Diolch. I'm pleased to move this motion in Plaid Cymru's name that has followed the publication of a piece of research that deserves serious attention. The finding by the Wales Governance Centre that Wales has the highest incarceration rate in western Europe should be a source of shame for us all. It's also deeply concerning that this trend has developed without detection until the Wales Governance Centre disaggregated the data. These findings and the concerning wider picture that they point to should prompt us to ask some searching questions about what it is we want from our justice system and how it is serving those aims. And that is what I hope that we can start to do today with this debate. 

The truth is that the England and Wales criminal justice system is failing our communities. We have a higher incarceration rate than England, despite having a lower crime rate. Women are more likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence than men. Imprisonment rates among BAME communities are more disproportionate relative to the population in Wales than in England, and Black, Asian and minority ethnic people have the highest average sentence length. So, if you're a person of colour in Wales, you are both more likely to be imprisoned and to receive a longer sentence. White people, however, are underrepresented.