Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:27 pm on 22 January 2020.
Well, I would identify with the comments that the Member for Bridgend has made. I think what has struck a chord with me in this whole discussion and the discussion of the committee is the importance of language and rhetoric. And throughout the last three and a half years, I've been shocked by some of the occasionally thoughtless language that politicians have used, particularly in relation to EU citizens in this country, and I've been appalled to hear the use of language such as 'indigenous populations' and 'mass immigration', which are well-established dog-whistle terms, and we've heard them today in this Chamber from politicians in a way that is not thoughtless, actually, but deliberate. And over the course of this year, we as a Government will do all that we can in terms of how we help to shape the public climate in Wales to try and reverse some of the damage that is caused by the use of that language, and to make sure that when EU citizens listen to proceedings of this Chamber, they will continue to feel welcome here in Wales and know how much we value them. And as David Rees said in his contribution, in making EU citizens living in Wales feel welcome, we are all leaders in doing that.