Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:48 pm on 14 September 2021.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 1:48, 14 September 2021

I certainly do know what I think, and I asked a second time to see whether I knew what you think, and I don't really now know what the hell you think, First Minister. It was a simple enough question.

The two questions that I have asked on COVID passports indicate clearly that decisions have been taken here in Wales that are different from other parts of the United Kingdom, as rightly they should. We are standing here in the Welsh Parliament. We have a Welsh Government. It is vitally important that we have an independent inquiry. I pushed you on this before the summer recess. The Senedd had the chance to vote on that, and the governing parties came together and voted that motion down, regrettably.

But, it is a fact that, over the summer recess, the Scottish Government has commissioned an independent inquiry. The UK Government has commissioned an independent inquiry. Organisations such as Asthma UK, the British Lung Foundation, Medics4MaskUpWales and COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru have come out asking for this independent inquiry to be commissioned here in Wales.

You have the power to do that, First Minister. The Scottish First Minister has done it. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has done it. Will you today now reflect on that position, and give the assurance to the Welsh Parliament that you will commission a Welsh independent public inquiry that can look into the very matters that your Government Ministers have been making decisions over, so that we can have that scrutiny and we can have that clarity here in Wales, and ultimately get the successes highlighted, but also understand where the failures occurred?