I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today and the publication of the fair movement of people document, which, of course, elaborates on the joint White Paper that was published between Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru recently. I, like him, perhaps in vain, look forward to a time when we can have an honest and serious debate on immigration that considers the facts and the true impact that migration has had on our community and our economy. And safe to say that Plaid Cymru again reiterates its appreciation to those who come from all over the world to contribute to Welsh communities and Welsh businesses and to Welsh public services, and they are welcome here and they are cherished here.

The model suggested in this publication would allow Wales and the United Kingdom to continue to participate in the European single market, which is a vital consideration for Plaid Cymru, linking work with movement of people for EU nationals and Swiss nationals. I agree with the Cabinet Secretary, of course, that this is a pragmatic approach, and as we see the British negotiators unravel at the negotiating table in Brussels, goodness knows we need pragmatism at this crucial point. Just 18 months away from separation day and what a shambles the British Government finds itself in.

In terms of the specifics of the publication today, I’d like to ask two questions to the Cabinet Secretary. Firstly, the First Minister, I think, suggested during First Minister’s question time this afternoon that a copy of this document had been sent to the British Government, but there was a reluctance to meet with the Welsh Government to discuss it. I wonder if the Cabinet Secretary can elaborate further on that—whether this is a diary issue or whether it is a case of us Welsh people knowing our place in this wonderful family of nations and how dare we suggest a way forward for the UK as a whole on a policy matter that we shouldn’t dare discuss.

But secondly—and the point of disagreement between the Cabinet Secretary and myself and between Plaid Cymru and the Government—is the question of a quota or work permit system that is regionalised or nationalised across the United Kingdom, because I think we can see, as the Cabinet Secretary himself mentioned in his statement, the trend that is happening now, because of the signal being sent out from the UK Government to the rest of the world, that we are struggling to attract the numbers of people into our economy that we need. And he mentioned in his previous answer to a previous question the work of the City of London Corporation in modelling the way that a work permit for London could operate post separation. We can well imagine, I think, with the experience that we have in Welsh politics, a situation where we get to separation day and the British Government, in its desperation to keep the City of London afloat as a global financial centre and as the only geographic bit of the UK that provides it with just enough income to sustain itself, will permit London a special status within the UK, but no-one else. Again, I go back to this. I don’t mean to gibe at unionist Members of this Chamber, but you are unionists and this is something that perhaps you need to consider over the coming period: if this is truly a family of equals and a family of nations, then it will not be acceptable, surely, for London, the one region of the UK that already gets an enormous economic and political advantage over everyone else—. The entire economic construction of the United Kingdom is based upon that one corner. If they’re allowed to have work permits of their own, and not the rest of us, that will be devastating for a country like Wales that is already approaching full employment and will not have the ability, then, to meet shortages in its public or private sectors whilst London can boom even further forward. That would be unacceptable. I’m disappointed that the Welsh Government is not modelling now, and publishing now, the impact on the Welsh economy of the London city state having preferential treatment in terms of regional work permits and not Wales. And actually, even if we were to get to a position where EEA nationals would have the right to come to the UK to work, I still believe that might not be enough to sustain the needs of the Welsh economy in terms of the skills shortages that are already now being exacerbated by the separation process that has only just begun.

So, I would ask the Cabinet Secretary to take time, perhaps, to reflect a little more on publishing further information and modelling on not just how a work permit system among the nations and regions of the UK could function—. Because we don’t suggest that it can’t function; we know it functions. Every federal state you can think of—. With some exceptions, but many federal states you can think of already have different quotas and work permit systems. So, it can function—it does function—but not only that, let us not lose sight of the opportunity we have to make the case for it now, in the next 18 months, before it is too late and before, yet again, the British state sells Wales down the Swanee.