3. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:19 pm on 6 May 2020.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 2:19, 6 May 2020

I'm grateful to you, First Minister, for that. I asked you two weeks ago how committed you were to the four-Government approach, and you said that you remained absolutely committed to that. And, in principle, that's something that I agree with—I would always prefer to see the four Governments of the United Kingdom working together, sharing information and sharing experience and working to ensure that we do have a common approach.

But in the last few days, we've seen the UK Government failing in a profoundly disturbing way. We see now that the UK death toll is the highest in Europe—second only to Trump's America. And I think there is a need for us to question whether linking ourselves too closely to a UK Government that is clearly failing is something that we have to do in the future. And so I would very gently seek, First Minister, to question that again, and to ask you whether you are continuing to look at Governments that are succeeding in dealing with this virus in different parts of the world and not simply looking eastwards to a Government that is not succeeding. I think that's an important question to look at. 

The second question I have—