May I welcome this statement and may I thank the Minister for making this statement, and also welcome the broader vision set out here of having a global centre of rail excellence here in Wales? We are talking about a potential investment that is huge here, if we are to deliver that aspiration, and that vision is to be warmly welcomed, because we are talking about Onllwyn here, the Onllwyn at the top of the Dulais valley there, where investment is greatly needed and the jobs are desperately needed. So, in terms of scrutiny—and I do understand that there are meetings to follow this that will set out some of the details of this project for us as Assembly Members, but in terms of responding, and in terms of the broad scrutiny of the statement that you’ve made this afternoon, could you set out more financial detail? That is, essentially, how much financial risk will you, as the Welsh Government, shoulder here? How much funding can you announce today will be provided directly from Welsh Government funds for this project? That’s the first question.

In terms of the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, and following on from the question that you’ve already been asked by Russell George, of course, there is a partnership here with nations on the continent of Europe. What kind of impacts do you anticipate if there is a ‘no deal’ Brexit, in terms of the major vision that you’ve set out this afternoon?

Of course, we do welcome investment, because the background to all of this, as you know, because you have referred to some of these figures yourself, is the lack of financial investment in rail infrastructure in Wales over a period of many years, and the Minister is very familiar with this. Particularly between 2011 and 2016, Welsh railways received just 1 per cent of the funding to make rail improvements, although we have 11 per cent of the UK network. So, in that five-year period, only £198 million out of a total budget of £12.2 billion—it’s only that £198 million that was spent on the Welsh railways. That is an appalling situation.

Of course, also during that same period, Welsh railways have been underfunded by a £1 billion, whilst there was far greater investment in areas of England—for example, the £30 billion for Crossrail 2 and so on and so forth. It’s true to say that if per capita expenditure in Wales on the railways corresponded to the per capita spend in the south-east of England, then £5.6 billion would’ve been invested over the past 20 years under Labour and Conservative Governments at a UK level.

So, there’s been a loss that has to be put right, so if we can secure a percentage of what we have missed out on as a nation over these past few years in terms of rail investment, then that will be welcome. That’s why, as a party, we do welcome this development, because we see it as a positive investment in our railways and in our trains, but specifically in our railways—those railways that have suffered underinvestment over many years. Thank you.