Diolch, Dirprwy Llywydd, and can I thank the First Minister for his statement this afternoon and the paper he produced and published last Thursday? I think, as the committee has taken evidence over the last 12 months, we’ve identified many issues. And you talked about the JMC—I think, from our first report onwards, the JMC has been seen as more of a pantomime than actually as a functioning body that will make decisions, and I’m very glad of your highlighting the issue to address that. Can I ask a couple of points? You highlighted state aid as one example, and I agree with you that consistency across the UK is needed for that internal market, but have you had discussions with the other devolved nations as to how that may proceed not just by the Council of Ministers but perhaps other mechanisms to allow those discussions to take place to ensure that we have a consistent approach by our devolved nations? I do appreciate that the Northern Ireland Executive isn’t sitting at this point in time, but they are as important as elsewhere.

In your paper, you actually highlighted—and in your statement—that you’re preparing to protect Wales from being trampled over by Westminster Tories, and I hope that the eight surviving Welsh Tory MPs will join you and support you in that. But can you provide any more details? Because, in your answer to Steffan Lewis, you didn’t actually indicate what trigger point would be the case, introduced under continuity Bill, if you needed to do so, because the timescales that we would have are important in that aspect, and it is important to understand what trigger point you would want to push that button, effectively.

Can you also answer the question as to the capacity in the Welsh Government? We’ve had this question many times as to do you have capacity to actually work with devolved nations and Whitehall to ensure that this delivers. Now, this Council of Ministers indicates that there will be a separate administrative body with seconded members onto it from different devolved nations. Do we have the capacity to do that to ensure that it can actually work?

The day after you published your report, the committee published its report on the initial considerations of the great repeal Bill, and I think you will find we have deep concerns over the ability of the UK Government to actually talk to devolved nations. From what evidence we’ve received, they don’t, to be honest. On the repeal Bill, they didn’t consult with the Welsh Government. These are legislative, important considerations, which they need to consider with you and this Assembly as a whole. I would hope that you will be pushing the UK Government—not just the Council of Ministers—for better interaction with the parliamentary bodies as well to ensure that the legislation that will come through as a consequence of the great repeal Bill can be considered and ensured it delivers for both the UK and the devolved nations independently.

And, finally, we actually met with Irish officials and Ministers yesterday on our visit to Ireland to discuss Welsh ports. There are clearly problems they face greatly as a consequence of the decision to leave the EU by the UK people. We talked about Welsh ports and links east-west, effectively. I know the focus has been on the links north-south, in the island of Ireland itself, but it’s important we reflect that in the UK, because the TEN-T considerations for the routes across the UK—the language that’s been used—are important. Discussions need to be had there with the UK Government. I’m also concerned that the UK Government may focus clearly on the English ports, with the continent of Europe, more than us. It was reported yesterday, to us, that discussions with Philip Hammond had indicated that they would take four years to put into place mechanisms in Dover to actually handle anything that is not part of the customs union. What’s going to happen to the Welsh ports in that sense, and how will we ensure that we get our fair share of treatment and it’s not just left to the English ports and we are left in the cold once again?