, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you, and I echo the words of the Presiding Officer in paying tribute to Owen John Thomas, a real friend and campaigner for his community and for Welshness and the Welsh language in the capital city. And as we extend our sympathies to his loved ones and…
, Plenary
Debate: Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
As I said, in this Chamber, and across Wales, we have different aspirations for our nation, different levels of ambition for our nation. The key thing is that we are giving ourselves as a Parliament the tools to make those changes for ourselves. We have come…
, Plenary
Debate: Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
Yes.
, Plenary
Debate: Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
I said here yesterday that we need to see a step change in devolution as we head into its second quarter century. We need new and targeted solutions to the challenges we face in our economy, on the NHS and in education, to finally get to grips with child…
, Plenary
Debate: Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill
It is most appropriate that we are here today to vote to give our Senedd the ability to work as a real, national Parliament, almost exactly 25 years to the day from the first elections to the National Assembly for Wales. I am extremely grateful for the…
, Plenary
& 9. Legislative Consent Motion on the Victims and Prisoners Bill—motion 1, and Legislative Consent Motion on the Victims and Prisoners Bill—motion 2
Dirprwy Lywydd, I'm pleased to contribute to this debate, and I do so as Chair of the cross-party group on haemophilia and infected blood and as the representative of constituents of mine on Anglesey who have suffered as a result of the infected blood…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Senedd at 25
Now, although understanding of this place and its work has increased, and, with that, the support for further powers to Wales, we must guard against thinking that we don't need to continue to withstand those forces that would want to see our Parliament…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Senedd at 25
We should celebrate, I think, this twenty-fifth anniversary with a gear shift, a shift in scrutiny that is enabled through the reform legislation that we'll be voting on tomorrow, but a governmental gear shift too. We need a Government that, instead of…
, Plenary
Statement by the First Minister: Senedd at 25
Thank you to the First Minister for this afternoon's statement. I wanted to start by saying that each and every one of us in this place have our memories about the birth of the National Assembly, until I remembered that Luke Fletcher was just three years of…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
On this day of all days, 25 years on from the first devolved elections, we want the people of Wales to have faith in political leaders. Sadly, the Senedd, on all benches, I should say, is losing faith in this First Minister's ability to lead without…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
It is, indeed, a very serious matter. We're limping from one scandal to the next, and it's no way to govern. And 'the more you dig, the less you find'— that was Hefin David's defence of the First Minister last week. All avenues to correct the Record are open…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We keep returning here to that we want our First Ministers to be truthful, transparent and of good judgment, and those pre-requisites are being undermined currently. First, there was the £200,000 donation from a convicted polluter, now it's deleted messages…
, Plenary
Short Debate: Gaza—A Welsh response
We cannot allow the world to forget the horrors of this war. We can't forget those killed and taken hostage on 7 October, and we demand their release. And we must never forget the tens of thousands killed and still being killed in Gaza, the hundreds of…
, Plenary
Short Debate: Gaza—A Welsh response
Thank you, Peredur, for bringing forward this debate today and for allowing me to make a brief contribution. The danger always is that the passage of time makes people lose focus and get used to something that's happening over there, regardless of how…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
I invite the Conservatives to reconsider their decision to abstain. On this, no decision is being made on what the cap should be, on what model should be brought in for that cap. I'd ask them to consider whether abstaining reflects poorly on them, given the…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
Simply, the decision to accept donations of this scale, never mind the source of those funds, the fact that it is allowed under the absence of rules that we currently have doesn't sit comfortably with the people of Wales. It gives an impression, even if all…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
I'll leave it to the Member to judge whether it’s a fair comparison between a sum of money left in a will to a political party by somebody who believes in democracy and a payment of £200,000 to a candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party in Wales by a…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
I didn't hear that very well, but I don't think it matters. I’ll just leave it to you to reflect on whether there is a fair comparison to be made between a sum—[Interruption.]—bequeathed to a political party in a will—
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
Now, or after I've said my next few sentences? And he then went on to make insinuations around a payment to my constituency party—not to me, to my constituency party—in 2013. Some donations, Hefin David, can certainly not be deemed to be made in order to try…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llywydd. I think it is important that, in his presence now—he did arrive towards the closing stages of these two debates—I do express to the First Minister the real disappointment that he wasn't here to hear and, indeed, to respond to…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
I will quickly. And this specifically is around employers' rights. The First Minister also accepted £25,000 from Veezu taxi who have been the subject of complaints about employment rights within the last year.
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
But this is crucial—
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
The First Minister accepted this—three times the amount accepted by Plaid Cymru, after convictions for environmental crimes were pointed out. He also says that the questions around the Plaid Cymru donor—
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
If you're taking an intervention. I'm grateful to you for taking an intervention. You draw attention to one particular donation. I have to point out a number of things: (a) that was a party donation rather than an individual donation, which is what we're…
, Plenary
Plaid Cymru Debate: Cap on political donations
[Inaudible.]—to respond.
