Llywydd, I’m a big fan of The Clash. I remember seeing them at Sofia Gardens when I was 17. I can’t get into those size 28 leather trousers any more—if I ever could—though the ringing in my ears, and there is, is a constant reminder that I may have overdosed on loud music at those concerts—Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Damned, Tom Robinson and, of course, The Clash. So, it’s good to hear one of their totemic tracks, ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’, on the airwaves and in the news so much lately. From Radio 4 to Radio Wales to opinion pieces in ‘Time’ magazine and the Norfolk ‘Eastern Daily Press’. I bet they never thought that this punchy punk rock track would end up as a backdrop for a debate on the future of the UK and EU membership.

For Wales, for south Wales, for my constituency of Ogmore, there are clear reasons why it’s better not to have the door of the EU slammed in our faces, and the first is the spending power. One of the benefits of the EU is that funds can be allocated towards regions of greater need, so we are, inarguably, better off financially in the EU because we receive structural funds for the Valleys and for rural development funds and so on well beyond what we put in—well beyond what we put in. And yes, this is our money, but it’s our money coming back with even more added into south Wales and the west and the Valleys. Anyone arguing for Leave is arguing (a) for less regional and rural development money coming to west Wales and the Valleys and rural communities or (b) has had secret talks with the Chancellor to guarantee that he’ll bolster the block grant for Wales to replace the lost moneys and, as we just heard, there is no guarantee.

Some £1.8 million of those funds went into the regeneration of Maesteg market, also supported ably by the Labour local authority. They went into the Bridges into Work scheme, benefiting up to 2,000 people in Ogmore and throughout the south Wales Valleys, improving training and mentoring for skills into work. And £1.7 million went into the STEM Cymru scheme, promoting careers in science, technology, engineering and maths to our young people. And, for a rural wards—and that’s all but two of the wards in my constituency of Ogmore—it goes into real improvements in the places we live, through the EU-funded Welsh Government-administered rural development programme, creating things like a community gym in a refurbished church hall in Blaengarw or renovating the Llangynwyd village hall, turning it from a semi-derelict unused shell into a thriving community space that brings people together and provides a lovely cup of tea and cake as well. It’s the extension of this with the new Bridgend Thriving Rural Communities scheme, promoted by Bridgend’s Labour council, offering support and grants of up to £100,000 for ideas to improve and regenerate our communities. I could go on.

So, should we stay or should we go? Well, maybe there is a hint in the song itself, subtly tucked away. In the fury of the rock riff and the belted out lyrics, it’s easy to miss the fact that the chorus is being sung in sync in Tex-Mex and Castilian Spanish by Joe Ely and the late, great Joe Strummer. Castilian Spanish in a quintessentially British punk rock classic. Maybe it’s trying to tell us something: we’re better off staying together.