Well, I’d like to thank the Member for some kind comments and points that he’s made. You’ve recognised that I listen, that I can face challenge, and that is exactly what I am doing, and that is exactly why I will listen to the steering group and those experts that sit on the steering group that represent our national institutions—not just the museum. And I know you talked a lot about the museum, but it’s not just about the national museum; it’s about the great institutions that we have that represent the entirety of the heritage sector that I feel passionately about. And so I will listen to those experts. Yes, I can rule out that there’s going to be a full merger of the institutions, as you asked me to do, but, in terms of those options, I’m going to leave it to the steering group to produce a well-informed set of recommendations.

The Member makes many points, but let’s just establish a starting point: that we all are passionate about the future of our heritage sector. We all want our cultural institutions, not just national institutions but the local ones as well, to be stronger. That’s why I commissioned the expert panel review on museums, that’s why I’ve established the community learning libraries fund as a transformation fund, not just for libraries but for museums as well. It’s a shame that the national body that represents community museums didn’t actually realise that I’d done that when I outlined in April, during the election campaign, that that was our intention with the community learning libraries fund. We’ve established that as a transformation fund, because I said at the time we can’t wait for the creation of an entirely new fund if community and local museums are going to go to the wall in the meantime. So, I extended that from £1 million to £1.4 million. That’s done.

We commissioned the expert panel review on libraries. Now, let’s just look at libraries. Let’s just look back to 2008, when a former Secretary of State suggested that, with the impending problems that public finances would face, local libraries had to diversify, there had to be some co-location of resources and services. He was accused of being a cultural barbarian, wanting to put fish and chip shops—and that is an exact quote, fish and chip shops—by people who, yes, were well meaning, who cared about libraries, but their care ultimately led to the suffocation of hundreds upon hundreds of libraries in England, because they were traditionalists of forces of resistance who refused to accept that there had to be change, that society had moved on, that we have to appeal to people in a new and innovative way. And if we look at the barrage—a tsunami—of commercial messages that people are hit with every day, surely you must recognise that now, more than ever, to be relevant, you have to have strength in the branding, you have to make sure that your advertising, your marketing, is as effective as it can be to cut through what I have called ‘fast food for the soul’—that pop culture that is hitting people every moment of the day through social media and so forth.

So, it’s essential that we do more for the heritage sector to market itself, but they need to make sure that they work closely together as well. You say everybody agrees on collaboration—yes, they do, but some don’t actually carry through their warm words, and I am placing the emphasis on the delivery of collaborative efforts, not just talk about collaboration. In terms of the manifesto, as I say, we are living in a new age now and Welsh Labour decided to go digital first to recognise the fact that most people now themselves operate digitally first. So, we placed our entire manifesto on the internet and I will happily print off sections that cover culture and that refer to Historic Wales. I do recognise that some people did struggle to access those pages, but I would be able to talk and walk through the process of downloading and printing off the manifesto. I’m aware of the many letters that have been submitted, but I hope my comments today reassure many people who are concerned, and have genuine concerns. I think some of the letters, and I’ve read many, are based on misinformation or simply fear that cannot be accounted for.

Independence cannot be a barrier to working more closely together, and, where necessary, to pooling resources. The Member rightly identified one of the core purposes of the museum: about selling what is Wales to the world. And that’s my whole purpose. It’s about selling what is great about Wales together. Yesterday, I was down in London—I was at the world travel fair—and there were countless halls with huge numbers of regions and institutions and companies represented from a whole manner of countries, some of whom had put millions into their stands. The middle-eastern ones in particular, they were phenomenal—some were giving away pens, Bic biros; I’m sure they were giving away Montblancs. It was incredible how much money they were putting into it. So, they were able to present a really strong brand for their areas, what they stand for, the highest quality of what they represent. I was pleased that, on our stand—we don’t have quite as much in the way of resources as some countries, but, on our stand, we had heritage institutions represented; we had Cadw and the national museum together. They weren’t promoting what they were as individuals; they were promoting heritage in Wales, one of the No. 1 factors that people come to Wales to experience as visitors. I want to see more of that sort of activity.

I’ve heard some people say, ‘Rather than focus on change, or rather than force collaboration, why don’t you just give more money, why don’t you just focus more on resources?’ Giving more money won’t necessarily get more people through the doors, and that, at the end of the day, is the No. 1 objective for the national institutions that serve the people of Wales: to be accessible and relevant and welcoming. And, in terms of what Government has done to make sure that places are welcoming, are well maintained, we’ve given an increase in revenue and capital in the next financial year of 33 per cent. I’ll say that again: it’s 33 per cent to the national museum and national library collectively. It’s a huge increase in resource. And if you look at—because some like to compare England and Wales—revenue changes from 2010-11, you’ll see that, for the national museum, it’s 7.1 per cent. For the national library, it’s not quite so good; it’s 9.69. I would love to be able to be in a position in future years to give better settlements, but anybody who has heard commentary about the way that public finances are going to go will recognise that we are going to face even more tough decisions in the future. So, it’s incumbent upon all of us who genuinely care—we all care about the culture sector—to help them become more resilient in the most difficult of financial times.

In comparison with England, by the way, equivalent cuts in England were 15 per cent. Let me just find a few specific examples, as I did with visitor figures. If we look at revenue decreases, and this was up to 2015, albeit, the Imperial War Museums, for example, saw a decrease of 13.8 per cent, compared to, as I say, the decrease of 7.1 per cent for the national museum. If you want any indication, that’s it—of Welsh Government’s commitment to our national institutions, but, for me, I want to see more done together.