Leaving the EU has been a hugely divisive issue here in Wales and throughout the UK. I do believe that it is our job here to do our best, working together, between as many parties as we can get together, to try to unite the people of Wales with a plan of action to take us forward in these very difficult circumstances. I do feel that that is our duty here in the Assembly to do that.

I’m acutely aware that my constituency in Cardiff North voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU on 23 June. Cardiff itself voted 60 per cent to remain, just a bit ahead of how London voted, and I know that, in Cardiff, the vote was not confined to the more affluent areas. In Cardiff North, there was barely an area that didn’t actually get a large vote to remain. I therefore feel that I have a mandate from my constituency to do all I can, as far as it is possible, to keep the key elements of what membership of the EU meant to my constituents. I believe that the Welsh White Paper does move in that direction. I think it is a good position for negotiations. However, although Cardiff North voted overwhelmingly to remain, I’m aware that you’ve just got Caerphilly mountain and, go past the Traveller’s Rest and go down the other side—[Interruption.] Yes. It’s a completely different picture, and the Valleys constituencies voted ‘no’, just a very few miles away. I respect their vote, and I respect the fact that that was the majority vote that won throughout Wales. But, I do wonder why this happened. I mean, Cardiff North is made up of people who moved down from the Valleys, as my own family did. Indeed, Cardiff’s wealth was built on the transporting of coal down from the Valleys, taking it out to places like Aden and Singapore, as well as northern France, Bordeaux and Nantes. It has always been an international city, Cardiff, and people in Cardiff come from all over the world, as well as from the Valleys, west Wales, north Wales and Ireland. I think the First Minister said in a previous speech that he made that each and every one of us is the descendant of immigrants. So, I wonder if Cardiff did vote ‘yes’ because of its international links and the cosmopolitan culture that has come here because of so many people being here from so many different parts.

But we do know that migration was a big issue in the referendum. So, how do we reconcile the huge benefits of migration to Wales, which I think we must all acknowledge, with the differing views of it in different parts of Wales? The statistics show that the areas with the fewest migrants had the largest vote to leave. So, how can we pay attention to the 52 per cent who voted to leave and the 48 per cent who voted to stay? I do think that the White Paper does make a good stab at that. It recognises the importance of migrants to the Welsh economy. I don’t think anybody could deny their input to the universities, to the health service or to the social care service. They have a huge input here. It calls for the immediate guarantee of EU migrants living in Wales to be able to remain and have their rights respected. I think this is absolutely crucial—that we must treat all our citizens who live in Wales with respect. The uncertainty that those families are experiencing is inexcusable, and I think we must call here from this Assembly to the Prime Minister to immediately give them the security that they need and they deserve. I hope that that is something that will be taken on board.

I support the fact that the White Paper proposes free mobility for students and for researchers. We know how absolutely crucial it is that research is based on an international basis and how anxious the universities are about leaving the EU. We need the European students. We need the international students. We already know that there has been a drop in applications from EU students—I believe it is about 7 per cent. That has already happened. I visited Cardiff University very soon after the referendum vote, and the staff were utterly dismayed at the result. They were particularly dismayed because a researcher from Italy who had been offered a key post as the best applicant for the job had just withdrawn because he wanted to live in the EU. I know that there are numerous examples like that about Wales. The White Paper proposes that migration could be linked to employment—either movement to a job already obtained, or perhaps a limited period of time to look for a job. My own view is that I support free movement as we have it now, but I think that this is a way of making a practical proposition about a way that we could move forward, and would be very important to discuss in the negotiations.

Finally, I just wanted to make two quick points. We talked a lot about full and unfettered access to the single market. I think that that is absolutely vital, and I also believe that we cannot support Brexit if that is not achieved during the negotiations. Finally, the importance of European structural and investment funds, which are hugely important to us here in Wales.