I've also just come back from a hugely interesting and thought-provoking visit with the EAAL committee to Brussels and, as has been said, we had the privilege of meeting the president of the Committee of the Regions there, as well as the fantastic Mairead Mcguinness, MEPs and ambassadors. In many of these meetings, we were given a bleak impression of the loss of influence that the UK and, even more so, Wales will suffer with the advent of Brexit. Another committee member likened this inverted progress to that of a decision maker moving to a lobbyist, and this is a real danger.

I haven't spoken in this Chamber before about Brexit and I don't hesitate to say how personally devastating I find the prospect of Wales losing her voice in sister conversations in Europe. So, we must make progress where we can. Indeed, the purpose of the committee's visit to Brussels was to examine the kind of relationship that Wales should hope to build with EU institutions and nations after the end of March. I cannot stress enough how vital it is that Wales cements and nurtures strong alliances and the Committee of the Regions is an obvious mechanism for furthering that aim.

Ivan Rogers has said that, for every country in Europe, its relationship with the EU is its most important strategic relationship. For us, in Wales, that fact isn't about to change. Our geography isn't about to change and I certainly hope and trust that our cultural ties will not change. But we know that the impact of Brexit will not be felt in the same way across all parts of these islands. That is particularly the case in Wales and especially the case in certain parts of Wales, including my region in the south-east. Indeed, as we've already heard today, some of these effects have already been felt with the closure of Honda's plant in Swindon and the likely impact that will have on the Kasai plant in Merthyr Tydfil, where 200 people work. We simply cannot afford to lose these jobs, and I will be doing all I can to work with interested parties in order to save them.

Brexit will have, as this report notes, an asymmetrical impact. So, our diplomacy too should probably be asymmetrical. As things stand, the mechanism seen in the Committee of the Regions—of devolved legislatures having a direct voice in the conversations of EU institutions—is not replicated on a UK level. That is why I would applaud the recommendation to establish a joint commission between that committee and the UK to ensure that this mechanism is not lost, and I hope that the Assembly endorses that recommendation too.

We should, without doubt, be looking to maintain associate representation on the committee. It's dismaying that, to date, so much diplomacy has been trusted to the UK Government to do on our behalf. Wales needs to keep our voice heard loudly and clearly. We can't trust another Government to do that for us. That is particularly true of a Government that is regarded with such bewilderment and horror as Westminster is in Europe at the moment. That lack of clarity that Westminster is giving to Europe is a huge issue. As one person we met put it: 'When you're sailing, you need to see the land in order to steer properly.' For so many of the EU institutions who want to work with us—and there's a willingness for that—they can see only water. That is why we need to affirm our commitment to finding a way of continuing to work with the Committee of the Regions. Wales can't afford to lose her voice. Diolch.