Can I say how much I strongly support the principles behind each one of these petitions? We're all aware of the very serious situation with the coronavirus at the moment, and I think everybody is aware that we can't do things that we would choose to do and we can't do and behave in the way that we might do so normally, and that is understandable. But we're also aware that, as the Government establishes restrictions and regulations, there are things that we are still able to do and things that are more restrictive, but even the most restrictive regulations that the Government have laid have recognised the place and the importance of physical recreation and physical exercise. At every time when we've been through a period of restrictions in Wales and elsewhere in not just the United Kingdom, but elsewhere around the world, every Government has recognised the importance of physical exercise, almost without exception, and that is an important principle, because we recognise, therefore, that physical exercise and sport are important to us wherever we may be.

Now, it may well be that I can, for example, walk around a lake, but the Festival Angling Club in Ebbw Vale, for example, would like to fish it as well, and it does seem to be a very curious example to use, in that I could potentially even jog around the lake, but I couldn't stop and fish there. I think there are areas where the regulations become difficult to sustain. Now, we understand that the overriding objective of policy has to be to suppress and eradicate the virus. There's no argument there. It's a matter of how we do that and how we protect people as we do that and when we're doing it.

I've used the example of Festival Angling Club in Ebbw Vale; I could use also the example of West Monmouthshire Golf Club in Nantyglo, one of the most beautiful locations for a golf club—I'm sure the Minister knows it very well. I've never played a round of golf there, I must admit; I've walked the golf course, and as you walk across the course, you can see from the Sugar Loaf across to the Brecon Beacons, across the whole of the Heads of the Valleys, a beautiful location and a place where you can exercise and do so safely. The committee of the golf club understand completely the need to ensure safety for people in doing so, and they've already put in place a number of measures to ensure that people are able to do that safely.

At the same time, we have the whole situation with gyms. I can think easily of a number of really well-run gyms here—here in Tredegar, but right across Blaenau Gwent and elsewhere. The gym I'm a member of here in Tredegar, Fresh Active, is exceptionally well run, where they've taken the highest possible precautions to ensure the safety of all of us who will use that facility, and that's important, not just important for physical health, but for the mental health of people as well. I'm particularly concerned, Minister, and I'd be grateful for your observations on this, about the mental health of young men, because I was talking to a constituent before Christmas in the Ebbw Fach valley, who was telling me that there are tens and perhaps even hundreds of young men who were profoundly affected by the closure of gyms as a consequence of our regulations.

The final point I'd make, Deputy Presiding Officer, is this: Laura Jones spoke about her 10-year-old son, well, I have a 10-year-old son as well, and I'm sure we are not alone in having the most effective lobbyist we've ever come across sitting opposite us every so often. And it is important—the petition talks about football, but as Rhun ap Iorwerth said, it could be rugby or any other team sport—that we're able to ensure that our children particularly, and I'm thinking particularly of age-group sports, are able to maintain that social contact. We spoke in education questions earlier about the importance of socialisation in terms of school and education. And, of course, my son, and I'm sure Laura's and other people's children as well, socialises not only in the classroom, but more so, really, essentially through sport and exercise. And I know the excitement that my son feels; he tells me at a very high volume on a Saturday morning when he's off to football practice. And it's an important part of who we are and, of course, that is setting the foundation for a lifetime of health and activity.

So, Minister, in responding to this debate, I don't think there's anybody arguing that change can come immediately and everybody, I think, understands the importance of eradicating and suppressing the virus today. But we also understand that we're going to travel along a road, a pathway, over the next few months, and I think what we are seeking to argue is that the beginning of the relaxation of these restrictions should be with those activities that can be conducted safely outdoors, largely, but not only, and those activities that contribute to the health and well-being of people in our communities. So, I hope that we will be able to recognise that gyms are essential to our fitness and our health and well-being; that whether it's fishing or golfing, we are able to do that safely in the future; and also then that the sporting life and sporting activities that drive health and fitness and well-being in a community are also able to restart right at the beginning of this process of relaxation. Thank you very much.