5. Debate: COVID19 — Unlocking our Society and Economy: Continuing the Conversation

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:05 pm on 20 May 2020.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 5:05, 20 May 2020

I've heard some rather disparate opinions here this afternoon, but I'm obviously going to speak in support of the Government, and I'm really proud to be part of a group—the ruling group in Wales—where all the feedback that I get is in praise of the calm, considered approach to help keep people safe in Wales; to help people actually come through an unprecedented situation where we have a virus that is lurking around us. And we cannot see it, we cannot feel it, we cannot touch it, but one thing we do know is that we cannot, at this stage, cure it either. 

So, I have listened intently this afternoon, and Paul Davies accuses us of not giving any hope. I have to, obviously, refute that, because I read from his statement that hope, in his case, means blindly following a reckless UK Government. He also calls for collaboration and yet, we've seen the UK Government making an announcement to open schools in June in England without any consultation, of course, with his English colleagues who are supposed to implement those changes. So, I think it's somewhat difficult to have collaboration with a UK Government when they can't even collaborate with the local governments within their own borders. 

I have heard an awful lot, again, about the denying of science, and let's not take any heed, of course, of the projections. I'm not surprised, of course, that Neil Hamilton did that, because he denies the very science that tells us that we have climate change going on around us, so, at least he's persistent in that. But what I do want to discuss here today is giving hope back to people, is actually saying to them that you can trust a Government that will take a careful, considered approach to help you, and we'll do that, as has been mentioned in the document, by valuing all people, those people who are now at the front line delivering services that we all value and we go out every Thursday night and clap, quite rightly. We won't refer to those people as 'low skilled' and, therefore, undervalue them—that's exactly the conversation that happened in Westminster on Monday night when we were talking about migrant labour in the NHS. We won't do that in Wales, and we won't do it to be different; we will do it simply because we actually do value those people. And when we come out of this, we will carry on valuing those people with the social partnerships, the contract, that will ensure that all conversations for people to return safely to the workplace will have all the players around the table. That means that those people who have kept this nation going through the hardest, the most difficult of times, will remain valued. 

That is why I'll be supporting this today, because that social contract, that social partnership, is exactly what we have now, and it's exactly what we will need for the future. We cannot ever go back on that. I fully support the statement that has been made that no company in Wales that has decided to put their tax arrangements offshore will get any funds from the public purse. If you can't pay into the public purse, why on earth should you be allowed to take out of the public purse? And so, going forward, we have set out our stall and we will keep to it. 

I have to congratulate, of course, all those people who work on the front line in the most difficult of times. And they are the most difficult of times. People have lost their lives. We know that. And people are putting their families on hold. Those people who are delivering the front-line services are self-isolating away from their families. And I've heard cases, terrible cases, of people sharing space, living in accommodation where they are not the only person—it's shared accommodation—and yet they're being isolated by the other people sharing that accommodation, and I think you need to look that. 

I am going to wrap this up, and I just really want to put it on record that I absolutely fully support the motion going forward. Thank you.