Can I say I regret, to say the least, some of the comments made by the Conservative spokesperson? To say that we in Plaid Cymru seek the destruction of the British people, I think, goes beyond the bounds of usual political banter. I'm sure the Member will want to reflect on his comments and perhaps apologise once he's cooled down at some point. And to use terms such as 'fun and games' when it's his fantasy island politics that's going to cost people jobs in this country, I think is nothing short of shameful. 

But I thank the Cabinet Secretary for his statement today and for his observations on the continuing shambles that is our separation from the European Union, and we on these benches, of course, share his concerns that the growing instability at the other end of the M4 will result in the catastrophic 'no deal' Brexit, as described in the Cabinet Secretary's statement.

On that point, he will know I've asked him on a number of occasions in the past, and my party leader has also asked the First Minister, in terms of the contingency planning that can occur in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit. I entirely agree that there is no way of mitigating our withdrawal from the European Union economically, regardless of the form of the withdrawal, let alone a 'no deal' withdrawal. But, as we've alluded to previously, the head of the NHS in England has spoken about the contingency planning happening there in terms of the stockpiling of drugs and medical equipment in order to avoid undue damage to the services that patients and their families rely upon. Can he give us assurances that that kind of discussion is happening at Welsh Government level, and in areas related to health that are non-devolved, in particular, like drug control, that engagement is happening at a UK level between the devolved administrations and the UK Government in order to avoid a situation where we run out of medicines and equipment in our national health service?

In the statement, there's a mention of the need for flexibility in terms of the timetable for separation from the European Union. I agree with that. The statement doesn't appear to go as far as the First Minister himself went the other day when he said that he would welcome an extension to the article 50 process. And, given the fact that we might not have a UK Government in a matter of weeks, days or months, the need for an extension of the article 50 process might become a necessity. So, I wonder if he could clarify that it is the Welsh Government's position that an article 50 extension should be on the table, particularly in the event of a UK general election and the inevitable delay that that will cause to negotiations with the European Union.

Given his scathing appraisal—I think it's fair to describe it as a scathing appraisal—of the UK Government performance to date and the dreadful treatment of devolved Governments still that is occurring at JMC level—I understand the Welsh Government did not get full sight of the UK White Paper before it was published—I wonder, therefore, given that instability, given the continued lack of respect, even after the inter-governmental agreement has been signed and has had time to embed itself, will the Welsh Government reconsider repealing the continuity Act as hastily as it is? Because it sounds to me like we still perhaps should be wary of relying on the goodwill of the UK Government when it comes to future developments. 

In terms of future developments, the Welsh Government today has published one of its most significant publications to date, I think, on the whole Brexit process, that for the future fiscal arrangements for the UK post separation from the EU, in particular the question of future regional policy, and one of the passages in that report states that:

'A UK Government “shared prosperity fund” approach would be a direct attack on devolution and would risk depriving some of our most disadvantaged communities of the funds they need to develop economically.'

We agree, but, in the event of the UK Government moving forward and legislating irrespective of our wishes here, wouldn't it be prudent for us to have legislative contingencies in place to pursue our own regional policy?

Just a final couple of points, Dirprwy Lywydd. Now that we know that the European research group in the House of Commons has been given a full role in the legislative process as we leave the EU and has successfully changed the terms of the Trade Bill, can the Cabinet Secretary clarify Welsh Government's position on the Trade Bill? Will the Welsh Government be recommending that we withhold legislative consent from that Trade Bill, or is it yet to form an opinion? 

And, finally, will the Cabinet Secretary be able to offer a comment on the observations of the OBR yesterday that there will not be any Brexit dividend to spend on the national health service, or any other part of the public sector for that matter, and that the Prime Minister's assertion that one would be apparent was false? Could he therefore offer the Assembly an explanation as to where we could expect to find the additional promised money for the Welsh national health service, above and beyond of course the £350 million a week that we're all still very much looking forward to?