When the agreement was reached to split the fund’s valuation surpluses 50/50 between the fund and the UK Government, no-one expected the fund to perform as well as it has—no-one anticipated that the UK Government would have benefited to the tune of more than £3.5 billion, gobbled up for general Government spending. Indeed, at the turn of the millennium, the Coalfield Communities Campaign said:

‘The guarantee was struck on actuarial advice. Hindsight may have shown that the advice was too cautious but that is now history.’

The point is that the funds are in a robust financial position and, under the current arrangements, the Government has no real liability.

Indeed, the National Audit Office in England has estimated that over a 25-year period, the UK Government can expect to reap £8 billion in surplus payments from the fund. In 2014 the Treasury received £750 million, and last year saw a further £95 million taken as part of the surplus split.

It is argued that the UK Government’s share of the surplus is justified because it acts as the guarantor, but in effect, Dirprwy Lywydd, the UK Government’s potential exposure is accounted for by an existing triple lock—the surplus payments themselves, the value of the investment reserve and the fact that the Government does not guarantee the bonus augmentation element.

So, surely, any fair-minded person absorbing these facts will conclude that the current arrangements regarding the surplus do not rightly balance fairness for retired miners and the potential exposure of the taxpayer. Plaid Cymru’s motion today comprises two primary principles: first, that we support the National Union of Mineworkers’s calls for a review of the pension’s valuation surplus; secondly, that we mandate the Government of Wales to build alliances with other devolved administrations and regional leaders in England so that pressure can be brought to bear on the UK Government to deliver that long-overdue review of the MPS surplus. This is not about reviewing the MPS in general or reconsidering the UK Government’s role as guarantor and, for that reason, Plaid Cymru will not be supporting the Conservative amendment today. This is strictly about delivering justice as far as the surplus is concerned.

Dirprwy Lywydd, I was born during the miners’ strike of 1984-5 and I’m just the second generation in my family not to have worked underground. I know many here lived through that event and, indeed, were directly involved and impacted upon. The legacy of our industrial heritage lives with all of us today, regardless of our age or background, but with no group more so than former miners, who are today pensioners. A famous slogan of that strike was, ‘The miners united will never be defeated.’ Llywydd, if this Assembly speaks with one voice today, if it is united, it could provide a mandate for our Government that might—just might—result in a long-overdue victory for miners and their families. Diolch.