Thank you, Llywydd. Thank you for safeguarding my right to speak—[Interruption.] Thank you for safeguarding my right to speak in our national Parliament. May I say this? I also agree with some speakers this afternoon who have said that I wouldn’t have wanted a motion discussing one school in one community in one part of Wales. I would prefer to have a debate on how we provide education to our children wherever they are. When we do choose to have a depressing debate such as the one we’ve had this afternoon, then we choose to ignore the real challenge of creating Welsh speakers who take pride in the Welsh language, and take pride in the efforts across Wales to safeguard the future of the Welsh language. Our ambition as a Government is to reach a million Welsh speakers by 2050. There is no doubt that this is a challenging ambition, but the message that I want to convey this afternoon is that we have chosen to do that because we want to challenge Wales, we want to challenge ourselves and I want to challenge us as a nation to ensure that the kind of ambition that I hope and I believe is shared across the Chamber, for the most part at least, is one that can inspire people across Wales.

I want to see an interesting debate. I want to see a positive debate about how we can expand Welsh-medium education. I want to see a debate about how we ask parents and children to take pride in the language and to learn the language so that they can use the Welsh language. I don’t think that the kind of debate that we’ve had this afternoon is going to assist that. I don’t think it is going to be of assistance to us. In fact, I think it’s going to be a barrier, it’s going to preclude us from doing that, it’s going to hold us back. When I hear people who say that they believe in the future of the Welsh language, but then shout people down who perhaps don’t share the same enthusiasm as them, what I see is people who don’t practice the kind of tolerance that we need in this country. We must capture people’s imagination, but we also need to reach out to people: reach out to families who don’t currently speak Welsh, reach out to people who perhaps aren’t confident about Welsh-medium education, reach out to people in order to ensure that we can transfer the Welsh language to communities where perhaps it’s been lost, reach out to people who perhaps don’t see the benefits of speaking and using the Welsh language—reach out to people, rather than shouting them down. That’s the disappointment I sometimes feel when I hear the kind of debate that we have seen in Llangennech and in other areas. I want to respond to this afternoon’s debate in the terms set out by Darren and Simon this afternoon, because I do think that we have to look at how we can strengthen the planning that happens within local authorities. I was very pleased that Aled Roberts agreed to my proposal that he should review the WESPs that we have, and Darren is entirely right in his analysis; we need to proceed with that as a matter of haste. There should be no delay on that, and I know that Llyr Gruffydd has made the point on a number of occasions, and I agree with him when he makes those points. We do need to make progress with that. I very much hope that Aled can report back to us at the beginning of the summer, and once that is done, I very much hope that we can then ensure that we’re able to make progress so that we do have workable WESPs.

I was pleased to hear that Darren Millar was withdrawing his amendment and was to support the Government amendment. The Government amendment to this debate aims to be positive, to unite people with that aim of supporting the Welsh language and creating a million Welsh speakers.

We do oppose the fourth amendment in the name of Paul Davies, but we don’t oppose the spirit underpinning that amendment. I agree with many aspects, but we are opposing it this afternoon. However, it is a debate that I think we need to continue to have, and I am happy to continue that discussion with Darren Millar or Paul himself. Our priority over the next five years will be to create a workforce that has the appropriate skills to educate and provide services through the medium of Welsh. This will require planning to support the work of training teachers and teaching assistants, to expand sabbatical programmes for the current workforce and to increase the number of workers in the early years and the care sector. We understand all of that, and we will do that.

We also oppose the fifth amendment in the name of Paul Davies. The school code is clear that any case for a school closure must be strong—and that there will be education provision in the area concerned. Proposers must consider what else can be done rather than closing a school. They should consider the likely impact on a community by holding a community impact assessment.

We will agree with amendment 6 in terms of the benefits of bilingualism. I think I have said a number of times that the Government understands the benefits of bilingualism, and Simon Thomas made a very strong point when it comes to promoting Welsh-medium education. I think in the past that Governments have been a little reticent in doing that. I will be making a statement later this week on how we are going to promote the Welsh language, and I very much hope that some of this will be reflected—maybe not this week, but when we do come to the Welsh language strategy later this year.

But may I turn to the eighth amendment? I do understand that the Welsh in education strategic plan for Carmarthenshire wishes to see Welsh-medium provision expanded, but there is no specific reference to the proposal to close Llangennech school. But may I say this? The school organisation code does note the process for school organisation, and this shouldn’t be confused with rules for introducing the WESPs. Proposals for Llangennech were entirely consistent with that aspiration and with the Welsh-medium strategy of the Welsh Government. The work has already commenced, and we are engaging with partners and stakeholders to gather evidence in order to draw up a White Paper to consult on these issues over the summer.

Llywydd, may I bring my comments to a conclusion with these words? We have had a difficult debate this afternoon, and we haven’t seen enough light during the debate. That has been a disappointment to me. May I say this? I believe that we do need to unite. I do think that there is agreement on where we want to get to in future. I think there is agreement on the plan and the vision, and this isn’t just the Welsh Government’s vision. It’s not just the Welsh Government’s vision—it’s a vision for Wales as a nation and for communities across Wales. It’s not Ministers or politicians here or anywhere else who are going to save the Welsh language; it’s people using and speaking and choosing to speak the Welsh language that will secure a future for the language and for our culture. And if we are to achieve that, then each and every one of us, wherever we sit in this place, has a duty to ensure that we do have a positive debate in order to promote the Welsh language.