Questions now from party leaders. The leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew R.T. Davies.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, three weeks ago, you said to me that there is no crisis in the food sector, after I raised with you the pressures on the agricultural supply chains. Yesterday, the governor of the Bank of England said families were facing an apocalyptic food price rise thanks to supply-chain problems caused by the conflict in Ukraine. Who is right, you or the governor of the Bank of England?

Well, I think the leader of the opposition misunderstands what the Bank of England governor had to say. What he was referring to was the rise in the cost of food because of events in Ukraine and, as he said very clearly to the committee, because of Brexit. Now, there's a difference between the crisis caused by rising food costs and a lack of supply of food in supermarkets. We continue to be assured by his UK Government that there is no crisis in supply. That's different to the point that the Bank of England was making yesterday, which is the effect of supply-chain strains on food prices. That's the difficulty where the governor of the Bank of England was focusing his remarks. 

I was making the point to you three weeks ago and six weeks ago that, because of the conflict in Ukraine, there is huge pressure on the inflation picture, that farms are having to buy seeds, fertilisers and other products that directly feed through into the food chain with the finished products that end up on the shelf. You did say to me, First Minister, that there is no crisis in the food sector. I put it to you that there is a crisis in the food sector, as the governor of the Bank of England referred to yesterday, but your Government dismissed the idea that I put to you about calling a food summit, to bring farmers, processors and retailers together so that we could discuss exactly what was required from Government and all sectors in the food chain to respond to the unique pressures that have emerged over the last three months. So, in the absence of us agreeing on the terms that the governor was referring to in his Treasury select committee meeting yesterday, can you outline to me what direct action the Welsh Government has undertaken to support the agricultural sector in facing the incredible price pressures on inputs that jeopardise the food supply, going forward, in the next six, 12 and 18 months?

Well, just to reiterate what I said, Llywydd, because I don't want to have what I said last time either misunderstood or misrepresented, the point that was being put to me before was about a shortage of food being supplied through the shops to Welsh citizens, and we continue to have assurances from the UK Government that that is not the case, and that there are no imminent shortages of essential supplies. That is a different point to the point that the Member makes, which I think is a fair one about the inflationary pressures both at the shop end of the supply chain, but also in the costs that are falling to farmers.

Now, we had a food summit only last week, which he may not have noticed; it was chaired by my colleague Jane Hutt. It brought together a whole range of interests to talk about inflation in the food supply chain, and how we in Wales can work together to support that. The wider picture can only be addressed on a UK-wide basis, and there are weekly meetings between the four nations where George Eustice, the lead Minister for the UK Government, takes part alongside Lesley Griffiths and Ministers from Scotland and representatives from Northern Ireland. And we are, therefore, working together to see how those pressures on seed prices, on fertiliser prices—. Those are all very fair points that the leader of the opposition makes and we'll tackle those on a four-nation basis, and Wales is always around the table when those discussions take place.

Cash flow is a critical component of any business, First Minister, and as we go into the critical summer/autumn planting season, farmers need the confidence that they have the cash flow to buy the stock, breeding stock or seeds, to plan for the next growing season so that there's a harvest to be had next year. The UK Government in England have brought forward the window for paying the basic payment scheme to July so that that cash flow pressure can be alleviated. Will the Welsh Government take similar action here in Wales so that that BPS money can be paid into farmers' bank accounts, so that they can have the confidence to place the orders for the fertiliser, the seeds and the stock that they need, going into that critical autumn window? That's a direct action that the Welsh Government can undertake because you have the responsibility over it.

Well, Llywydd, the Welsh Government's record of payment of BPS is, as the leader of the opposition will know, the best in the United Kingdom and has been for many years, and certainly a great deal better than it is across our border. We continue to have discussions every week with the farming unions here in Wales, and with other farming interests. My colleague Lesley Griffiths will, of course, be looking to see whether there are actions that we can take that respond to the pressures that the sector is under, and I will make sure that the specific suggestion that the leader of the opposition has made is part of those discussions.

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price.

Diolch, Llywydd. Last week, the Prime Minister signalled his intention to sack 91,000 workers, more than one in five of the total UK civil service, over the next three years. This would amount to over 6,000 job losses here in Wales. Has the UK Government shared the detail of their proposals with you as to where their axe is going to be wielded here in Wales, or was the first you heard about this, like the employees in question, via the Daily Mail? Has there been any communication from the UK Government in relation to the possible privatisation of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea, Her Majesty's Passport Office or other agencies based in Wales? If these proposals are implemented, could the eventual total jobs lost in Wales be even higher than the 20 per cent figure suggested by the Prime Minister? And is it any wonder that the Westminster Government pulled its Bill on workers' rights from the Queen's Speech last week when it is behaving little better than P&O Ferries?

Well, Llywydd, the last time I had a discussion with any UK Minister about civil service jobs, it was to hear that Minister trumpet the intentions of the UK Government to disperse civil service jobs around the country, and to bring more employment to Wales and other places outside London. What a different story this turns out to be in reality. Eighty per cent of civil service jobs in Wales are jobs that lie outside the Welsh Government. Adam Price is absolutely right, Llywydd, that if we were to take even a proportionate cut of the Prime Minister's 91,000, we would have 6,000 fewer jobs here in Wales. The fear is, as the leader of Plaid Cymru says, that we would take a disproportionately high number of job cuts here in Wales. Faced with difficulties of their own making, the UK Conservative Government reaches immediately, in a knee-jerk way, for the sorts of solutions that it has tried elsewhere and that have failed so badly, and threatens some of those agencies full of very hard-working people, who did so much during the pandemic to continue to provide a public service, and threatens them with privatisation.

You can be sure that we will be communicating directly to Ministers that, if they go ahead with their scheme—and I see many Tory MPs saying that they don't believe that this will ever happen—and if they decide that Wales is to be the test bed for it, then they will find a strong opponent here, in the Welsh Government, and certainly if they think that we will take a disproportionate share of job cuts, how much that will fly in the face of any claims this Government makes to levelling up big parts of the country outside the south-east of England.

Far from being the cause of the cost of living crisis, public sector workers are its victims, like every other worker. It's not cutting their jobs, but raising their real wages—especially for the lowest paid—that surely should be the urgent focus now. So, what can we in Wales do to help make this happen?

The Senedd and the Welsh Government are both committed to paying the real living wage to every staff member. Last year, the Dyfed-Powys Police force became Wales's first police force to become an accredited real living wage employer, yet not every public sector employer in Wales has done so yet. Why not, First Minister, invite them all to the next cost of living summit, and ask them what it would take to make Wales a real living wage nation, starting with the entire public sector, or at least that part of it that we in Wales, not Westminster, have control over?

Well, Llywydd, following the annual event in which the real living wage calculation is announced for the following financial year, I wrote to the leaders of all public sector bodies in Wales, urging them to come forward as real living wage employers. Now, the point that I made in my letter was that I am prepared to recognise that different bodies—different local authorities, for example—are on different parts of the spectrum as far as the journey to real living wage accreditation is concerned. Cardiff Council is an outstanding early example of success in that field, but I recognise that not everybody starts from the same place. What I'm not prepared to recognise is a reply that says that there is no plan to get to real living wage accreditation. So, that was the burden of my letter to not just local authority leaders, but leaders of public sector organisations of all sorts in Wales. This is a journey that we all have to be on, albeit that some will be better placed to get to the end of that journey than others.

We look forward to working with him positively to ensure that vision for Wales as soon as possible.

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia, and on this day it's a real pleasure to pay tribute to Jake Daniels, in becoming the UK's only openly gay currently active male professional footballer. I feel sure that his courage will give confidence to others to follow in his footsteps.

On a less positive note, the Wales International Convention Centre is, this month, hosting the televangelist Franklin Graham, who has called gay men and women the enemy who are here to devour our nation, and who has even praised Vladimir Putin for his homophobic policies. Now, Mr Graham may be entitled to his homophobic beliefs, but he's surely not entitled to be provided with a stage to air them at a convention centre that is 50 per cent owned by the Welsh Government. Does that not send out the wrong message from Wales—not of peace and goodwill, as we will do through the Urdd in Oslo tomorrow, but one that says that homophobia and hate are somehow still acceptable?

Well, Llywydd, can I begin by agreeing with what Adam Price has said about Jake Daniels? It's taken a 17-year-old to come forward in that way, and what a lesson that is for others who are older than that very courageous young man, and let's hope that his example will be heard by others.

I regret the fact that the event to which Adam Price referred is going ahead, but the decision is not one for the Welsh Government. We do not run that centre, and it's for those who are responsible for it to make those decisions. I'm sorry to see a person of those views being given a platform to express them here in Wales, and they absolutely do not reflect anything that the Welsh Government would be prepared to endorse or sanction. Instead, our plan, our LGBTQ+ plan for Wales, which we continue to work on and have had a very engaged set of discussions with members of that community and others on, aims to make us a genuinely LGBTQ+ friendly nation. That certainly extends to young people, and I thank the leader of Plaid Cymru for what he said about the Urdd and the message of peace and goodwill, which they will publish tomorrow in Oslo in their centenary year. It's a remarkable record, a record of expressing views and sentiments a million miles away from those that we regret being heard here in Wales, and giving us, alongside what we've seen of Jake Daniels today, genuine hope for the future.