Thank you for calling me, today. I wasn't expecting it, because you were trying to get everyone else in, but that's great—thank you very much. I was a bit put out by the First Minister's response yesterday, resorting to a personal attack on me, rather than answering a simple question—a reasonable question—just to ask him to provide the evidence upon which the latest restrictions were made. It's our job. We're opposition Members. We're in a democracy, and our job is to scrutinise and hold the Government to account. Surely that's what I was doing. I don't understand why you'd get cross about that in a national pandemic, when it's more essential than ever that we hold the Government to account and discuss these restrictions that are going out and make sure that they are the best restrictions possible to get the maximum impact.

Nick Ramsay was very right earlier; we need to take the public with us. It is really essential. But by making restrictions without backing it up by evidence, we're not going to take the public with us. We're not taking the public with us, and that spells danger, because people will go and drink in large numbers in their houses, perhaps, and you're seeing it on social media. I'm seeing it on social media; I'm sure everyone else is. This is the sort of thing that's happening. This is accountable for, maybe, some of the rise in numbers. Who knows? We have yet to see the evidence whether these latest restrictions are working or not, and the impact.

But there has got to be some sort of check on whether these restrictions are working. They are being so detrimental to our businesses, who have worked so hard to put their businesses up into making them safe for everybody to come and enjoy a meal out and a couple of glasses of wine. Why punish the masses for the few that are flouting the rules? This is not the way, in my opinion, to go about it. I don't think these restrictions make sense. I ask the Minister and the First Minister to look again at these restrictions, and either really justify it by giving hard evidence, and get the public and the businesses on board, or maybe think about changing them, and thinking again, and thinking what really is best for our country.

Yes, of course, we all are very concerned about the rising numbers throughout my region in south-east Wales, throughout Wales as a whole, throughout the UK. It is a very worrying time, and yes, the vaccinations are coming, but we must keep banging on and getting the message out there that people need to stay safe, wash hands, keep distance, wear masks, and that sort of thing, but the restrictions, apart from that, need to be reasonable. It is Christmas. Yes, people do want to see each other. Yes, of course they do, and I know that people want to meet up and hug, and this, that and the other, but they do understand, and I'm sure the majority of people understand, that they can't do that. They know that going nuts and drinking lots of alcohol is not the way forward. Some people will always flout the rules, but the majority do not and our businesses, at a time before Christmas when they can make back some of the money, as has already been said, at a time of year that is a good time of year for them—. I don't see why the hospitality business needs to be punished like this, and I use the word 'punish'—I don't think you mean to, like Suzy said, punish them, but you are punishing them and they have done nothing but abide by the rules and do everything brilliantly, in my regard, spending an awful lot of money, time and effort to try and save their businesses.

So, please, I just ask you once again: Minister, could you provide the hard evidence of why these exact restrictions were so necessary? Thank you.