Yes, well I’m grateful for the intervention from the Member. Let me remind the Member of these statistics: 1,574 were race related; 319 related to sexuality; 240 to disability; 90 to religion; and 25 to transgender. These are the ‘small’ numbers that the Member refers to in regard to a small proportion of hate crime. Let me remind the Member also of the referendum, which he also dismisses as having had any impact on hate crime at all. In light of the recent rises in racism following the outcomes of the EU referendum it’s important that we continue to work together to tackle this intolerance. In the month following the EU referendum—the Member can’t contradict these; they are figures issued by the Home Office—there was a 72 per cent increase in referrals to the Welsh Government-funded national hate crime report and support centre in comparison to the referrals in 2015. The only common thing that happened there was the EU referendum. You cannot dispute that programme.

As the Member is the leader now of the UKIP programme, maybe he would have a view, when he said about people suggesting that UKIP bring into their ranks racists et cetera—maybe now the leader would like to refer back to a media report where one of his Members, currently, blamed ethnic minorities for litter and hygiene problems here in Cardiff. Now, what’s the Member going to do about that in his statement regarding hate crime?

Let me just remind Members—this is an important debate in national hate crime week, and we should all come together to deliver on a welcoming country for all. I hope Neil Hamilton and Michelle Brown will reflect on their comments today and consider their implications for the wider communities that they are now here to represent. I’m glad for the opportunity to speak about these issues during hate crime week and I look forward to working with Members of all parties to tackle all forms of hate wherever that occurs.