This is indeed another sad day in the history of this Senedd. Oh, what can I say about my friend Mohammad Asghar? It's hard to believe that he's gone.

I first got to know Oscar properly on the Finance Committee—on a trip, actually, a visit to Sweden back in around 2009, I think it was. We bonded over a cup of tea in a hotel lobby. Oscar loved his tea. In fact, he drank copious amounts of it most of the time, as many of you will remember from breaks from business spent with him in the Members' tea room, when a large pot of tea would be ordered, would be constantly kept filled, and the stories would flow, along with the contents of the pot.

Oscar had led a full and interesting life. Born in Peshawar in what was then British India in 1945, his first memories were of partition, and his memories of the upheaval and unrest that ensued stayed with him all his life and were key to forming his views later in life. He thought partition was a mistake; he thought people should always do their best to find common ground. 'We should always focus on what unites us rather than what divides us'—Oscar constantly told me that.

Over the years, he became a personal friend, he became a family friend, and his joy when Jen and I got engaged and married, and later on, when our son James came along, knew no bounds. I often felt that I was talking to a parent or a father, rather than a friend when I spoke to Oscar. When we got married, he even offered to drive the wedding car, and I think he would have flown me to the church, if I'd wanted him to.

This brings me on to some lesser known facts about Oscar's life. They include him carrying the Olympic torch across India in advance of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. I didn't quite believe it until he produced a very old black-and-white photo of a younger Oscar proudly holding the torch. He had a pilot's licence, as others have mentioned. He once told me that his brothers were in the Pakistan air force. Anyone who visited Oscar and Firdaus's home in Newport could not help but notice and have to find their way around an enormous model of Concorde that took pride of place in his living room. He loved flying. He hadn't followed his family into that professionally, his life would take a different route, it would bring him to Wales, it would bring him into politics.

Oscar was proud to be a Member of this Senedd, and as an accountant, he took his role on the Public Accounts Committee very seriously. In fact, he was one of its longest serving Members, and he'll be sorely missed by myself as Chair, the members of the committee and the rest of the clerking team.

A man of faith, Oscar was a proud British Muslim who loved and respected all faiths, and they respected him. He was particularly close to Ahmadiyya Muslims and when I asked him why that was, he once told me how, when he was born, his mother had been unwell and had been unable to care for him, and an Ahmadiyyan mother had stepped in and cared for him in those first few days when she was unable to. It was an act of love that he never forgot, and throughout his life, he always supported Ahmadiyyans. That was something about Oscar—he always remembered a good turn, and he always paid it back in heaps.

It was mentioned by Mark Reckless, I think, that he was a proud royalist, and he was. I remember at the official opening of the Assembly in 2007, he was very eager to meet the Queen, and when he did, it was quite clear that he'd met her before, and as they were talking to each other, it became clear that she certainly recognised him and knew him. He had a reach across society. He could speak to people of all walks of life; he got on with them, and they got on with him. 

Today is a difficult day for all of us who knew Oscar and considered him to be a friend, and a close friend. It is, of course, especially difficult for Firdaus, Natasha and his family, and our thoughts are with them particularly today. The Ahmadiyya Muslims have a saying, 'Love for all, hatred for none.' As we remember our colleague and friend Mohammad Asghar, let us remember that saying too. Let us always build on what unites us, rather than what divides us, and let that be Oscar's legacy.