Point 2 of the motion draws attention to the families of veterans, and supporting veterans doesn’t stop with direct intervention. Keeping a family together around serving members of the armed forces, as well as, sometimes, particularly vulnerable veterans, can be the most effective support of all. The service of an individual affects their relationships with partners, children, parents and even grandparents. And, in this context, I also include friends, because, for young men in particular, their mates, or good friends, can often be the main emotional support when there are things that you don’t feel you can share with your family.

The work of a commissioner for veterans would extend beyond veterans themselves to that wider armed forces community. And, if you’re in any doubt what that looks like, just have a look at who’s going to be involved in this weekend’s commemorations. You will see that families are at the forefront.

There’s already a wide range of services for armed forces families in Wales, from the grass-roots clubs for military families right through to things like Veterans Legal Link, which is a group that gives free legal advice to families and carers as well as veterans throughout Wales. Actually, I think Elfyn Llwyd is involved with that. The public sector, including both Governments, I would say, and the very active third sector, should be congratulated on the work that they do for veterans, but it’s particularly pleasing that this is an area where co-production is given space to show its worth. Actually, Members who’ve already spoken have given very powerful examples of the kind of support that veterans and their families get from within their own ranks—if I can use that—rather than having a service applied to them. Now, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t gaps, of course, but I think co-production is one of the places where we can look to actually start to fill those gaps. I’m thinking, in particular, of—I think it was last year—when I explained to the Chamber that I’d had some difficulty trying to identify the veterans champions lodged within our local authorities. Some are much better than others, but, if the councils can’t get it right, then let society help solve the problem.

Now, while I would like to think that a commissioner wouldn’t interfere with the good work of all these players, he or she would be able to help drive improvement, as Caroline Jones said, in the experience of serving military personnel, as well as veterans and their families, because they would have an overview, and prompt action to fill the gaps that, actually, Bethan Jenkins herself was talking about. I think another key role that commissioners would have here would be to consider the implications and support and advice needed for our veterans of the future. A commissioner would not only be able to respond to the needs of today, to advocate, but to scan the horizon for new challenges and potential solutions to those, because nobody seems to have assumed leadership for that particular job at the moment. Definitely, we need someone to help us scrutinise decisions made now, such as why there is a disparity between England and Wales, where veterans’ children are automatically entitled to pupil premium support, but they’re not entitled to the pupil deprivation grant here in Wales. That’s a point that Mohammad Asghar made. But we also want to be avoiding those sorts of post facto responses to problems such as with PTSD. We want to be avoiding problems arising in the first place. That’s why I think a commissioner would also be useful in asking questions like why the £415,000 requested by Veterans’ NHS Wales is not forthcoming when it’s so obvious that that would avoid the cost of millions in crisis services that—I can’t remember quite who it was now—I think it might have been Mohammad Asghar was alluding to when you consider the kinds of problems that veterans present with, usually after they’ve left their services.

What happens now and what the future looks like are both considerations that affect any young person who’s looking at a military career. And, again, this is where the veterans commissioner could play a crucial role in helping set the tone for how those matters are thought about now, not in the future once our young people have themselves become veterans.

Last week I visited Bridgend Military Preparation College in my region of South Wales West and met both instructors and young people between the ages of 14 and 19 that they work with. They educate a significant number of young people for whom mainstream education is perhaps a poor fit, as well as high achievers, and, from these, many do go on to pursue a career in our forces. I think we owe it to those young people to make sure that they are at the front of our minds, and at the front of the Welsh Government’s mind, now, as they progress throughout their careers, and not just when they return from areas of conflict or when they are discharged from service or retire. Not all the people that I met there were from military families, but some of them are likely to become members of military families in due course, and that brings me back to the role of military families and the help that they may need too.

So, when Welsh Government says ‘no’ to a veterans commissioner, it’s not just saying ‘no’ to helping and honouring the work and sacrifices that our veterans and the forces have made throughout their lives; they’re also letting down the wives, the husbands, the partners and all the families of veterans, and it’s letting down the children of serving forces and future forces, as those young people who are just starting on their careers, and hopefully will never experience—[Interruption.] Sorry, Lee, I didn’t see you. Apologies.