I’m grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate today, and I’ll try to maintain my brevity on Brexit, mindful that it is right to allow as many of us as possible to have a chance to contribute to this debate on a matter that, without question, is going to be one of the most defining issues of our times. ‘Securing Wales’ Future’ White Paper sets out a degree of clarity and provides a purpose that has all too often been, sadly, absent in the debate on what happens next, post the outcome of the European Union referendum. Indeed, it has, in many quarters, been a debate marred by the muddy waters of uncertainty and a rhetoric that has relayed not just alternative facts, but rallied an alternative reality. Wales was told that we wouldn’t lose a penny if the UK voted to leave the EU. If this is a promise broken, it could have long-reaching consequences for our country. It is right, then, that we as a nation, Assembly and Government call this out and press for the best for our future.

The principal argument for single market participation is to prevent the haemorrhaging of jobs and investment. This is crucial to our foundation industry of steel and to the advanced manufacturing sector that is a pivotal part in providing skilled employment and economic prosperity in north-east Wales. We need the mechanisms in place to ensure that we build on these economic foundations, not take a wrecking ball to them: Tata Steel at Shotton, Airbus, Toyota, Kingspan, Kimberly-Clark—the list goes on—and not forgetting the many small to medium-sized business for whom being able to import and export tariff free is key. Of course, the Welsh agricultural sector, and our rural communities as a consequence, are facing huge uncertainty following the referendum result and are in the firing line should Wales not secure participation in the single market.

Exit from the EU must not lead to a race to the bottom when it comes to workers’ protection and rights. It’s absolutely right that we must have legislation to stop workers being exploited. It’s all the more prescient when we consider that many of the concerns voiced by a number of my constituents on immigration can be linked to exploitation and undercutting by unscrupulous employers. A suite of rights that protects everyday workers has emanated from EU legislation, and we must not fall for the fallacy of the regular right-wing rhetoric that says that deregulation of these rights will lead to greater productivity. Rolling back these rights will be at the expense of workers in Wales and is a one-way route to low wages, job insecurity and discrimination.

I campaigned and voted to remain in the European Union. The majority of my constituents in Delyn voted to leave, and the referendum result in Flintshire broadly reflected the overall UK result. I now have constituents who get in touch, frustrated that we are not already further out of the exit door, but I’m equally e-mailed by constituents who are fearful for our future, and that of Wales in particular, and would rather that we would go into reverse gear on the referendum. Whilst many of us in this Chamber and in this country were saddened—that’s an understatement—by the result of the EU referendum, we cannot let how we proceed post referendum further fuel distrust, disinterest and disengagement in politics. But neither, though, should we compromise on the values of decency, diversity and equality that many of us have fought for and championed over a number of years.

I believe we can tackle the tensions that led people to lash out at a system that they felt did, and delivered, nothing for them—job insecurity, undercutting, exploitation, the perceived lack of opportunity to get on in life and to prosper—without bearing down on the lowest common denominator of debate. As I said during last week’s equality debate, the tone of political debate sadly seems to have shifted. To call this out as unacceptable is not about stifling free speech or political correctness; it is about Wales being an inclusive, warm and welcoming place, where we behave with dignity and respect towards one another as fellow human beings.

Let’s be clear: it’s not progress on equal rights for women, LGBT people, the BME community and people with disabilities that saw the skilled jobs and opportunities of industry decimated and the rise of low-paid, insecure, underemployment. We must have the political will and motivation to address and progress the latter without rewinding the rights and creating fear of the former, to secure a future for Wales that is one of economic fairness and prosperity, but also that defends and extends social justice.