1. Will the First Minister make a statement on social cohesion in Wales? OAQ53553

Llywydd, the maintenance of social cohesion should never be taken for granted. The pressures of austerity and starkly differing views about Brexit cause particular challenges in our own time. The responsibility for fostering social cohesion is one shared by us all.

First Minister, thank you for that answer. In Wales, we have seen how the Brexit process has accelerated the trend towards a less cohesive and more fragmented society, where intolerance has become normalised, and this growing intolerance is not only aimed at people who have recently made Wales their home, but is increasingly towards anyone who holds a different viewpoint. This trend is deeply worrying for all of us who believe that a fractured society inevitably results in increased influence of those who promote racism and the scapegoating of those on benefits, those with disabilities, the homeless. First Minister, it is vital, whatever the Brexit outcome, we do all we can to reverse this trend. So, I would ask, will the First Minister commit to a Welsh Government campaign to help restore the traditional Welsh values of tolerance, solidarity and inclusivity? 

Well, Llywydd, I thank Mick Antoniw for that supplementary question. I do agree with him that there are real pressures in our society towards incivility and to regarding somebody with whom you have a difference of view as not somebody just with whom you can have a proper debate, but somehow that this is to be personalised and to be carried out in terms on which I don't think anybody in this Chamber would wish to see public debate conducted. That's bad enough amongst people who, in some ways, like those of us in this Chamber, put ourselves in a position of public debate, but it is even more so with people who find themselves scapegoated, singled out, made the butt of comments by others and, as the Member has said, there are events that mean that that risk is increased.

The Welsh Government has done a series of things to try and create the sort of all-Wales response that Mick Antoniw referred to. We're expanding our regional community cohesion programme and we're providing another £1.52 million from the EU transition fund in order to do that. We intend to do more to support those citizens directly affected by leaving the European Union, and there are some encouraging signs, Llywydd, as well.

Members here may have seen the recent report of the inspectors of constabulary, which highlighted work that is going on here in Wales. The report said that, in Wales, the national hate crime criminal justice board brings a consistency and co-ordinated approach to police action in relation to hate crime in Wales. It singled out Gwent Police, where our former colleague Jeff Cuthbert is the police and crime commissioner. It said that the Gwent Police force had a comprehensive and sophisticated approach to responding to victims of hate crime, which was not

'currently available in any of the other forces that we have visited.' 

So, I think that demonstrates, Llywydd, that where we do take concerted action, we are able make inroads even into the difficult circumstances that the Member outlined, and, as a Welsh Government, we are determined to go on doing more to achieve just that. 

First Minister, one way of promoting social cohesion is to ensure there's full and proper access to culture and arts programmes. I wonder if you've observed some of the Fusion programme, which, in fairness, your Government has promoted to expand access to arts and culture, and the Caerau and Ely Rediscovering heritage project in your constituency is, at this very moment, unearthing new finds that go back to the Mesolithic era, in which Cardiff and the area around were really, really important in terms of the development of this part of the British isles. That's involved people from the local community, some of whom are now at university as a result of working on this project. I commend Cardiff University in particular for their vision in signing up and being a key partner in this.

Can I thank David Melding for that, Llywydd, and agree with him in his general proposition that participation in cultural and sporting and artistic events allow people to share experiences, to offer perspectives from their own histories and cultures in a way that enriches everybody? I'm particularly grateful to David Melding for mentioning the CAER project in the Cardiff West constituency, and to take this opportunity, therefore, Llywydd, to congratulate them on winning a major National Lottery, Heritage Lottery award last week. The new Cardiff West High School will open its doors in two weeks' time, and its links with the archaeological work that is going on on that remarkable site will open opportunities for young people on that estate that have hitherto been very scantily available to them.