Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. I’d like to express my thanks to Members for their contributions today and to the leader of the house for her response. I thank Paul Davies for indicating that his group will be supporting Plaid Cymru’s motion today and congratulate him on taking a different view to his party’s Government in London.

Hefin David spoke eloquently of his memories of the 1984-85 strike and shared with us how life could’ve been very different and difficult for him and his family had his father made a different career choice. And he’s absolutely right, of course, to say that 30-plus years on from that strike, it is now time to address all injustices against the miners and their families, including the issue of the miners’ pension surplus. Neil Hamilton was right to point out that miners paid into this scheme, and it is not an act of charity for them to benefit from that scheme: the money belongs to miners and their families. Jeremy Miles put the key question, which is at the heart of this whole debate: what is it that is a fair price for the UK Government’s backing as guarantor of this scheme? And surely all of us agree that a 50/50 split is not a fair price, at least not for the miners and their families. Dawn Bowden was right to point out that this isn’t a legal matter; this isn’t a matter that is being contested legally, but it is most certainly a moral one.

I was thankful to the leader of the house for sharing with us the correspondence between the First Minister and the UK Government, and bitterly disappointed to hear the response of the UK Government to the First Minister’s representations. I hope that the very united voice of this Assembly today will aid the Welsh Government and the First Minister in future endeavours in relation to this matter.

In concluding, Dirprwy Lywydd, I want to thank and pay tribute to campaigning miners who’ve kept this campaign in the public spotlight, particularly those who’ve launched petitions that have received over 8,000 signatures. I want to thank and join other Members who’ve already thanked the National Union of Mineworkers, who’ve campaigned on behalf of mineworkers and their families, not just on this issue, but on many others, and who continue to support miners and their families on the range of challenges that they still face today.

Dirprwy Lywydd, former miners and their families and communities have endured deindustrialisation, disputes, pneumoconiosis, chronic bronchitis, osteoarthritis, vibration white finger and more as a result of their employment. When they were robbed of their jobs, an attempt was made to take away their dignity too, and, as they now enter their autumn and winter years, let us work together for them, in order to ensure them dignity in retirement, with justice in their pensions. Diolch yn fawr iawn.