Would the leader of the house agree with me that we should exercise the greatest caution before getting involved in any war of words in relation to internecine disputes in the middle east? Of course, we would deprecate in the strongest possible terms any country financing terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. It’s important to note that Qatar denies any such involvement. But the importance of Qatar to the western economy can’t be underestimated, because they are the world’s largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, from nowhere 20 years ago. Much of the current dispute actually has its origins in the fact that the northern gas field in Qatar is shared between that country and Iran, and of course Iran and Saudi Arabia are at daggers drawn more generally.

Therefore, we should follow Wales’s principal interests here in maintaining good relations so far as we can with all the participants in this dispute, encouraging further investment by these countries in Wales, and boosting our own economy and the jobs that are available in Wales.