Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:27 pm on 24 October 2018.
Well, diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm not sure whether I enjoyed or I hated that experience, actually; it veered from one emotion to the other, from the consensus that David Melding was talking about, to something very different from Lee Waters. But, there we are, such is life. I don't think this place is boring if these are the kinds of debates that we have, but there we are.
There are too many speakers for me to pick up on each of them, and I did overshoot slightly in my opening remarks in terms of time, but I would say that I agree with a lot of what Members here have said. I think that David Melding is perfectly right, actually, to say that people will look back at the way we are actually dealing with this in not a dissimilar way to how people consider slavery. You know, I'm constantly reminded by a certain friend of mine that, in years to come, people will never understand why we use clean water to flush our toilets. You know, that's the kind of thing that, in years to come, people will really question.
And, Rhun, thank you for your contribution as well. My father, actually, was on that very last journey the train made from Aberystwyth to Carmarthen, and I'm determined that he's going to be on the very first one that the new service provides, hopefully in the not too distant future. And the £100 billion on HS2 and what we could do with that—I mean, what is the Welsh word for 'mindblowing'? I was trying to think—really, but what we could be doing with our share of that.
I think I have to respond to some of Lee's comments, and I'm never sure, sometimes, whether he is serious or whether he's making mischief, but I'll take what he said. You said that there's a moment when you strike and there's a moment when you act. Well, there's a moment where we as an opposition party are expected to lay a motion before this Assembly as well. And this is it, you know—this is it. So, apologies if I've upset you—well, at least I feel I should apologise. Making it out to be some sort of big conspiracy to get at you maybe is a bit rich, I'd have to say, but there we are, that's it.
I will address a couple of the amendments in the very short time that I have left—or all the amendments in the very short time that I have left.