Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Well, yesterday I heard the leader of UKIP refer to soldiers emerging from the jungle to refight battles already long concluded. I assumed he was referring to today’s motion with its sad and tired derogatory opening references to unelected technocrats in Brussels. Does anyone really believe that cheap name-calling can form the basis of a successful negotiation with 27 other European countries? Does anyone really believe that abuse can form the platform from which we can build a successful future for Wales beyond the European Union?

Now, Dirprwy Lywydd, it’s not a message that the movers of this motion are keen to hear, but it is a simple fact that Wales’s receipts from the CAP and from structural funds form a far larger proportion of the UK’s allocation than our Barnett share would ever do. The EU funding for the rural development programme alone is worth around £500 million in the current round, and was worth over £300 million in the previous round, and it has made a real difference to people and communities across Wales. Along with EU structural funds, these have provided hugely useful services and vital incomes to many in our rural communities.

Now, as Eluned Morgan so ably illustrated, this is a motion written by Pollyanna with a dash of help from Mr Micawber. It’s ironic indeed to be debating it today, the day after the publication of an authoritative report that I recommended to UKIP Members, ‘A Food Brexit: time to get real’. And this report, written by Professor Tim Lang, the leading food expert in the United Kingdom, together with Professor Terry Marsden from Cardiff University, concludes that leaving the European Union poses serious risks to consumer interests, public health, businesses and workers in the food sector.

But the motion is not simply flawed in its failure to grasp the reality of its own content, but in its culpable neglect of a context within which the future of Welsh communities and industries is to be shaped. It does not even, Dirprwy Lywydd, call on the UK Government to guarantee replacement funding for Wales at its current level, let alone those promises of a post-Brexit funding bonanza made by the movers of the motion. The motion does not even call on the UK Government to respect the boundaries of devolution so that this National Assembly can continue to respond to the particular needs of rural communities in Wales, and this at a time when those abilities are under such direct attack. Dirprwy Lywydd, it is difficult to take a motion seriously that does so little to take things seriously itself.

By contrast, this Government both continues to make it clear that the UK Government and those who led the campaign to leave the European Union must guarantee that every single penny that flows to Wales from the European Union must flow directly to Wales in the future and, in our recent ‘Brexit and Devolution’ policy document, we set out our thinking on how new constitutional arrangements can be developed. It is intended as a constructive contribution to the important debate needed across the United Kingdom and which is particularly important in rural areas. We will continue to press the UK Government to engage in a discussion on using this document as a starting point for developing any frameworks that are needed post Brexit on the basis of consent and agreement and not on imposition.

Dirprwy Lywydd, the messages we have from stakeholders in rural Wales are very clear: here in Wales, agriculture is not only very different in nature from other parts of the United Kingdom, but so is the role it plays in our communities and in our society, from the management of our water to tourism, and, as Paul Davies set out very clearly in his contribution, in the future of our culture and our language as well. We need to build on Wales’s reputation for high-quality produce, which is founded on our high standards that protect human health, ensure animal welfare, and support vital environmental action. These standards are the key for our future competitiveness in a global marketplace, and there are opportunities there for farmers to diversify and exploit growing markets in areas like energy.

Now, let us be clear, Dirprwy Lywydd, that the approach the UK Government has taken to the withdrawal Bill would see us lose the ability to deliver an approach that rectifies the shortcomings of the CAP and design a better, more tailored approach for Wales. Instead, on the one hand, the withdrawal Bill locks us into an outdated framework and, on the other, it removes our ability to bring forward reforms, leaving us to face Brexit with both hands tied behind our back.

Now, I listened carefully to what Paul Davies said when he spoke about the withdrawal Bill, and I take what he said this afternoon to be a constructive contribution to the way that we can think about these issues in the future—very different, I thought, to the contribution of the mover of the motion who, with typical insouciance, just regards the withdrawal Bill as something that none of us here need to worry our heads about. As we have said, this Government has been clear that we acknowledge the need for common UK approaches in some areas of agriculture, particularly where this is important for trade and for the internal functioning of the UK market, but these must be collectively developed and agreed to ensure that they work for the whole of the United Kingdom, and not imposed on us from London.

These are the important issues at stake for Welsh communities today. It is why, Dirprwy Lywydd, the Government will oppose the motion itself but support the amendment proposed by Plaid Cymru and explained so very clearly here this afternoon by Simon Thomas.

Let me very briefly turn to some specifics of the motion, Dirprwy Lywydd, to put on record the actions being taken by this Government to support all rural communities. As far as planning is concerned, we have developed our national planning policy to take account of local needs in rural areas and, in particular, to address issues around the potential for greater use of our rural areas to generate renewable energy, while addressing issues around visual impacts and amenity on neighbouring communities. Where housing is concerned, bringing forward more affordable housing in rural areas is a priority for the Welsh Government, which is why we commit to providing funding for rural housing enablers in ‘Taking Wales Forward’, and we have already seen successful projects across Wales, including Gwynedd, Ceredigion, Monmouthshire, and the Vale of Glamorgan. We will continue to fund and work with rural local authorities, housing associations, and the rural housing enablers to ensure more affordable housing is delivered in areas of real need.

You heard already from Eluned Morgan how the education Cabinet Secretary is supporting rural schools and allowing communities to have greater scope for decision making in relation to those schools, consulting recently on strengthening the school organisation code in respect of presumption against the closure of rural schools. In health, my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for health continues to work closely with rural areas to tackle the very real issues that are faced by services in remote and rural areas, and the challenges that Eluned Morgan set out in recruiting staff to work in those localities.

Dirprwy Lywydd, let me be clear that we are addressing the specific needs of public services across rural Wales. It’s clear that the benefits of the European Union, particularly through single market access, high social and environmental standards, and significant levels of funding, cannot be easily maintained after we leave the European Union, and that there are big challenges for rural Wales. We will work with our rural communities to help them to face those together.

By contrast, the only contribution to Welsh agriculture from the movers of the motion here will be the industrial-scale manufacturing of pie in the sky, but if the future was left to them then the taste of that pie for people in rural Wales will be very bitter indeed.