The Member may have neglected to recognise the fact that we’ve now had seven years of crippling austerity, something that, in this Chamber, he is a cheerleader for, but out in north Wales he’s rather a crocodile-tear apologist for. The fact is we are suffering at the hands of Treasury Ministers in Westminster who belong to your party.

Now, both Huw and David, and, I think as well, Rhianon, highlighted that prosperity, and, effectively, regeneration comes only through intelligent and only through co-ordinated interventions that must work together, and without the right training and the right skills, without the right transport infrastructure, people cannot access the jobs that may be brought to a local area. Equally, without good-quality and affordable housing, young people may well be forced out of a community that they want to build a life in. I don’t feel that that was reflected in the original motion today, and that’s why we put down the Government amendment.

The work that I have been undertaking to refresh our economic strategy and develop the economy of each region of Wales, which I spoke about this morning in the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, is based on that fundamental principle, namely that co-ordinated interventions rather than individual silver bullets are the only viable route to the effective regeneration of communities across the length and breadth of Wales. And that’s also the thinking behind the establishment of the ministerial taskforce for the Valleys. As chair of the taskforce, the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language is developing a new approach to investing in the most economically deprived areas of the south Wales Valleys, to ensure there is co-ordination in the interventions from both the private and the public sector, to ensure effective regeneration. That’s why I’m a member of the taskforce and why the Minister for Skills and Science is as well. Crucially, we agreed from the outset that we needed to work collaboratively with key stakeholders and, most importantly, with those Valleys communities in a way that David Melding rightly highlighted. This has involved an intense programme of engagement with communities across the Valleys and a series of workshops and stakeholder events, which have helped us to map out what the primary focus of a plan should be in the years to come. And these findings led to the development of a high-level plan that seeks to create new, fair, secure and, crucially, sustainable jobs in the Valleys, to ensure that public services are better joined up, make better use of public and community assets, and develop an approach to developing activities relating to the environment and tourism sectors in the Valleys.

We are using both the Valleys taskforce and the north Wales growth deal as mechanisms to drive prosperity. The north Wales growth deal continues to be on the UK Government’s agenda. I thought Janet Finch-Saunders’s reaction to Mark Isherwood’s misrepresentation of the partnership approach was accurate, as I thought it was shameful, too. The fact is that the north Wales growth deal vision largely encompasses Welsh Government initiatives, and I’m pleased to be able to inform Members that I have invited the Secretary of State for Wales to co-chair a task group with me, looking at how we can enhance cross-border economic development in north Wales and the Mersey-Dee area, because it’s absolutely crucial that activities on the Welsh side of the border align with activities on the English side as well. And that applies to the whole of north Wales. Given that there is an arc of nuclear—