It’s a pleasure to participate in this debate, and I do think that we should be having a debate, to address one of the points mentioned earlier. Everything is essentially political, whether we like it or not. I think everyone in this Chamber would agree that we want to see a steel industry succeeding here in Wales and prospering for many decades to come. We’ve seen the headlines, and I won’t rehearse the wonderful arguments put forward by Adam Price and Bethan Jenkins already. Of course, a number of possible solutions have also been aired over the past few months, and the role of the Government here in Wales has been discussed and what exactly we could do about the problem of Tata in Port Talbot. We’ve had the debates about business rates and the fundamental need to invest in skills, and, of course, the whole issue of public procurement.

We must have a more broad-ranging strategy, and my intention, in the few minutes I have, is to look more broadly as to how we can provide a programme that can take us into the future. Because it’s very difficult for the Welsh Government, with all due respect, to have an influence on global markets, but I do think that the Welsh Government can take action to create a healthier market for steel here in Wales by having an industrial strategy with core elements focused on skills, and the need to develop skills, and that gets to grips with the whole issue of public procurement and how we go about public procurement, and, of course, also addresses the whole issue of infrastructure and the need to develop infrastructure, as a means of getting us out of the economic difficulties that we’re currently facing.

We’ve had a number of debates already on a national infrastructure commission for Wales, the so-called NICW. And, of course, negotiations are ongoing and we hope to persuade the Government, but it’s still true that our NICW in Plaid Cymru isn’t the same as your NICW within Government. But there are signs that things may change, and of course things need to change. There is £40 billion-worth of infrastructure that is waiting to be built. We must release that potential using, of course, resources such as locally procured steel in order to help us achieve that infrastructure work.

We had some exciting news about the Swansea bay tidal lagoon last week. Of course, there are some financial issues that are yet to be agreed at the other end of the M4, but there is huge excitement surrounding that project, and, of course, the infrastructure, the skills and the raw materials must come from somewhere, and that’s why we need to develop a comprehensive industrial strategy here in Wales, with steel as a core part of it. So, this debate this afternoon is extremely important. It’s very important that we are having this debate. I don’t think that there are any circumstances where we shouldn’t be having a debate when we have people in our constituencies who are put at risk directly by what is happening in terms of the future of their jobs and their pensions. Of course, we should be staging these debates, and we shouldn’t restrict our ability to express our views and our concerns on the basis of the experiences of those living within our constituencies. But also the Welsh Government needs to look more broadly and to work proactively to create an industrial strategy for Wales with steel at its heart. Thank you.