Diolch, and thank you for holding this debate on what’s a really important topic and one that I don’t think has enough attention in this National Assembly for Wales on a regular basis.

I took some inspiration for some of the amendments from Race Equality First and from the Ethnic Youth Support Team in Swansea. Those particular ideas were focusing on teacher training to deal with hate-related incidents and interventions in school. I think what’s important to recognise is that people’s social views are framed from a very young age, and what I found from the Ethnic Youth Support Team in Swansea, when I visited there a few weeks ago, was that they’re having specifically tailored workshops towards some people they’re identifying in the school who’re coming out with potentially racist comments, or derogatory comments at an early, early stage in their youth careers in school to try and understand why they’re coming out with such views and what manifests itself in those views. I think it’s very complex, but I think, if we invest money in that preventative agenda, we will be able to effect change.

In that light, I have had evidence from the Ethnic Youth Support Team where they’ve said that they’ve read from the hate crime framework that the all-Wales anti-bullying framework will look at this preventative work, but they’ve told me that it disbanded in 2016. So, if the all-Wales anti-bullying framework is not in existence, or the group that’s putting that in place is not currently in existence, who is doing that work on the front line?

In relation to the Victim Support amendment, it was in recognition of the fact that there may be diverse groups across society that may inform Victim Support better as to the nuances and the complexities of the advice and the support needed to give to some victims. There may be charities that work specifically with the trauma induced by race-related hate crime; there may be organisations like Stonewall that may be able to give Victim Support more support in relation to that type of hate crime. I think that is the thrust of what I’ve tried to say there—that Victim Support, in and of itself, is working well, but needs more cross-cutting endorsement and support by the charity sector.

I think what’s important also to note is our attempts, as a party and as a nation, to increase community cohesion—this should be at the heart of everything that we do in relation to hate crime, especially given that it’s been reported that hate crime against Muslims often is higher when the media reports on a terrorist incident. We have to address those very real concerns, because we have communities in Wales where people are suffering as a result of actions taken by other people, and it’s not in their name.

I realise that amendment 5 has caused some conflict before this debate happened. It’s not to say that only men suffer from being victims of radicalisation from the far right, but it is a recognition that we could start somewhere and to start with men in this particular group. I don’t apologise for trying to have the debate, but I can understand if perhaps it could be more nuanced, and we will consider that in future. But I think sometimes, as I’ve said to people before I came here today—. We know that young men commit suicide more often, we know that they need to have targeted support, and we know that young men are becoming radicalised by the far right online, social media—we only need to look at Breitbart, who don’t openly advocate violence, but the culture of grievance they play repeatedly with certain white men needs discussion, as many of the talking points have become mainstream. This could be a whole debate on its own about potential problems with mental health, potentially how men feel that their role in society has changed: they’ve been told that they should be the main bread earner, but it winds up that they’re not, and how they feel when where they fit in society doesn’t work anymore. There’s been numerous studies into why ethnic or Asian men have been radicalised towards the Islamic State, and so why not have the conversation openly here in our National Assembly about why certain sectors of our society are going online, abusing women, and finding it easy to justify that because they don’t believe in the ‘PC’ agenda anymore? Why is that acceptable? Why should we accept that as a form of open debate? That has to be questioned, surely. So, I would like to potentially bring more debates of this nature, and have them in a constructive manner, so that we can help our citizens understand one another. Maybe we come from a position of privilege here in the National Assembly, so we don’t understand all of the nuances of why things happen, but we have to try and work together more positively as a society.