Part of 2. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 21 June 2016.
Well, could I first of all express my slight annoyance that the leader of the opposition has got in before me when it comes to congratulating the Welsh football team? A wonderful result last night. The Cabinet Secretary, Ken Skates, was there—he’s looking well after such an evening as we saw. This is hugely important for Wales in terms of our profile around the world and the fact that there are fewer and fewer people who will say, ‘Wales? Where’s that?’ I think that’s hugely important. But the leader of the opposition raises a hugely important point, and that is, ‘What message are we conveying to doctors and other primary care professionals if we leave the EU?’ We know, for example, it is said that people who come here who are migrants put pressure on the NHS. I don’t buy that; they are mainly young, they’re working and they barely see a doctor. The reality is that they contribute, particularly those professionals who work in the NHS, to helping to care for sick people in Wales. The effect of a ‘leave’ vote would be to send the message to medical professionals, ‘Don’t come here. You can go anywhere else in Europe, but don’t think that you’re coming here’, and that will make it far more difficult to attract the medical expertise that we need into Wales.