Browse content similar to 16/04/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon. Welcome to our first programme back after the | :00:20. | :00:24. | |
Easter break. We'll be bringing you questions to the First Minister, | :00:24. | :00:34. | |
:00:34. | :01:00. | ||
Well, business in the chamber is already underway. | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
National Assembly for Wales is now in session. First item on the | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
agenda is tributes to Baroness Thatcher. I am sure their members | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
will wish to join me in offering our condolences to the family of | :01:14. | :01:22. | |
Baroness Thatcher. First Minister. I rise to make some brief remarks | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
following the passing of Baroness Thatcher, the former prime minister. | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
Can I begin by expressing sympathy to her family on the loss of a | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
mother and a grand mother. I am sure they will feel her loss keenly | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
for some time. It has been said many times that she was a | :01:40. | :01:47. | |
remarkable personality. She won three general elections and saw the | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
collection of 14 Conservative MPs in Wales, the feat that has not | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
been equalled since. She was a decisive person and often struck | :01:58. | :02:03. | |
fear into those who served under her in her Cabinet. Perhaps her | :02:03. | :02:07. | |
most noteworthy moment was the recovery of the Falkland Islands | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
following their invasion by a brutal military dictatorship. Less | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
successful, perhaps, were her dealings in Northern Ireland where | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
she managed to alienate both sides of the community. It must, of | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
course, have been difficult for her to deal with that part of the world | :02:25. | :02:31. | |
after the murder of her mentor and the bombing of the Grand Hotel. It | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
is right to say that she brought many of us in this change and -- | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
many of us in this chamber into politics. Some of the benches | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
opposite in support of her views and others of us in strong reaction | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
to what she did. Indeed it was what happened during the course of the | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
miners' strike that brought me on the political path that I have | :02:50. | :02:56. | |
taken ever since. She was a strong character but also somebody whose | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
views were often divisive of. She inspired strong views on both sides | :03:01. | :03:07. | |
of the argument that she would put forward. I would have to say that | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
being decisive does not mean that somebody is necessarily right. It | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
is right to say that there are many in Wales who still feel the legacy | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
of her politics. The miners' strike and its aftermath are still very | :03:22. | :03:26. | |
much felt by many of our communities and there is still | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
great bitterness in terms of what happened at that time which has | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
lasted to this day. He it caused great hurt when many of our people | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
were described as the enemy within. Those comments were not easily -- | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
those comments have not been easily forgotten in the communities that | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
were affected. Communities that fill the legacy of that time to | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
this day, communities that were sustained by the coal industry and | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
then lost their means of survival and then, of course, were offered | :04:00. | :04:07. | |
no alternative employment. It is probably correct to say that the | :04:07. | :04:11. | |
opposition to the policies that were put in place at that time | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
caused the creation of this assembly. It provided the momentum | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
towards devolution. I suspect that was an unintended effect to what | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
had happened in the 1980s and the 1990s. There are many of us in this | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
chamber who will have a great deal of disagreement with the policies | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
that were put in place during her time as Prime Minister. Those views | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
will be very strongly felt by many across Wales. Tomorrow, however, to | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
a family will be in mourning. They must be allowed to grief with | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
dignity. I will be attending the funeral tomorrow as First Minister | :04:48. | :04:54. | |
on behalf of the people of Wales. Leader of the opposition, aren't -- | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
Andrew RT Davies. A rise to pay tribute to Baroness Thatcher and I | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
am grateful to the presiding offer -- presiding officer to allow this | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
opportunity for the assembly to pay tribute in its own way and the | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
leaders will have different views on the impact that Prime Minister | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
Thatcher made to this country. I passionately believe that she was a | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
force for good, as many in my party, and obviously of the Centre Right | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
persuasion do believe and the belief with considerable passion. I | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
fully accept that, being a politician, there are two sides to | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
every argument. When you look at the era that Margaret Thatcher | :05:31. | :05:35. | |
served as prime minister, putting herself forward for three general | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
elections, and being endorse that all three elections to be the prime | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
minister, the democratically elected leader of this country, and | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
implement the policies that did transform this country from having | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
the sick man of Europe tag around its neck to being a vibrant, | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
opportune place for people to succeed. Home-ownership, for | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
example, where many millions of people were empowered to run their | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
own property and drive economic opportunities for wood. I believe | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
when history reflects on what Margaret Thatcher and her | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
successive cabinets did in the 80s was to transform this country for | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
the better. If you look at the era that Prime Minister Thatcher came | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
into politics, in the 1950s, an era of great deference, if you like, in | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
public life, when the role of a woman was not secured, other than | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
thinking that the role was in the house, bringing up children, she | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
broke the glass ceiling to break into politics and I think she | :06:36. | :06:39. | |
continued that as you progress through her political career and | :06:39. | :06:45. | |
her public life. When we look at, as the first Mr touched on, the | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
liberation of the Falkland Islands in 1982, the stand against Irish | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
terrorism, both loyalist and nationalist, let us not forget it | :06:54. | :06:59. | |
was on both sides of the coin in Northern Ireland, and the terrible | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
tragedies. We have seen the terrible consequences of terrorism | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
only last night in America and you look at what Margaret Thatcher and | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
Ronald Reagan achieved in standing up to what Ronald Reagan called the | :07:10. | :07:16. | |
evil Empire, and bringing an end to the Cold War. Irstead fast | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
determination undoubtedly freed the many millions of people in the | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
Continent of Europe and contributed to a more peaceful continent and a | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
peaceful world. Many tributes have been paid to the former prime | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
minister but we must also remember that, as the First Minister touched | :07:33. | :07:39. | |
on, there is a family that has lost a mother and grandfather. Whilst it | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
is perfectly legitimate for people to raise their objections are and | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
also to note with some sadness the policies that may be that they did | :07:48. | :07:53. | |
not agree with her but I hope that people will be respectful at the | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
funeral tomorrow and allow the passing of what I believe was an | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
iconic figure of the 21st century to be noted and measured with at | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
the service that will be held at St Paul's Cathedral. A passionately | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
believe that the Prime Minister Thatcher put the Great back into | :08:10. | :08:14. | |
Great Britain and history will judge her to have been the most | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
successful peacetime prime minister this country has had. It has been | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
issued privilege to say these few words on behalf of my assembly | :08:23. | :08:28. | |
group and my party here in Wales. Thank you very much. The leader of | :08:28. | :08:34. | |
Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. Thank you, presiding officer. Whatever | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
people's feelings are that her political legacy, and I would | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
acknowledge there are strong feelings on both sides, a person | :08:40. | :08:46. | |
has died and has left the family believed -- bereaved. I want to | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
make it clear that I am not here this afternoon of to pay tribute to | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
Margaret Thatcher or her political legacy. I am speaking here as party | :08:55. | :09:01. | |
leader, in order to mark her contribution to public life. As | :09:01. | :09:06. | |
with all human beings in this situation it is right to express | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
sympathies to the family of Margaret Thatcher at this time of | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
sadness for them. It is also right at the time of her passing that we | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
should reflect upon the politics that Margaret Thatcher left behind. | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
We must learn from, but not well on the past. We should use it as an | :09:28. | :09:34. | |
opportunity to look to the future. -- not dwell on the past. Where I | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
live in the Rhondda people's chief memory of her time in office was | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
that of the closure of the pits. The bitter miners' strike changed | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
industrial policy. We are still paying the price for that. The | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
deliberate switch to a service- based economy from a manufacturing | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
economy, the privatisation and decline of our utilities and of | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
public transport were just some of the legacies of what we now call | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
Thatcherism. It was a politics that took a turn away from the post-war | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
consensus that favoured a strong, welfare straight, three at the | :10:12. | :10:18. | |
point of need, caring for from the cradle to the grave. Thatcherism | :10:18. | :10:22. | |
started the attempt to roll back the state and signalled the | :10:22. | :10:27. | |
introduction of neo- liberalism into British politics, and ideology | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
that has been fatally followed by a British prime ministers ever since. | :10:33. | :10:36. | |
Near liberalism or Thatcherism is the cause, in my opinion, of many | :10:36. | :10:42. | |
of the problems that we face in Wales Today. We could allow her | :10:42. | :10:47. | |
passing to make us better. Some will show their anger by protesting. | :10:47. | :10:53. | |
But I would urge everyone to use the energy that could be taken up | :10:53. | :10:59. | |
mulling over her economic legacy to instead think creatively about how | :10:59. | :11:06. | |
that legacy, that philosophy can be overturned. Instead of focusing our | :11:06. | :11:12. | |
anger on the events of a quarter of a century or more ago, let us turn | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
this into a time for all of us in Wales to decided collectively, as a | :11:18. | :11:25. | |
society, that I want to create a future that is better than the past. | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
Margaret Thatcher told us that there is no such thing as society. | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
In Wales we do not believe that to be true. Community is important to | :11:34. | :11:40. | |
us. Letters prove it wrong by creating a well-functioning and | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
fairer, more equal economy, as well as a network of a vibrant caring | :11:45. | :11:50. | |
and thriving communities. With powers over the levers that can | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
shake our economy, we can reject and reverse the greed is good | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
culture that comes with me and liberalism. A bereavement is always | :11:59. | :12:06. | |
a time for reflection. My hopes for the future of Wales, as a very | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
different woman leader, from a very different political party, are for | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
us to create, in contrast to Thatcherism, and economy and the | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
World Society based upon the principles of fairness, equality, | :12:21. | :12:31. | |
:12:31. | :12:32. | ||
peace and co-operation. Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
Williams. I wish to join other political leaders here today in | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
remembering the life of Margaret, Baroness Thatcher. I would like to | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
send on behalf of my party condolences to their children and | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
her wider family and friends. Margaret Thatcher was the dominant | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
political figure of her time and of my youth. I became active in | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
politics when I was 15 years old at the height of her power, in large | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
part in opposition to her government and the policies are | :12:59. | :13:04. | |
pursued in the part of Wales where I grew up and the parts of the | :13:04. | :13:12. | |
committee that they now represent. It was, she seems, however, an | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
individual of immense strength which it relied heavily on when she | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
took on the old grandees to become first an MP and then the leader of | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
her party, at a time when I am sure that many of them thought the | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
woman's place was in the home. Watching the many re-runs of her | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
interviews on television in the last week I have been reminded of | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
her forthright style and plain- speaking. I distinctly remember the | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
bombing at the Conservative conference in Brighton and her | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
resolve to attend a conference the next day, speaking, with composure | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
I am sure that few of us could Buster in such circumstances. Her | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
legacies and rightly evoked strong reactions and those legacy is, | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
whether for good or for bad, they still affect our lives today. Our | :14:00. | :14:05. | |
presence here in this chamber, some would argue, is one of them. It is | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
right that those legacies are debated and their ongoing effect on | :14:10. | :14:17. | |
our nation. Today, on the eve of her funeral, we pay her - that we | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
pay our respects to her family and we remember a woman who devoted her | :14:22. | :14:32. | |
:14:32. | :14:44. | ||
agenda and the first item are questions to the first Minister. | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
What recommendations of the Francis report are being considered by the | :14:48. | :14:58. | |
:14:58. | :14:58. | ||
Welsh government? A review of all 290 recommendations is underway to | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
determine the e-learning for NHS Wales and the Minister will present | :15:01. | :15:10. | |
a full response -- response in July. Despite the view that health is | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
wholly devolved, there are a number of aspects still reserved in | :15:15. | :15:22. | |
Westminster. What discussions have you had with the UK government about | :15:22. | :15:26. | |
it being a joint policy on these or indeed for the full devolution of | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
health? There will be a full statement in July and members will | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
have the opportunity of understanding then what we have done | :15:37. | :15:42. | |
to consider the number of recommendations in the report. One | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
of the issues which was raised in the report was the pursuit of | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
targets and financial balance at the expense of quality of care. How do | :15:52. | :15:58. | |
you reflect on that given that over the Easter period, accidents and | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
emergency consultants described our NHS as being on the brink of | :16:02. | :16:09. | |
meltdown as a result of the lack of resources? We know there are | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
difficulties at the moment in terms of unshelled jute -- unscheduled | :16:14. | :16:24. | |
:16:24. | :16:26. | ||
care. The Minister is considering the issue at this moment in time and | :16:26. | :16:34. | |
will be taking action in the near future. Will you provide an update | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
on the preventative measures taken during the recent measles outbreak. | :16:38. | :16:45. | |
The Minister made a written statement on the response yesterday. | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
The Welsh government and Public health boards will take all | :16:48. | :16:53. | |
necessary measures to prevent the outbreak spreading further. I am | :16:53. | :16:58. | |
pleased to hear about the measures taken. I raise this issue in | :16:58. | :17:03. | |
question is when there was an increase in measles cases in North | :17:03. | :17:13. | |
:17:13. | :17:16. | ||
Wales, so can I be assured that the immunisation will remain a high | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
priority for public health across the whole of Wales so we can build | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
up immunity to these illnesses which actually can have very serious | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
consequences. The advice I would give is that parents should ensure | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
their children are vaccinated with the two vaccinations required to | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
provide immunity. You will be aware of the many of the thousands of | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
vaccinations that have been given in recent times in order to provide | :17:45. | :17:53. | |
that level of immunity. Will he be aware that a significant challenge | :17:53. | :17:59. | |
to get up to the 92% required for effective prevention of further | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
spread of the measles outbreak the Minister will remember that in 1988 | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
when this inoculation was introduced, prior to that there were | :18:08. | :18:18. | |
half a million cases every year with 100 resulting in death. With the | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
first Minister said there will be priority to ensure there is | :18:23. | :18:33. | |
:18:33. | :18:34. | ||
sufficient vaccines? 95% is required for herd immunity, we are at 94.3% | :18:34. | :18:40. | |
confirmed when it comes to the first immunisation and at 89.9% with | :18:40. | :18:43. | |
regard to the second dose. Our intention is to ensure that both | :18:43. | :18:50. | |
doses reach the 95% target and I believe the publicity that has been | :18:50. | :18:58. | |
given over the past few weeks will help us to reach that target. | :18:58. | :19:03. | |
Minister, we are seeing the effects of a vaccination rate declined that | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
happened a decade ago and there were some members felt there was the | :19:11. | :19:17. | |
perception of controversy and called the government to abandon promoting | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
the vaccine. We acknowledge there are problems with the message so | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
will the government commit to a future public awareness campaign to | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
make sure this does not happen again? I would have to say there | :19:30. | :19:36. | |
were some elements Indymedia which fuelled the fears of parents. -- | :19:36. | :19:45. | |
Indymedia. I know that elements of the media have a job to do but it is | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
an element in the outbreak in Swansea in terms of the level of | :19:51. | :19:56. | |
immunisations. What is important is that the scare that was fuelled at | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
the time by what was claimed to be robust medical research, has been | :20:02. | :20:07. | |
discredited and of course parents now see how important the | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
immunisation is. None of us would wish to see the message being | :20:12. | :20:18. | |
presented in the way it has been but certainly I believe will be a way of | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
ensuring we see vaccination levels rise to the 95% for both | :20:22. | :20:29. | |
immunisations. We now move to questions for the party leaders. | :20:29. | :20:37. | |
Kirsty Williams. First Minister, who should be held responsible for | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
figures showing that ambulances in Wales spent six years waiting | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
outside Welsh a and E departments in the last six months? I recognised | :20:47. | :20:55. | |
the research on this. She makes a good point. It is important we | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
recognise it has been difficult for ambulances over the past few | :20:59. | :21:06. | |
months. There have been pressures in terms of unscheduled care. The | :21:06. | :21:12. | |
statement, the report that has been commissioned on ambulance services | :21:12. | :21:16. | |
will be presented tomorrow and the Minister is considering what should | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
be done to alleviate the pressures that have been built up in a and E | :21:20. | :21:26. | |
departments. The figures are of little comfort to the patients who | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
have wasted over five and a half hours in the back of an ambulance. | :21:30. | :21:37. | |
Earlier this month, half of a and E consultants of Wales wrote to the | :21:37. | :21:39. | |
minister saying emergency departments were on their knees and | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
they were at the point of meltdown. When will you stop being so flippant | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
and stop burying your head in the sand about the crisis in our | :21:49. | :21:56. | |
emergency departments? An element of flippancy is to suggest I would meet | :21:56. | :22:03. | |
constituents and then not follow it up. That is what the Liberal | :22:03. | :22:08. | |
Democrat has done. It is correct to say there are pressures on a and E | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
and the ambulance service. We do know that there has been for some | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
months now pressure building up in that regard, we know there are many | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
elderly people who are being referred to hospitals and that of | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
course has led to pressure building. There are two ways of dealing with | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
this. The first dealing with it by the ambulance service review and | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
secondly to assess the need in terms of what must be done to alleviate | :22:35. | :22:41. | |
the situation and that is what the Minister is doing. The reality is | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
that those same consultants who wrote to your health minister said | :22:44. | :22:48. | |
they are struggling to look after patients stuck in a and E because | :22:48. | :22:55. | |
they are waiting for beds. All the reorganisation plans will see a | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
reduction in hospital beds. The ambulance with you will not help at | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
all. Ambulances are stacking up outside emergency departments which | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
are full of patients with no beds to go to. Is it not the reality that | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
the proposed changes will mean fewer beds and in the community fewer beds | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
will mean longer waits for patients which in turn will be to longer | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
waits for ambulances outside those departments? The leader of the Lib | :23:25. | :23:32. | |
Dems suggests that the consultants are somehow objecting to the reach | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
of -- reconfiguration part. They do not. They understand what needs to | :23:37. | :23:43. | |
be done. We take seriously any letter that is sent to us by | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
consultants, we would not want to see the service getting as bad as in | :23:47. | :23:53. | |
England. We understand there has been a buildup in terms of | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
unscheduled care and we are determined to tackle it. First | :23:59. | :24:08. | |
Minister, over the Easter recess there was much talk of the mid-staff | :24:08. | :24:14. | |
scandal and the Francis report. Argue confident the Welsh health | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
service and in particular Welsh hospitals are not in the same | :24:17. | :24:24. | |
position that the mid-staff found itself in? There is no evidence to | :24:24. | :24:28. | |
suggest that hospitals are in the same position. I agree with you but | :24:28. | :24:34. | |
you would be aware that in a certain limited number of cases there has | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
been great concern amongst patients and clinicians about some of the | :24:39. | :24:44. | |
aspects around mid-staff coming into wells and happening here in Wales. | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
One of the issues that has been touched on by experts and | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
politicians is to introduce a duty of candle into the health service. | :24:53. | :25:00. | |
Are you minded to introduce such a Jew to fire a legal framework so | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
that clinicians and patients can have the confidence that such | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
debacle is that happened at mid-staff would be prevented here? | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
The issue has been raised by a number of members and is something | :25:13. | :25:19. | |
we will give consideration to. There are substantial recommendations that | :25:19. | :25:25. | |
have emerged as a result of the report and there will be a full | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
response in July. Although mid-staff is in England, it is important we | :25:29. | :25:36. | |
are vigilant in ensuring that the Welsh health service delivers. | :25:36. | :25:42. | |
Tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of the death of Robbie Powell. I have | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
met Will Powell over the Easter recess and he has been in | :25:46. | :25:52. | |
discussions with yourself and one of the issues that he and his family | :25:52. | :25:56. | |
have is around the medical notes that were taken at the time and the | :25:56. | :26:01. | |
medical negligence. It is his belief that such a duty of candle which | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
make a difference to the health service. Do you accept that the | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
Powell family have waited so long to try and seek justice to the death of | :26:10. | :26:15. | |
Robbie Powell and what happened to their sons and one way of | :26:15. | :26:21. | |
alleviating some of the grief that Mister Powell feels is to introduce | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
such a duty within the health service in Wales that would give | :26:26. | :26:31. | |
great assistance to families such as theirs who have found themselves in | :26:31. | :26:37. | |
the 23 year logjam of trying to seek justice around the death of a family | :26:38. | :26:43. | |
member. It is something we would consider. Mister Powell and his son | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
were the subject of the most appalling chain of events which have | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
been revealed by the independent investigation. I have always been | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
keen to ensure that whether there are lessons that can be learned, and | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
learned. There are issues we have no control over but the duty of candle | :27:04. | :27:13. | |
is something we will give consideration to. There have then a | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
number of developments during the recess which have impacted on food | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
security and applied Comrie have argued that we can help both the | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
local economy and climate change if we can produce more locally and buy | :27:25. | :27:32. | |
more locally. That will be made all the more difficult following the | :27:32. | :27:38. | |
closure of the Welsh country foods processing plant in Anglesey. That | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
will not only have a serious adverse impact on small businesses and the | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
economy, but will have wider repercussions as there is no | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
processing plant north of Merthyr Tydfil. Many will be forced to send | :27:53. | :27:59. | |
their livestock across the border. As the chair says for Wales and the | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
industry in North Wales, this is a disaster. What will you do to save | :28:04. | :28:12. | |
those jobs and assist the farming industry to deal with the closure? | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
It is something that is wholly unwelcome to us and to those that | :28:16. | :28:26. | |
:28:26. | :28:27. | ||
work there. 1300 jobs have been saved at Merthyr. In terms of what | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
is happening, there are still discussions taking place. I do not | :28:32. | :28:40. | |
want to raise hopes at this stage, should the worst come to the worse, | :28:40. | :28:43. | |
people can expect the fullest level of support we can offer as a | :28:43. | :28:50. | |
government. As someone who supports our farming industry, I am concerned | :28:50. | :28:56. | |
that if processing moves out of Wales, this produce may not be sold | :28:56. | :29:01. | |
as Welsh lamb despite the excellent brand name that Welsh lamb has. This | :29:01. | :29:08. | |
will have a financial consequence. Given the possible effect of this, | :29:08. | :29:14. | |
do you agree it is time to reconsider the financial rules that | :29:14. | :29:24. | |
:29:24. | :29:26. | ||
govern the redmeat levy allocation The issue is that of the levy in | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
that is applied. This didn't used to be an issue but it was important | :29:31. | :29:36. | |
to us in Wales. We had our own body that fully funded a Welsh mead. In | :29:36. | :29:40. | |
terms of the way the levy is examined -- distributed, I believe | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
this is being examined at the moment. The weather is finally | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
starting to improve but the prolonged winter and especially the | :29:47. | :29:53. | |
heavy snowfall in March has badly hit many of our food producers. | :29:53. | :30:00. | |
Last week the farming and land organisations took the | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
unprecedented step of writing to the Minister for natural resources | :30:03. | :30:09. | |
and fruit to request additional support for the farming industry. | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
Welsh farmers are clearly being disadvantaged, compared to those in | :30:13. | :30:19. | |
Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. Firstly, can you tell us | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
your plans for future bad weather, and secondly, we you reverse the | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
decision, and provide compensation for farmers who have suffered | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
direct losses as a result of this weather? There still, there is no | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
compensation in England. The schemes that are in place in | :30:36. | :30:39. | |
Northern Ireland and Scotland are quite different. In Northern | :30:39. | :30:46. | |
Ireland areas about -- hardship funding of up to 7,000 euros per | :30:46. | :30:51. | |
farmer which includes the cost of disposal of fallen animals. The | :30:51. | :30:57. | |
scheme works on proportion of losses per individual farm and | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
there is no compensation there are available for structural damage to | :31:00. | :31:05. | |
sheds or fences. In Scotland they are offering capital grants to | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
provide support for structural damage as a result of the snow and | :31:09. | :31:14. | |
money was made available to support farmers with a fall in stock. It is | :31:14. | :31:17. | |
not quite a compensation scheme that the Scots have. Officials were | :31:17. | :31:23. | |
asked last week on how they could provide further support to farming | :31:23. | :31:29. | |
businesses and a minister has already spoken on terms of our from | :31:29. | :31:35. | |
burial and the relief that is being given their. We will seek moves to | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
bring forward the individual farm payment to October. In terms of | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
what is being done to help farmers and Wales, we believe help has been | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
provided. We are working with farming charities in order to | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
assist them with the work that they are doing. It would not be correct | :31:52. | :31:59. | |
to say that there is a compensation scheme, it is rather more | :31:59. | :32:07. | |
complicated than that. What discussions has the First Minister | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
had with the the UK government in relation to the call for UK | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
constitutional Convention? I have had an exchange in correspondence. | :32:13. | :32:20. | |
It was not angry. That was over my call for a convention. We agreed | :32:20. | :32:22. | |
that there should be a constitutional convention but we | :32:22. | :32:26. | |
disagreed over the timing. I would have preferred to have such a | :32:26. | :32:28. | |
convention before the Scottish referendum but he thinks should | :32:28. | :32:36. | |
take place afterwards. I was very pleased that the proposal for a | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
constitutional convention was backed by Westminster's | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
constitutional committee. Does the First Minister agree that it is | :32:43. | :32:47. | |
important that such a convention it should meet swiftly and before the | :32:47. | :32:52. | |
Scottish referendum, Aziz said, so that a positive alternative view of | :32:52. | :32:56. | |
the future shape of the UK years on the table before such a vote takes | :32:56. | :33:00. | |
place? I think that is by far the most sensible approach. I don't | :33:00. | :33:05. | |
think it will happen, sadly. Looking at the opinion polls in | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
Scotland, it seems clear to me that the appetite for independence is | :33:08. | :33:14. | |
not strong but there is never less an appetite for greater devolution. | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
Putting in place a robust offer in terms of devolution for Scotland | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
and elsewhere in the UK could have helped immensely in terms of | :33:22. | :33:32. | |
offering Scotland, not just Scotland, a secure Future. The UK | :33:32. | :33:36. | |
is not the only country in the world that is looking at the shape | :33:36. | :33:40. | |
of its future constitution at the moment. Will the convention be | :33:40. | :33:43. | |
adopting lessons from other countries and other regions in the | :33:43. | :33:47. | |
developed world in deciding how it will actually take any of this work | :33:47. | :33:52. | |
forward? It is difficult because the UK is quite different in the | :33:52. | :33:57. | |
sense that it is a kind of federal state and yet it is not. It has a | :33:57. | :34:01. | |
wholly unwritten constitution which can be an advantage. The cat Spain, | :34:01. | :34:05. | |
where the constitution is written, it is far more difficult to effect | :34:05. | :34:10. | |
greater devolution around Spain, which makes it difficult in terms | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
of being flexible in the level of devolution that people are | :34:13. | :34:15. | |
comfortable with in different parts of that country, where those | :34:15. | :34:22. | |
lessons could be learnt I am sure a convention would look at them but | :34:22. | :34:27. | |
the UK is an unusual situation in terms of its constitution and its | :34:27. | :34:34. | |
make-up as a state. First Minister, wouldn't you agree that they can | :34:34. | :34:37. | |
mention of this sort would work better if some of the issues that | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
have yet to be devolved and yet to be revolved - a resolved in terms | :34:41. | :34:48. | |
of devolution were resolved. For example the funding floor and the | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
borrowing powers for the Welsh government. In which sequence do | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
you place this different issues? I believe the people of Wales would | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
be more willing to involve themselves in a convention if they | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
could see that the current situation had been properly | :35:02. | :35:07. | |
resolved. The convention should not be something that is instead of | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
silk but something that comes after it. In my opinion we should ensure | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
that part one of Silk is moved forward and then that is the most | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
important thing and then we moved to part to which according to the | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
timetable we now have, we will look at devolution across the United | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
Kingdom to ensure a settlement in all parts of the United Kingdom | :35:29. | :35:36. | |
which is more secure than we have at present. One of the major issues | :35:36. | :35:41. | |
of any constitutional convention would be to give coherence to | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
justice and prisons policy. The Ministry of Justice Sneinton of | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
Wales as one of three areas in the running for a new prison which | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
could be worth over �70 million at 1,000 jobs to the local economy. | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
Could you identify what work the Welsh government is doing to bring | :35:56. | :36:02. | |
a new prison to the region? We have consistently made the case that a | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
prison is needed in the North to allow more prisoners to serve time | :36:05. | :36:11. | |
in Wales. I wrote to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of | :36:11. | :36:14. | |
State for the Ministry of Justice on Friday following a property | :36:14. | :36:17. | |
search by our officials. There are a number of sites in Welsh | :36:17. | :36:20. | |
government ownership which could meet the broad requirements and we | :36:20. | :36:30. | |
:36:30. | :36:30. | ||
felt that the main candidate among those sites are was in Wrexham. | :36:31. | :36:36. | |
Isn't the strongest argument in favour of a convention that one | :36:36. | :36:42. | |
would have to have some sort of convention, whatever the outcome of | :36:42. | :36:47. | |
the Scottish referendum would be. Clearly, the UK government, and the | :36:47. | :36:53. | |
Scottish government, are going to have to negotiate the terms of | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
their relationship, whatever the outcome? Wouldn't it be wiser, | :36:57. | :37:03. | |
therefore, for the first ministers and the prime ministers of the UK | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
to come together and to agree on this and to accept the suggestion | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
made by the First Minister of Wales that recommences work as a matter | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
of urgency. That would be entirely sensible in my opinion. At present | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
we know what the opinion is of the Prime Minister of the United | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
Kingdom. Even though I haven't asked to this of Alex Salmond, I | :37:25. | :37:29. | |
know his opinion that we do not need a British constitution because | :37:29. | :37:36. | |
Scotland may not be a part of the United Kingdom next year, so the | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
situation is very complex in Northern Ireland but it is entirely | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
correct to say that we will need a convention after the referendum in | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
Scotland whatever the result is. Will the first minister make a | :37:49. | :37:53. | |
statement on ambulance waiting times in South Wales Central? | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
Response times are variable and that much had to be acknowledged. | :37:56. | :38:01. | |
We have said at that improving the quality abandon its response is one | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
of our main priorities and we know there is support for this notion. I | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
can say that the minister is awaiting a report which is due to | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
be submitted tomorrow as I mentioned earlier. The statistics | :38:15. | :38:18. | |
speak for themselves but you don't seem to have wanted to engage about | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
that. I want to talk to that an individual who wrote to me to tell | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
me that on Mother's Day his mother fell and fractured her solder -- | :38:26. | :38:31. | |
shoulder and she was left lying on a pavement in the sub-zero | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
temperatures for one-and-a-half hours, waiting for an ambulance | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
with potential spinal injuries. Will you write to my constituents | :38:38. | :38:43. | |
and explain to him what has gone wrong and apologise to him for his | :38:43. | :38:50. | |
mother's appalling experience. course, if you provide me with | :38:50. | :38:53. | |
information, and the nature of the complaint I will be more than happy | :38:53. | :39:01. | |
to investigate that. First Minister, we are aware of many of the | :39:01. | :39:07. | |
problems and we eagerly await the report. In progressing matters and | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
is during the ambulance service does progressively become better, | :39:10. | :39:14. | |
one of the key things that must be done is proper engagement in | :39:14. | :39:17. | |
discussion with other people on the ground themselves, the drivers and | :39:17. | :39:21. | |
a staff of the ambulances. Will you be meeting with in the ambulance | :39:21. | :39:26. | |
staff and personnel to discuss their per exception of the problems | :39:26. | :39:32. | |
and also any recommendations that may come forward? -- perception. | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
These are matters for the minister involved and I am certain that he | :39:35. | :39:42. | |
will want to gain a wide variety of views before taking matters further. | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
First Minister, ever since I have been an assembly member there have | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
been issues that ambulance response times in this assembly, raised by | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
members from across the whole of Wales, and you have Commission | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
close to one dozen reports since devolution started into the | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
ambulance started. You talked earlier in response to the leader | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
of the Welsh Liberal Democrats that you need to make assessments. What | :40:07. | :40:11. | |
assessment has your government made of the changes that are not | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
required to make the real improvements in ambulance response | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
times that patients and clinicians need here in Wales, rather than by | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
2015 or 2016 and then us getting another report into ambulance | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
response times. Few other government and the executive | :40:28. | :40:33. | |
leaders and it is time to sort the mess out. We await a tomorrow's | :40:33. | :40:37. | |
report. That said, I cannot say to the chamber that the Government is | :40:37. | :40:40. | |
content with ambulance response times because that clearly is not | :40:40. | :40:45. | |
the case. We have seen issues regarding ambulances waiting too | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
long at a ENT departments and I have also heard many instances of | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
members and others saying they waited too long for an ambulance | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
and I clearly cannot continue in the long term. I am sure this is | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
very much on the minister's lined - - mind. | :41:01. | :41:03. | |
There we are. We'll leave First Minister's Questions there, but | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
don't forget that you can see more coverage of the Assembly online via | :41:07. | :41:12. | |
the BBC Wales Democracy Live page. Let's pick up on some of that with | :41:12. | :41:14. | |
our Welsh Affairs Editor, Vaughan Roderick, who's been watching down | :41:14. | :41:22. | |
in the Bay. Quite a difficult balance of for some of the party's | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
leaders there, but Edgley Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Liberal | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
Democrats in the tributes to Margaret Thatcher. It was difficult. | :41:30. | :41:38. | |
I don't think one of the opposition leaders actually hit quite the | :41:38. | :41:44. | |
right note that Ed Miliband did in Westminster. There was a little bit | :41:44. | :41:50. | |
of sourness around but maybe it was inevitable. I don't think it is any | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
great secret that there was a lot of people in the party's other than | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
the Conservatives in Cardiff Bay who did not feel this was | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
appropriate, that Margaret Thatcher wasn't a member of the assembly or | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
a Welsh politician, why should she be commemorated in this way? They | :42:06. | :42:12. | |
stuck very much to script. Perhaps the most telling failure was a wide | :42:12. | :42:17. | |
shot at the end of the tributes, at the start of a First Minister's | :42:17. | :42:22. | |
questions where you could see Labour and Plaid Cymru Ms pouring | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
into the chamber, having deliberately stayed outside during | :42:25. | :42:31. | |
those tributes. Once we got into the meat of of First Minister's | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
Questions, obviously the issue over measles was one of the issues that | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
was raised. Yes, it was dominated pretty much by health all the way | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
through today. We had ambulance waiting times, we had the question | :42:44. | :42:49. | |
of measles and we have the question of the state of the A&E departments. | :42:49. | :42:54. | |
That is where we were before Easter. The state of the Welsh Health | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
Service is central to the assembly and totally central to Welsh | :42:57. | :43:02. | |
politics at the moment. We heard a lot about the constitutional | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
convention. This is something that Carwyn Jones has said he wants to | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
see for the whole of the UK and looking at this issue of | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
independence in Scotland. Yes, Carwyn Jones was the first person | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
to call for a constitutional convention. He seemed to hint | :43:17. | :43:21. | |
pretty strongly that David Cameron agreed that there should be one. | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
The question is, does that take place before the referendum in | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
Scotland or after. Really does shots will be called by David | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
Cameron and Alex Salmond and his appears that neither of those are | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
particularly keen on a constitutional convention before | :43:37. | :43:41. | |
the referendum. I think it is a bit of a dead rubber but for us | :43:41. | :43:45. | |
constitutional anoraks, the fact that it probably is on the way at | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
some stage is good news. Keep us talking for hours! Thank you very | :43:50. | :43:52. |