After the referendum to leave the European Union and the inevitable uncertainty associated with the result, the UK Government’s recently published industrial strategy, I believe, provides businesses with the security and certainty to plan for their future, as well as a firm foundation for improving living standards and investing in the future success of all parts of the UK. It outlines major investment for infrastructure, new investment in science, in research and development, and aims to ensure that growing enterprises have the skills and support to create new jobs and prosperity.

Looking at the Welsh Government’s White Paper—and there is much I can agree with in that, I should say, but there is little in the way of support to businesses and little to drive forward important infrastructure projects. We have to wait, of course, until the spring to see what the Welsh Government plans for the Welsh economic strategy. When that plan is published, I hope that the Welsh Government looks to ensure that its strategy dovetails with the UK Government’s industrial strategy and is equally forward looking and ambitious for the future economic challenges that face Wales. The UK’s industrial strategy puts emphasis on addressing the regional disparity in economic prosperity and the skills shortages that exist within the UK and in Wales, which, if successfully addressed, will drive increases in productivity and in social mobility.

It ought also to be noted that the industrial strategy will support the economy of north Wales, with the north Wales growth deal, major transport schemes under construction, including a third crossing over the Menai straits, work to improve the A55 and the A494 interchange, and also the electrification of the north Wales coast line. One of the ways in which the industrial strategy is doing this is to recognise R&D as an essential part of the future economy. It is, therefore, I think, a welcome development that the UK Government is concentrating on making the north of England a tech region. This will present significant opportunities, I think, for north Wales to plug into the wider Northern Powerhouse. I want the Welsh Government to have the appetite to drive R&D forward to ensure that north Wales has the tools to be able to take advantage of these opportunities. The Welsh Government has, historically, chosen not to invest heavily in R&D. It continues not to in the 2017-18 budget, in terms of business innovation and R&D facilities. The year-on-year budget remains unchanged, and, of course, that represents a real-terms decrease in funding for this, I’d say, crucial growth area.

Now, when it comes to support for the steel industry, we need to ensure that the industry can be commercially sustainable in a competitive global market. The UK Government have been addressing some of the key asks of the industry, including compensating—[Interruption.] in a moment—energy-intensive manufacturers, providing flexibility over the implementation of EU emissions regulations, and have also pressed for action against unfair steel dumping. I give way to David Rees.