I'd like to start by thanking the leader of the house for bringing forward this very important statement today. She will know that this is an important issue for my constituents in Alyn and Deeside and that I have previously raised the issues relating to digital connectivity within this Chamber.

Clearly, getting digital connectivity right is important if Wales and the UK are going to be the global technology leader of the future. I have two points that I'd like to ask the leader of the house about. Firstly, does she agree with me that improving our digital connectivity is vital if we're going to make the best of the developments in smart technology, from driverless cars to autonomous drones and environmental monitoring devices? We need to improve, and we need to do it quickly.

Secondly, does she agree with me that we need to be truly radical on ideas surrounding this issue and build gigabit cities and hubs? For example, Flintshire and Wrexham could link together to become one gigabit hub, and through the design and deployment of this type of future proof, full-fibre infrastructure, we could help bring many of the benefits you've mentioned throughout your statement, including unlimited bandwidth and gigabit-speed connectivity, to entire communities, both urban and rural. Every gigabit city and hub we build would provide local businesses, government, health and education sectors with state-of-the-art facilities and digital infrastructure capable of meeting their data, connectivity and communication needs for decades to come.

We should strive for Wales and the UK to be the global leader of this technology and innovation. The world is already going through a technological revolution, and if we fail to grasp these opportunities that we have in Wales we will regret it.