[R] signifies the Member has declared an interest. [W] signifies that the question was tabled in Welsh.

We now move on to the urgent question that I have accepted under Standing Order 12.66, and I call on Simon Thomas to ask the urgent question.

Following a statement by the UK Government on the future of EU citizens living in the UK, will the First Minister make a statement on the Welsh Government’s position? EAQ(5)0105(FM)[W]

Well, in order to repeat the words I said earlier, I’ve written to the Home Secretary to ensure that she will confirm that the United Kingdom will allow European Union citizens to remain within the United Kingdom on a permanent basis, those that are here already. And, of course, it’s quite wrong to see these people as people that should be discussed and debated. It’s important that that guarantee is given now.

Thank you for that confirmation, First Minister. I do hope that you will publish the letter that you’ve written to the Home Secretary, as well as her response to that letter. Despite what we’ve heard in the Chamber today, a spokesperson on behalf of Theresa May said yesterday, in explaining the position expressed in the Commons:

nid ydym ni eisiau datgelu ein sefyllfa negodi ar y cychwyn.

To me, that sounds as if EU citizens are being treated as chess pieces and are being moved around for political reasons. There are 67,000 people from European Union nations living in Wales, 500 of them doctors in our health service. We can’t afford to lose these people, and they are part of our families, they’re part of our communities, and part of contemporary Wales. It is disgraceful that these people are treated in the way in which they have been over the past week because of an election within one party that’s a minority in the House of Commons.

We must send a robust message from Wales that these people are welcome in our communities, that we want them to stay, and that we will continue to welcome them and do everything we can to demonstrate that. There was an event on the prom in Aberystwyth on Saturday—I don’t know if you saw that; it didn’t get a great deal of attention, but there were 400 people there, standing firmly alongside refugees, and people from other nations, and everyone who has come to live in Wales.

I saw that event and once again I can confirm that that’s extremely important, because I’ve heard people talk about this. I was in Llanelli—as were you, of course—last week, listening to people’s concerns there, and I heard the same thing in Swansea. It’s exceptionally important that there is confirmation and affirmation from the United Kingdom Government that people here already can remain. Some people say that they can stay anyway, but we haven’t heard that from the United Kingdom Government, the people making these decisions. This is not a matter for discussion; this is something that we need an assurance on now in order to ensure that people can still believe that there is a welcome for them in Wales and in the United Kingdom. That’s not the case at the moment, and he and I, of course, have heard evidence of that over the past few weeks.

I spent part of yesterday morning trying to remove a racist slogan from somebody’s front door, and, unfortunately, these sorts of incidents are not isolated. What do you think the Government can do to try and tone down the levels of hatred that this Brexit vote seems to have unleashed, as well as ensuring that we get the full co-operation of local authorities, the police and the voluntary sector to ensure these things are stamped out and are deemed to be unacceptable?

My comment last week was quite simply this: all countries have their idiots and Wales has its share, unfortunately. I was too generous to these people in the way I described them I believe now, but there we are; I have to be diplomatic in my job as best I can. The reality is that I heard people who were very afraid last week—people who’d lived in the UK for generations, actually, but, because they looked different, therefore they were a target. We have been in contact with the police and crime commissioners to make sure that the police are aware of what’s happening. The police are certainly very keen to emphasise the fact that people should report hate crimes; they will, of course, then take action. And the message has to be got out there that we will not accept this kind of hatred in our society; we cannot be tolerant of intolerance. What has been let out of the bottle is going to be difficult to control, but it must be controlled for the good of our society.

Thank you, First Minister.