Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 17 November 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:57, 17 November 2020

Well, Llywydd, the Senedd exists not because of the failure of the Boris Johnson Government, but because of the success of a Labour Government in making devolution happen in the first place. Devolution thrives when there is a Labour Government to support it, and devolution comes under the sorts of pressures that it is now under when we have a Conservative Government, and where you scratch the surface of the Conservative Party and all its old hostility to devolution rises back to the surface.

That's what happened yesterday, when the Prime Minister thought that he could show off in front of a few Conservative MPs from the north of England. But, we have the Senedd because of the Labour Party, and this Labour Party will continue to make sure that we use all of the powers that we have here—all the powers that we have of persuasion and the powers that we have to intervene—not at this point to make a counter proposal, but to work with the company on the proposals that it will want to bring forward.

We have a part to play in that, and part of what we bring to the table were the points that Adam Price made towards the end of his second question. We do want to see a carbon-neutral steel industry here in Wales. We do want to see that as soon as possible. It is why the steel institute that we are creating as part of the Swansea city deal is so important to the future of the steel industry here in Wales. It will bring all the power of research from the university in Swansea, and all the power of the local authorities, with the interest that they have in making the steelworks a success, to help to create the type of future for the steel industry that we want to see.

We will play our part in that, not at this point by developing counter proposals, but by trying to make sure that the company and the UK Government are able to get together, with the assistance that we can provide, to fashion a way forward for that industry.