– in the Senedd at 1:30 pm on 6 June 2017.
Firstly, it is my sad duty today, as it was this time a fortnight ago, to extend my condolences on behalf of all Assembly Members to those affected by another terrorist attack, this time in London. Once again, this was a cowardly and brutal attack. I invite the First Minister to make a statement.
Diolch, Llywydd. It is with the greatest sadness that we find ourselves again pausing our proceedings to pay tribute to our fellow citizens and, of course, visitors from abroad, who were caught up in the atrocities in London on Saturday night. The great cruelty of this terrorism is its random nature. People of malign intent can strike anywhere, and they don’t need sophisticated weapons to inflict their cruelty. The area around London Bridge and Borough Market will be familiar to many of us. Just as in Manchester the week before, the terrorists chose to strike mostly young people going about their weekend leisure activities. Llywydd, the terrorists can never win. This is a free country and people live how they choose to live, in peace, and according to law. But non-one has the right to tell anyone else how to live. No-one has either the right, of course, to threaten or to intimidate. An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us. We stand together and will continue to live in freedom. Llywydd, I have written to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to express the condolences and solidarity of the Welsh people, and I know that I speak for this Chamber and the people of Wales as a whole when I say that we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with London.
Thank you, First Minister, for speaking on behalf of us all.