The aim of this debate today is to highlight the need to lock in the excellent economic progress that the UK Conservative Government has made since taking office, and we don’t want to see any of that put at risk. Of course, it’s Theresa May and the UK Government who have got the plan to boost economic prosperity through the process of Brexit and beyond.

But there are issues with the economy here in Wales: we know that weekly earnings are still the lowest of all four nations; Welsh GVA is still at 71 per cent of the UK average; and the employment rate is lower than in any other part of the UK. The Welsh Government has little economic credibility, I’d say, left after a series of investment failures, which I don’t think have been mentioned today—Triumph Furniture, Kancoat, Newsquest, the regeneration investment fund for Wales, to name a few. Many would be concerned by the First Minister’s recent endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn’s economic approach, as has been highlighted in our motion and by the leader of the opposition in the opening comments to this debate.

Over the past seven years, the UK Conservative Government has—. The deficit has come down by almost two thirds, employment is up by 2.8 million, growth is at 1.8 million in real terms, second only to Germany, and the lowest paid have been taken out of income tax altogether, and there’s a new national living wage. The current forecast is that the UK economy will grow by 2 per cent this year, and wages are forecast to rise every year up until 2021. And isn’t it interesting, of course, that, when Gordon Brown left office, the UK’s infrastructure quality was ranked at thirty-third across the world, behind countries like Namibia and Slovenia? Now, thanks to the steps that the UK Conservative Government has taken, we’re ranked at seventh in world. We’re now supportive of major projects in Wales, of course, as we know, like the Cardiff and Swansea city deals, as well as the north Wales deal as well.