Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 22 September 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 2:04, 22 September 2020

First Minister, I'm astonished by that answer in respect to your health Minister having said yesterday that you had the power to mandate vaccination, suggesting that people in Wales might be forcibly injected with a COVID vaccine. Is that what devolution has come to? Surely, such a programme of forced injections would break international law, or is that only a concern when you want to impede Brexit? Wouldn't it also break domestic law, which states at section 45E of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, as amended by the Coronavirus Act 2020, that regulations

'may not include provision requiring a person to undergo medical treatment.

'"Medical treatment" includes vaccination'.

First Minister, as with Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings, you exonerated your health Minister from breaching guidance when he had his family picnic in Cardiff Bay. Have you similarly exonerated him now for publishing the address and date of birth of everyone who tested positive for COVID in Wales because it wasn't significant, even though the rules require disclosure of such a data breach to the Information Commissioner within 72 hours? Will he now stay in place despite saying your Government could mandate vaccination in breach of UK and international law?