6. What steps is the First Minister taking to engage with the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom? OQ58388

I have held several productive conversations with the new Secretary of State for Wales, but no opportunity to meet the new Prime Minister has as yet been forthcoming. 

Thank you for your answer, First Minister. I was encouraged to see your tweet welcoming Liz Truss to her new position. She is, of course, the third woman Conservative to hold that office. It's hugely important to the Welsh people that you and the new Prime Minister work together with mutual respect from both Governments to tackle the shared challenges that people face. I know at times, First Minister, you had, shall we say, a complicated relationship with the previous occupant of No. 10 Downing Street, so can we have assurance from you and your Ministers that you'll work constructively with the Prime Minister and her Government in a constructive manner to produce the best outcomes for the people of Wales in what will be very challenging months ahead?

Well, Llywydd, as the Member said, I welcomed the appointment of the latest Prime Minister—the fourth in six years—and I hope that it will be possible to conduct relationships between the UK Government and the other nations of the United Kingdom in that spirit of mutual respect. There has been no opportunity as yet to test the appetite of the new Prime Minister for such an approach. I think it would just be fair for me to say that, on the day that he was appointed, the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, telephoned me and telephoned the First Minister of Scotland, and the same thing happened on the first day that Theresa May was appointed and the day that David Cameron was appointed. Now, I understand that the new Prime Minister has not had the first week that she would have expected and that business as usual has not been characteristic of recent days, and now the Prime Minister has left the country. But, I hope that it will not long be delayed before she does find an opportunity to speak with the elected leaders of other Parliaments in the United Kingdom. 

First Minister, in your engagement with the new Prime Minister, when that happens, could I ask you to raise the pressing issue of clarification on the issue of fracking? Now, fracking is unsustainable and untenable environmentally and in respect of the climate change emergency. It contributes diddly squat to affordability or to supplying domestic UK markets because it is sold onto global markets for the profits of the shareholders of those companies. So, the Prime Minister and the Rt Hon Member for south-west Norfolk can frack to her heart's content in her constituency and receive, no doubt, the enduring thanks of her constituents, but if you do get a chance, First Minister, could you explain to the Prime Minister, in an idiom that she might well understand, 'You frack if you want to. Wales is not for fracking'?

Well, I do thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that. I can assure him that the Prime Minister's announcement in relation to fracking has no impact here in Wales, and the Welsh Government's policy remains entirely unchanged. We will not solve the energy crisis by reverting to ways of supplying energy that have done so much damage to our planet. And it is particularly frustrating to see time, energy and money being diverted in that direction when there is so much that could be done, and done more quickly and done with better effect by investing that time, energy and money in the production of renewable forms of energy generation in which Wales has such potential. Our efforts as a Government will be in that direction, looking to use our natural resources to find the power that will be needed here in Wales to develop those ideas that will be useful around the globe and to defend the energy security of the United Kingdom at the same time as making sure that we are not vulnerable to the global shifts that have created part of the cost-of-living crisis that faces families in Wales this coming winter.