2. Urgent Question: EU Citizens in the UK

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:21 pm on 5 July 2016.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:21, 5 July 2016

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.