Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:14 pm on 15 March 2017.
Well, with respect, Jenny, we are three weeks away from the end of term. One-fifth of this Assembly term has gone away. I appreciate that you weren’t here at the start of the debate, but I made the point that, when Governments come in, they normally have energy, they have vibrancy, they blaze ideas and trail blaze ideas that people want to rally around. Sadly, this Government has just continued—[Interruption.]—continued with the same policies that have seen decline in education, decline in health, and a decline in the economy. David Rees touched on the steel industry. One thing the steel industry has been talking about time and time again is help around business rates. This Government has done nothing on business rates at all. The Westminster Government has put a £400 million fund for high-energy users—[Interruption.] I’m pushed for time, to be honest with you—£400 million for high-energy users, of which £130 million has been delivered to those high-energy users already. And who put most of the tariffs in place that pushed energy up in this country? It was none other than Ed Miliband, back in 2009 and 2010. He did it—Labour did it. With the greatest of respect to the Member for Islwyn, is it a fact that, when you look to your communities in Islwyn and the Communities First projects that now—. Thankfully, that’s the one thing this Government has noticed: that they had little or no success in lifting people out of poverty. Thankfully, the one thing the Cabinet Secretary has done in his time in office is actually say, ‘Enough is enough’ and pull the drawbridge up on that project.
It’s your Government you should be holding to account for the failure to lift GVA and economic activity in your constituencies. But actually, if Plaid Cymru think the road to independence is the salvation for Wales, then God help us, I have to say, to be honest with you, because ultimately that would be the road to ruination. The union of the United Kingdom has offered Wales the huge opportunities and strength of sharing the resources of the union to support all four parts of that union—[Interruption.]