Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:39 pm on 3 June 2020.
Thank you, Llywydd. May I start by being entirely unambiguous from the central question at the heart of the motion? The Welsh Government does support the establishment of an independent public inquiry that would look at how we and others have responded to this pandemic. The circumstances that each and every one of us has lived through over the past few months are so significant that that would be entirely appropriate and entirely necessary.
Coronavirus has affected all parts of the UK and the whole world in different ways, and there is no doubt that there are lessons to be learnt, things that we can improve, and steps that we can take to safeguard people here in Wales for the future.
The current priority, of course, is to focus on responding to the crisis, and I would take this opportunity to highlight our message to the people of Wales. The First Minister announced the outcome of our 21-day review on Friday. We know how important it is for the people of Wales to meet their family and friends, and we know that there is very little scope to relax the restrictions. We have chosen to relax those restrictions carefully to allow more local visits, using an area of 5 miles as a guideline for people to start to see friends and family once again.