http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speecharchive.php Recent Speeches from Michael German AM en-GB Michael German AM http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2010 Michael German AM 2010-07-30T08:14+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000010/leaders_speech_to_spring_conference_in_llandudno_february_2008.html Conference, I want to tell you about a journey. 2008-02-23T00:00+00:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000009/we_put_our_trust_in_wales_and_the_people_of_wales.html "Dwi wrth fy modd bod yma yng Ngheredigion - etholaeth gyda aelod seneddol Dem Rhydd Cymru - Mark Williams. 2006-10-14T00:00+01:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000008/domestic_abuse__the_nightmare_for_christmas.html I have chosen to address domestic abuse today in the hope of raising awareness. Issues of domestic abuse need to be faced and brought into the open. As politicians we cannot leave it to soap operas to do that for us. 2005-12-07T15:23+00:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000004/higher_education_fees_speech.html This is a red-letter day for Welsh students and higher education institutions in Wales, and perhaps I should say that it is a rainbow-coloured-letter day for consensus politics. The motion before us today secures and safeguards the future of higher education in Wales and, most importantly, it clearly sets out that Wales has now joined Scotland in rejecting top-up fees for the benefit of students. I am pleased that the Liberal Democrats have made a difference in both countries. 2005-06-22T00:00+01:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000005/liberal_democrat_minority_debate_on_id_cards.html There is a difference between entitlement cards and identity cards, but let us remember that the Home Office, from which the entitlement cards will come, states quite clearly on its website—and I invite the Minister to look at it—that the cards are about accessing public services. That is precisely why this motion has been tabled. The crucial intention of the debate—and this has been quite clear from the contributions of all Members, except perhaps the Minister—is to highlight the fact that identity cards are an excuse to meddle and interfere in people's lives. They are an excuse for the state to try to control ever more of our everyday lives. They are an excuse by the state to collect and collate a large amount of personal data, which would be an unwarranted intrusion into people's lives. 2005-06-07T00:00+01:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000006/liberal_democrat_nominated_short_debate_tsunami__wales_role.html On Boxing Day, a disaster hit this planet on a scale beyond anything that we have seen in many years, certainly during most of my lifetime. An earthquake beneath the sea sent a wall of water that wreaked destruction for thousands of kilometres around. This catastrophe has prompted a response from the people of Wales that is equally awesome in its scale. In a time of great need, the people of Wales have proved themselves to be friends indeed to the people of south Asia and beyond. The tidal wave hit 13 countries, and the death toll is now more than 150,000 and will possibly reach 200,000. Five million or more people are homeless, with many also left without a livelihood, and some 453 Britons are presumed dead, with thousands missing. 2005-01-12T00:00+00:00 http://www.michaelgerman.org.uk/speeches/000007/speech_to_the_liberal_democrat_federal_conference.html In the Welsh Assembly Government, one of my portfolios is Wales Abroad. 2002-09-24T00:00+01:00