Senedd Watch - November 2016

• On November 3^rd, the UK High Court ruled the UK Parliament must vote to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the Brexit process, and the powers are not held under royal prerogative by the Prime Minister. The UK Government appealed to the Supreme Court.
  

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FMQs : Sepsis, Letting Fees & Sport Wales

Sometimes AMs discuss stuff that only matters to themselves or those who lobby them. Sometimes they concentrate on things that have more topical relevance – as they did today.

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Assembly backs "Smart Farming"

(Pic : Emirates Business)

As someone who loathes buzzwords, I'm sceptical of the current trend of sticking "smart" in front of everything, but as such technologies have become more commonplace it's playing a part in all walks of life.

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FMQs : Circuit of Wales, Water & Tolls

The big story this afternoon is the emergence of a potential "cash for access" scandal. I stress "potential".

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Who are "The Establishment"?

Is the idea of a single monolithic Establishment a myth?
(Pic : The Spectator)

2016 will be marked by a revolt against the status quo in liberal democracies. In Wales we've seen the election of UKIP AMs for the first time, followed by Brexit. Earlier this year there was an inconclusive Irish general election. There's also the re-election of Jeremy Corbyn in the face of opposition from Labour's aristocracy and finally Donald Trump's victory last week.

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FMQs : GPs, Chainsaws & Trump

There were a number of exchanges relating to the new President-Elect of the US this afternoon ( as you might expect) but the staple topic of health dominated discussion overall.

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Carmarthenshire's Roll of Dishonour

This weekend, people will gather near monuments which, in some cases, will list the names of those who willingly and unwillingly sacrificed their lives in conflict.

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Woodpeckers, Tits & Choughs

(Pic : Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)

In the last few weeks an alliance of environmental, conservation and ecology groups published a State of Nature report for 2016 (pdf). It didn't make good reading when it comes to protecting native Welsh species, with some spots of hope. There's more from the Assembly's Research Service here.

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Public Health Bill (Re)Introduced

(Pic : BBC)

As you probably all know, the Fourth Assembly's Public Health Bill was troubled at several points, mainly because it proposed to ban "vaping" in public places in line with tobacco.

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FMQs : Veterans, USA & Article 50

It's a long one this week as I've decided to tack on the Assembly's response to the Article 50 judgement. There's also a sense of deja vu from recent FMQs as you'll probably see for yourselves.

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Election 2016 : Where are they now?

It's six months since the Assembly election, so it's worth catching up with some of those who lost their seats to find out what they're up to now.

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FMQs Extra : Pembrokeshire, Heathrow & Orgreave

First Minister's Questions....without the First Minister.
(Pic : Wales Online)

As promised, I'm going to return to yesterday's plenary session and cover the four urgent questions asked following FMQs.

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FMQs : Autism, Teachers & Fireworks

Same stuff; different week. You know the drill.

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