The 2m social distancing law also means that buses can now only carry a fraction of their previous passengers. In some instances, a bus with a maximum capacity of 64 can now accommodate fewer than just 10 passengers. So, the Welsh Government needs to prevent further cuts to bus services by increasing the support available to operators in order to protect these important lifelines.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport has suggested that £5.7 million a month could restore services in Wales to pre-lockdown capacity. Now, I'm very pleased that the tabling of our motion last week resulted in the Welsh Government announcing the establishment of a bus emergency fund in Wales, but I'm afraid there was scant detail in the written statement that accompanied the announcement as to how this new fund will work, so perhaps the Minister can share some more information on this in his response to this debate, because the reality is that, if we lose more bus routes during this pandemic, we risk a modal shift—a shift back to the car and from public transport. Because the truth is, once bus routes are axed, they're very rarely reinstated.

Dirprwy Lywydd, we also need the Welsh Government to look again at its position on face coverings. Yet again, Wales appears to be lagging behind on this particular issue. While face coverings are now mandatory for some activities in Scotland and in England, in Wales they're not. With the level of cross-border journeys between England and Wales being so significant, this just doesn't make sense, and that's why we're going to be supporting the Brexit Party amendment, which proposes that face coverings are mandatory on all public transport journeys in Wales in the future.

But it's not just our buses that are reeling from the impact of the pandemic—the aviation industry is, of course, too. Just last week, Airbus announced over 1,400 job losses at its Broughton site in north Wales—a devastating blow for the workers and their families, as well as the wider economy. Cardiff Airport, which, of course, taxpayers have been propping up now since it was nationalised back in 2013, has, understandably, also seen a massive reduction in passenger numbers.

The prospect of a swift recovery for Cardiff Airport and the wider aviation sector won't be helped by the Welsh Government discouraging popular discount airlines like Ryanair from flying from Wales, as they did last week. So, can Ministers today explain what actions the Welsh Government is now going to take in order to help the aviation industry in Wales to be able to bounce back, including plans to promote new routes to and from safe locations where the rate of transmission overseas is low? This is particularly critical, of course, for the Welsh tourist industry, which needs to maximise what's left of this summer season going forward.

The industry, of course, is worth billions to the Welsh economy—it employs 8 per cent of the Welsh workforce—yet it's been closed for longer than elsewhere in the UK. Tourism and hospitality businesses, of course, were able to open on Saturday in England, but overnight accommodation remains closed for a further nine days beyond the opening date in England, at a critical time, when many businesses are on a knife edge.

Our single biggest tourism market, of course, which will be a key to the tourism economy's recovery, is England, yet our health Minister took to the airwaves on a national radio station last week to say that he wouldn't rule out introducing a quarantine period for visitors to Wales from other parts of the United Kingdom—I mean, what a ridiculous proposition. Why would anybody come to Wales for a weekend away if they had to quarantine for a fortnight once they arrived? It's an absolutely barmy situation. We've got a porous border with England. How on earth would the Welsh Government be able to stop the daily travel between Wales and Liverpool, Chester, Shrewsbury or Bristol when you've got a situation the way that we have? The last thing that the people of Wales need, frankly, is a slate curtain along our border with England at a time when we need to be boosting trade between our two great nations.

No-one, of course, arriving in Wales from the UK or the wider common travel area should have to quarantine when visiting this part of the United Kingdom, so I do hope that the Welsh Government will rule this out today, and I look for the Minister's doing that in his comments on our debate. I also hope that the Plaid Cymru spokesperson will explain why they seem to support quarantining UK and Irish nationals before entering Wales, because, of course, their amendment proposes removing the statement that we have in our motion in order to amend it. Now, we support the UK Government's work in establishing air bridges, which of course is what the Plaid amendment refers to. We support that work. We want to see air bridges established with other safe destinations overseas. But, of course, air bridges aren't relevant to countries like England where we have actual bridges that connect Wales to England. So, for the sake of those who cross the border regularly and want to visit Wales, we're going to be opposing Plaid Cymru's amendment. We need, I think, to send a very clear message today that, from 11 July, better late than never, Wales is very much open for business and we want to encourage people to visit Wales safely. 

So, in closing these opening remarks, Dirprwy Lywydd, Wales is reopening, albeit slowly. We need to help to get Wales moving by supporting public transport operators, by getting our bus network back on its feet, by supporting our aviation industry, and we also need to protect our tourism industry and the jobs that depend on it by promoting Wales as a destination, not drawing a slate curtain along our border. The UK Government has done its bit, of course, with a reduction in VAT on tourism and hospitality businesses for the future, which I think is an excellent move. We now need to see the Welsh Government pull its socks up and do some support work itself. I urge people to support our motion. Diolch.