As a South Wales East Member, I reflect today, after Steffan and now Oscar, that two of the three Members with whom I was elected just four years ago are now dead. Oscar stood for country, the community and constituents, at least in my experience. He was born in the British empire, came to Wales, to the United Kingdom, and was a patriot, but with a nuanced understanding of our present and our past. One thing I miss about not meeting in the Chamber and physically is not being able, through an aside or casual conversation, to see what Oscar made of the events of recent weeks and to understand his particular perspective. 

When I joined the Conservative group, Oscar walked with me towards my first group meeting. He asked me did I like the Queen, I responded that, yes, I did, and he said that was good because one of the reasons he had joined the Conservatives was their support for the monarchy. It was then a little disappointing for me at the meeting that Andrew R.T. didn't start by standing and leading us in the national anthem. I think Oscar's commitment to our institutions was such that perhaps is not as fashionable now as it may have been in the past, but Oscar's belief in our country and institutions was quite extraordinary.

One incident in terms of community I recall was, we had an event with HMRC, and their new offices that they would be opening in the centre of Cardiff, and a number of Members of the then Assembly, and also the Westminster Parliament, attended. One tax inspector spoke of their approach and sensitivity and particular emphasis, sometimes, dealing with particular communities perhaps because employment was concentrated in a particular area, and I recall Oscar answering that he trusted there would be no special attention given to Muslims in Newport for there was no community that was more upright, more charitable, or more enthusiastic to pay their taxes. He then said, I think, for balance, that he hoped, also, that they were not talking about eastern European communities, many of whom had grown up under dictatorships or had seen corruption in their previous country, and like him, believed in the institutions of the British state and paying their taxes and doing their right thing.

I think Oscar was able to speak in general terms about communities and about groups in a way that many of us would shy away from. But I think he was able to do that because he only saw good in others and he would speak, always, of the positives of particular communities. I think he did not have the suspicious mind of a tax inspector, perhaps, and, as an accountant, may have represented his clients, and he could see no ill in other people, and that, I think, was a core part of his being and who he was.

Finally, I recall the particular emphasis that Oscar put on his constituents. Many of the time in questions in the Chamber, he would speak, sometimes at length and sometimes in detail, about the cases of particular constituents who had come to him. And he was not always held in reverential silence, and many of us, we are informed by our constituency cases, but we don't necessarily detail or speak about them in questions in the way he did. And he didn't always get a result, but particularly while I was a Member of the Conservative group, and particularly as a regional Member, when people would come to us when a constituency Member had not been able to assist, and many of those cases were difficult, and often we couldn't get results. But on occasion, Oscar did get results because he raised those cases in the Chamber, because he got through to the Minister, and rather than having an official deal with it, he got a Minister to give it special attention and through that, got a result for his constituents. They were fortunate to have him. Our condolences go to his family, to Firdaus and to Natasha. Oscar, we will all miss you. Rest in peace.