I’d like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today, and also to thank him for the way that he’s undertaken this process of negotiating the budget between our two parties. I’d also like to thank my colleague Adam Price for leading the negotiations on behalf of my party. It’s true to say that there are a number of things that Plaid Cymru and the Government couldn’t agree on, but I am confident that the Cabinet Secretary will be aware that we will continue to scrutinise Government on many of those points of disagreement. But we will also be scrutinising the implementation in those areas where there was agreement between us.

Throughout this Assembly, Plaid Cymru has used our role as an opposition party in a mature and constructive manner for the benefit of the people of Wales. As part of the agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government, we have managed to secure over £210 million of additional expenditure, which means that we have secured almost £0.5 billion from the beginning of this Assembly. This will deliver real improvements to the lives of the people of Wales and will set the foundation for a more prosperous future for our nation.

This agreement includes £40 million for improvements to mental health services, such as perinatal mental health support, new investment in medical education in north Wales, additional nurses, and investment in linking our nation by making improvements between north and south. And very importantly too, there is a pledge to take steps as a result of Brexit, particularly a portal that will support businesses as they try and cope with the mess that is to come and the mess that’s already been created.

The Cabinet Secretary has confirmed today in his contribution that we are in further negotiations with the Government to discuss the additional funding that was announced by the UK Government, and as Nick Ramsay has already mentioned, I would want to know about the financial transactional capital. This isn’t a new element, but the scale of the additional funding emerging from this is relatively new, and I would appreciate further detail from the Cabinet Secretary on the nature of that funding.

The truth, of course, in terms of the broader fiscal position, is that the Welsh Government has seen an annual cut—a year-on-year cut—in its budget since 2010, and it’s likely that further cuts are in the pipeline from London. Last week, we had an opportunity to debate the content of the UK Government’s budget, which was announced on 22 November. I don’t want to use all of my time today rehearsing the content of that budget, but it’s important to understand the economic and fiscal context, and the broader sense in which that budget was announced, and its impact on the Welsh Government budget for the future.