Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to speak in this very important debate. I’d actually like to start by praising the work of Funky Dragon. I think that the work that Funky Dragon did over many years had much merit. I had a lot of contact with Funky Dragon for many years in Westminster, and I know that they did empower many of their members to go forward and to take prominent places in their community. Certainly, we know that some of them went forward and became councillors, and that they’ve campaigned on issues. I think that Funky Dragon did an enormous amount of good. I do regret that we didn’t move from Funky Dragon to a youth parliament because that would have avoided this gap and this feeling that we’ve been left behind in this particular area of work, which, of course, we have to acknowledge, we have been.

We are lagging behind other countries, and we’ve already heard about the fact that the UK parliament has been up since 1999 and, of course, a lot of progress has been made there. The young people now sit on the hallowed green benches, which was a big fight to actually get them to be there, but they do actually debate in that Chamber now, in the House of Commons. Also, the young people there are very representative. When I met a group of young people, I was really pleased that there were Gypsy/Travellers represented as young members of Parliament. So, I thought that that’s the sort of thing we need to think of to make sure that every group is represented. Of course, the Scottish parliament has already been referred to. The Scottish Youth Parliament has members aged 14 to 25, and they represent all of the 32 local authorities in Scotland. So, again, I think that that’s a very good model that we can look at.

There are youth parliaments all over Europe, and, of course, there is a European Youth Parliament. The youth parliaments of the devolved nations, and of all the nations, send representatives to that youth parliament. In the UK we have the power to send people to the youth parliament. I just feel, at this time, when it’s so important for us to keep as many links as we can with Europe, and to build up our links with Europe, that that is going to be a way that, when we hopefully set up the youth parliament, we will have strong links with the European Youth Parliament.

I think it is important to engage young people at an early age with the political process. I know that, in the earlier debate, which I wasn’t present for all of, there was a discussion about the votes for 16 and 17-year-olds. That’s something that I campaigned on for many years along with Funky Dragon. It was one of their five priorities at one time—and along with the British Youth Council. I do feel that there is now a mood coming to this Chamber from all parts, including on the Conservative benches, towards votes for 16 and 17-year-olds. But I do agree; nothing is a golden bullet. Not one thing by itself will ensure that we have young people’s voices actually embedded in everything we do, because that is what we want to do, and that is what actually is in our laws. Because the children’s rights Measure does mean that we are supposed to consider everything we do, how it impacts on children—and the future generations Bill as well. That’s written into it. But in order to make that happen, we have to have young people to use as a reference point. We have to have young people to tell us what they think about things. The way that we will improve the laws we make is by having the voice of young people there. I just think we can’t do that without having a representative body.

So, I think it’s very cheering that we’ve reached this point today. I think the important thing—I know we will discuss different models, and I don’t think it’s the time for it today, as the mover of the motion said—today is the time for us to really show our support for a youth parliament for Wales, to continue with our tradition of fighting for children’s rights, and giving children a real say in what we do here in the Assembly.