2. What assessment has the First Minister made of the UK Government's support for airports across the UK? OQ56173

Llywydd, I thank Carwyn Jones for that question. UK Government support is limited to airports in England. We continue to call upon them to support regional airports across the country. The catastrophic impact of coronavirus continues to have an impact on the industry, which is not confined to one part of the UK.

I thank the First Minister for his answer. Airports, of course, are not devolved. But, of course, the UK Government chooses when it wishes to be the Government of England or the Government of the UK according to its whim. First Minister, since 2013, the Tories in Wales have failed to support our airports, both Cardiff and Anglesey. When the airport at Cardiff was bought in 2013, they invented a story that it had been bought at a price that was way over the odds, which was completely untrue. They allowed their ideology to count more than jobs. They didn't like the fact that it was in public ownership, and that was more important than protecting the jobs of the people who actually worked there. That airport would have been turned into a housing estate, no doubt. The councillors would, then, have objected to that as well. Is it not the case, First Minister, that the Welsh Conservatives are not willing to support the airline industry in Wales, and that's what makes them unfit to govern Wales, both now and in the future? 

Well, Llywydd, the failure of the Conservative Party is manifest here in Wales and it's aided and abetted by their compatriots at the UK Government as well. On five separate occasions, Llywydd, since the beginning of December, at senior official level and ministerially, we have tried to get an answer out of the UK Government about the £100 million support fund for airports that they have repeatedly publicised. Now, we know that £8 million of that is to go to Bristol Airport—an airport that the UK Government itself cites, when it has refused to devolve air passenger duty to us here in Wales, on the grounds of competition with Bristol. Yet, they pump millions of pounds of money into Bristol while denying any support to airports here in Wales. It is the actions of the UK Conservatives that are undermining support for the union right across the United Kingdom, and it's the actions of the Welsh Conservatives, in the way in which they fail to support initiatives such as creating a national airport for Wales, that renders them, as the former First Minister says, unfit to be part of a Government here in Wales. 

I think I'll tone my question a bit differently. I was very pleased, First Minister, that Wizz Air's recent commitment to start operating from the airport was particularly good for the airport—a real boost for the airport and the aviation sector at, obviously, a very difficult time. From my perspective, I want to see the Welsh Government support Cardiff Airport in order that best value can be achieved when a future government returns the airport to the private sector. In that regard, perhaps, First Minister, you could update us on what measures the Welsh Government is currently taking to support the airport in its future development, in terms of a new marketing strategy, and also update us on improvements to transport links to the airport and in particular what capital investment can be put in place around the airport to help the airport diversify and generate new sources of income. 

Well, Llywydd, the actions of the Welsh Government at the moment are simply focused on helping the airport to survive through the extraordinary impact of coronavirus on the airline industry. We have provided directly a further £4.5 million in loan facilities to the airport, which we are able to do. We have submitted a state-aid notification to the EU Commission for aid that is claimable through the European Union while we were still members of it. What we need to see is help from the UK Government—help that it is apparently prepared to provide to airports in England, help that it is denying to airports here in Wales.

We need a different approach by the UK Government. Why will it not even consider publicly funded air corridors between Cardiff Airport and elsewhere in the UK other than London—routes that we would have to pay for but we believe would be pivotal to the success of the airport? Why does the UK Government persist in taking a different approach to other countries in Europe in relation to allowable aid for safety and security costs—safety and security costs that fall more sharply on regional airports than large airports here in the United Kingdom? 

There are many ways in which the UK Government could play its part in assisting the airport here in Wales to weather the enormous storm of coronavirus. We make every effort to support that airport because we know that it is essential to have a national airport to support industry here in Wales, to support passengers here in Wales. That does include, as Russell George says, improvements to infrastructure around the airport, as well as at the airport itself. It would be fantastically useful if the efforts we are making might be matched by those that the UK Government denies us at the moment.

Will the First Minister agree with me that the best way that Governments could support airports throughout the United Kingdom and, indeed—[Inaudible.]—is to abolish air passenger duty, which is a tax on flying and a massive disincentive to people to use airports? It adds £78 to every short-haul ticket and can end up being—[Inaudible.]—total ticket price. But this, of course, would be in conflict with the Welsh Government's policy of virtue signalling on environmental policy, to which Wales can make no significant difference in global terms. But reducing the cost of air travel is absolutely vital to the survival of airlines and, indeed, the prosperity of airports. 

Well, Llywydd, of course I disagree with the Member in the casual way that he shrugs off any responsibility we in Wales might have to contribute to the actions that collectively will make a difference to global warming. We are determined here in Wales that we will play our part. That's nothing to do with virtue signalling—it is simply recognising our responsibility. We will live up to that responsibility, just as the Member attempts to evade it in the question that he's asked me.

He will know that we have long argued for the devolution of APD. We were supported in that by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, in the report that they published on 11 June 2019, when the current junior Minister at the Wales Office chaired that select committee. It's time—in fact, Llywydd, it's long past time when the UK Government allows this Senedd to have control over that tax, just as it allows the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly to do the same. Then we could have a proper debate here with the Member about the way in which that power could be effectively used to support the airport, while not undermining the efforts we need to make to play our part in combating climate change.