I rise to support the amendments to the motion that have been tabled by the leader of the house, the Member for the Vale of Glamorgan.

The national health service is one of the greatest creations of any democratically elected Government in the history of humanity. It is globally recognised as the optimum model of care. We, on these Welsh Labour benches, laud the achievements of the 1945 Labour Government in creating the national health service for succeeding generations to enjoy. I remember the story of my grandfather, a miner in the Valleys, who told me that when he went to the financial assistance board to beg for funding for his pregnant wife, he was refused and he went home, and she died. And this was the days before the national health service.

In the two decades since the Welsh people voted for devolution, the Welsh Labour Government has taken it as a solemn obligation to the people of Wales to ensure that the Welsh national health service stays true to the principles of Nye Bevan and those Labour visionaries who created it. We have put our money where our mouth is. Moreover we also, though, fully recognise, as has the Cabinet Secretary today, that there are shortages in particular fields in a number of areas, reflecting the pattern across the United Kingdom’s national health service. It was once said that true perfection is imperfect, and those sages from Manchester, the Gallagher brothers of Oasis fame, were right—the NHS epitomises this—it is perfect because it is imperfect.

The NHS serves human beings who all share one common feature, and that is their mortality. Sickness, illness and eventual death will be the fate of everybody in this Chamber. Even the very strong and stable Theresa May today, at the end of the Tory conference, betrayed her humanity with an inept defence of capitalism that could just be deciphered through her repeated hacking and coughing, and I wish her a speedy recovery—although you’ll forgive me if I hope that she really does get a P45 as soon as possible, for the health and well-being of the people of Wales.

Thanks to investment by the Welsh Labour Government, there are now more doctors and nurses in Wales than ever before. Between the establishment of the National Assembly in 1999 and 2016, we have seen a 44 per cent increase in the number of nurses, an 88 per cent increase in the number of consultants, and a 12 per cent increase in the number of GPs in Wales.

Thanks to Welsh Labour, more is now being invested in healthcare than ever before. Wales spends £160 more per person on health and social services combined than in England. And this investment has led to the NHS in Wales treating more than ever before, faster than ever before, as more GPs and other healthcare professionals fill roles across Wales.

Claims about staffing issues in Wales are also very rich coming from the Tory UK Government, which has slashed the Welsh Labour Government’s overall budget by £1.2 billion compared to 2010-11, and has cut social care spending in England by £4.6 billion. Let us think about that cut to the Welsh Government’s budget over the last seven years of Tory failed austerity Government: £1.2 billion to date, with more to come. It’s a bit rich, isn’t it? When needed, the Tory Chancellor, ‘Spreadsheet Phil’, can suddenly discover a magic money tree and shake it for £1 billion to give to the DUP, to keep a tired and failed Government in office on borrowed time. And I know it’s an inconvenient truth for some Members here, but every time the Welsh people are asked who they want to govern them, the Welsh people speak clearly and they vote Welsh Labour, and it’s a trust that we do not take for granted. That is why I know the Cabinet Secretary for health, who is a very talented Welsh Labour colleague, the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth, devotes his energy daily to ensure that the Welsh national health service is agile to meet the ever-increasing demands of an aging population.

I am proud that Welsh Labour have invested in the nurse training bursary when England has cut this route to a very, very ancient and valued profession.

I want to conclude by thanking the dedicated men and women of the national health service—the doctors, the nurses, the paramedics—who commit themselves to one of the greatest endeavours any Government has undertaken: safeguarding the health and well-being of our people, and we in Welsh Labour will support them. Diolch.