount of things being conducted online, especially education. There's a loophole in the law that you don't need a DBS to tutor online, and I think that's a huge loophole that this Bill could address, actually.

Ultimately, I don't think we have any choice here but to vote for this measure. We're unable to amend it from here. Just an appeal, really, to people watching on tv: we are all in this together. We may not realise it yet, but when people go out and they press the button to cross the road, if they're infectious, then the next person is going to pick up that virus. All they have to do is touch their face and they ingest the virus, through nose, mouth or eyes. It's very difficult not to touch your face at times.

I'm going to finish by saying that I think we really, really should be testing every possible case. I hear that we don't have capacity at the moment, but I think the priority of this Government must be to build capacity, and as quickly as possible, because these testing kits are available. They are available to this Government if the orders are put in, because we're not going to get back to some kind of normality very quickly unless we identify who has the virus, where the virus is, and we can isolate it in that way. These are extraordinary times, but I'll finish urging the Government to build capacity immediately to test every single suspected case of coronavirus. Diolch yn fawr.