Firstly—and I speak not as a member of the committee, but as somebody who takes a keen interest in our positioning as a nation—certainly, we welcome the report. It includes very valuable advice going forward, and, of course, what we don't quite know as yet is what Wales's context will be. It looks as if it will be outside the European Union, but, whatever happens next year in terms of our future direction as a country, Wales is going to need a bigger voice than ever.

Russell George, in the introduction to the report, says that:

'It is clear to the Committee that more can be done to sell Wales to the world in a strategic and joined up way. There are pockets of good practice that must be better aligned across portfolios—and accessible to more businesses—if we are to meet our potential in this area'.

In many ways, we can see this as the story of this Government across many portfolio areas: lack of strategic thinking, not enough thinking strategically, not as much joined-up working as we'd like to see, only pockets of good practice here and there. And I think the crisis of Brexit—and it's not too strong a word to use—means that Wales's voice risks being lost, I think, and drowned out, and we really must be doing better, must be thinking more strategically, and I fear that, over two years since the Brexit referendum, the Welsh Government hasn't taken as many steps as I would like—as we would like—to take this as seriously as it should have been.

And in Scotland, I think, we see once again a Government showing what can be done with a strategic vision. For many years, I think the devolved Government there has worked hard to sell a distinct Scottish brand in business and in tourism and so on and to seek out as much influence as possible for their country, in Europe, and, indeed, elsewhere around the world, and this at a time when there seems to be an effort on the part of some, not least the UK Government, of course, to marginalise the Welsh brand, as seen most explicitly, of course, in the Royal Welsh Show, as I've mentioned a number of times, with Welsh produce this summer.

Now, the main recommendation in this report, the top recommendation, is that a specific Minister is created to combine Brexit responsibilities with external affairs, including selling Wales to the world. Scotland has had a similar, actually, Cabinet-level Minister for Europe and External Affairs going back to the dawn of devolution, I think, from the year 2000. It was abolished, then merged with other portfolios, before being resurrected when the SNP came into power in 2007. Europe and external affairs is part of a Cabinet-level position in Scotland, with a junior Minister assisting. Of course, they have more capacity in terms of membership there in Scotland. And I don't think there really is an excuse not to have one now in Wales, given the challenges that we face, and Plaid Cymru has been calling for a Minister to deal with external issues for some time—a specific Minister, of course. It's rolled into the First Minister's responsibilities; we think that there needs to be a stepping up, and the changing context, I think, strengthens the argument for that.

We're a little unclear from the Government response to the report whether or not they're accepting the need for the creation of a ministerial-level position for Brexit and international trade or suggesting that we just stick as we are now with the First Minister and other Ministers currently dealing with those issues. Perhaps some clarity on that point, actually, would be useful now. The current set-up, though, as the report notes, isn't joined-up, isn't specific enough, isn't strategic enough, and a separate Minister would be able to also bring real clarity and accountability, which is crucial, of course, to how we approach our external affairs issues as a country. So, that's what the main recommendation is.

I'd like to pick up on the role of overseas offices too. The report was clear in its conclusions that there was a lack of direction and resources for these officers. More focus is needed; better engagement with businesses in Wales and elsewhere is going to be crucial. I note from the Government response that the offices are now required to tailor specific business plans based on the strengths and opportunities in their respective markets. We welcome that, but there's still, I think, a question of resources here and whether we now believe they are able to carry out the need for an expanded role in that new context.

The main takeaway, then, from this report for us is that, as with so many areas of Government, there's a lack of strategic thinking, a lack of leadership. Highlighted is the work that needs to be done across a variety of departments. This, in many ways, is the beginning of a new era for Wales; it's not an era that we would have invented ourselves, but I think we have in this report a series of recommendations that, hopefully, can lay some foundations at the start of that new period in Welsh history.