Over recent years, there has been a steady drip-drip of news indicating the worsening financial position of Welsh universities. We have seen successive announcements of job cuts for one, at Trinity Saint David, we are seeing news that there is a potential for up to 170 job cuts, Cardiff has announced up to 380 losses over the next five years, and we know that this is on top of prior job losses and restructuring. Lecturers and academic staff, members of the University and College Union, voted almost 90 per cent in favour of strike action last year. There have been job losses and restructuring at my former university in recent years, in Bangor too, and more projected in the future.

We're also in a situation where applications are falling as well. Last year, there was almost a 6 per cent decline in Wales overall. Amongst EU students, the number was a very worrying 20 per cent reduction in applications, and I do hope that if the Brexit Party spokesperson replies in this debate, they'll be honest enough to admit that their preferred policy of crashing out of the EU without a deal will be a disaster for the Welsh HE sector. So, we come—