Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am pleased to speak in this debate today, and given the significance of this legislation, we as a committee explored the financial considerations of the Bill with the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd. The committee reached a majority conclusion that the constitutional and financial implications of the internal market Bill passing in its original form would undermine the devolution settlement, leading to the prospect that the funding available through the Welsh block grant could be reduced.

Whilst we welcome the Welsh Government’s approach in seeking support through the House of Lords for its model amendments to the Bill, we highlighted our concern that changes pursued through the Lords could be reinstated once the Bill returned to the House of Commons, and that indeed is what happened yesterday, when some of the financial aspects of the Bill that had been removed were reinstated by the Commons.

We have a number of concerns about the Bill as it stands, and I will go through some of them now. First of all, the possibility of the UK Government spending in devolved areas and in such a way that is not compatible with the Welsh Government’s strategic intentions. We heard from the Minister that the financial assistance powers within the Bill could be used for a very broad set of purposes, including in devolved areas. The Lords removed this clause. However, it was reinstated yesterday in the Commons. In our view, these powers are not necessary, and we believe that they will undermine spending decisions made here in Wales.

Part 6 of the Bill provided UK Government Ministers with the power to directly fund any person on a wide range of matters that are currently—[Inaudible.]