Speaking in the Assembly Debate on ‘the EU Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration’, I stated that “we now see the grotesque chaos of Labour MPs in North Wales saying that they will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement because the UK would remain subject to EU rules for a period beyond our membership – when, from the outset, Welsh Labour’s joint ‘Brexit’ White Paper with Plaid Cymru called for the UK to remain subject to these rules forever”.
When I questioned the Local Government Secretary about Flintshire County Council’s #BackTheAsk campaign to get a fair share of Welsh national funds, backed unanimously by Councillors of all Parties, he said that the Leader of Flintshire County Council had told him “that he had no wish to reopen the funding formula or debate or discussions around that formula”. This is very odd, when Flintshire’s Council Leader and Chief Executive jointly signed a 28th November letter to both the Local Government Secretary and Finance Secretary in which they stated “we ask that our local position is recognised and respected. The disparity in formula-based funding for Councils inevitably creates a wide variation in the financial risks to councils in Wales. Flintshire is at the extreme end of the continuum of risk".
Questioning the Leader of the House, I stated that “Despite years of warnings by the North Wales Local Medical Committee, General Practice in Wales received the lowest percentage share of the NHS budget of any part of the UK last year. That's the key reason why so many practices in North Wales have closed.”
Closing the Welsh Conservative Debate on ‘Welsh Government Performance’, which evidenced where Welsh Labour-led Governments have taken Wales backwards in the economy, housing, education, and health, I noted that poverty and deprivation are higher in Wales than in any other nation in Britain, and average earnings in Wales are lower and have grown slower than in other UK nations, and stated “Wales is suffering from one of the worst Governments endured by any part of the United Kingdom since the arrival of the universal franchise”.
I sponsored and spoke at Construction Youth Cymru’s ‘Clean Slate Cymru’ Project Event. The project, delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board and BAM Nuttall, helps ex-offenders train and find employment in the construction sector.
I Chaired meetings of the Cross Party Groups on Autism and on Neurological Conditions. Other engagements included Hospice UK, CBI Wales and the Civil Engineering Contractors Association Wales.
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