Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and thank you to the Chair of the Petitions Committee, Janet Finch-Saunders, for taking this through the petitions process and bringing forward this debate today. My feeling is that, although this debate comes through a parliamentary process, it's a debate that's perhaps happened too early. But having said that, it is an opportunity to respond on behalf of Government in a way that will be entirely clear, hopefully.

As you know, public health is the main consideration in the situation that we currently face, and indeed, the situation has deteriorated significantly since these petitions were originally introduced. I have a responsibility, of course, in having an overview of physical activity as Minister for sport within Government, but I must act within the context of public health, and the alert level that we have been in since 20 December, namely level 4, does reflect the gravity of the situation.

All of the policy and the actions undertaken by Welsh Government, which don't differ greatly from what has happened in England, in Northern Ireland and in Scotland, although there is that exception on golf in Scotland—the policies generally speaking have been similar. They are similar because they have been put in place in all of those nations on the basis of public health advice that is agreed between the chief medical officers of those nations. If some of you, as I did, at lunchtime today, saw the chief medical officers in Wales, you will have heard the latest evidence about the situation.

Whilst the medical advice tells us to remain at home, and to be cautious, and not to allow physical activities within buildings such as gymnasiums, then balancing public opinion and specialist advice received by Government does emphasise the importance that we do safeguard the people of Wales, provide clear and unambiguous advice to them, and safeguard and protect our NHS. That does mean that we continue to keep indoor facilities closed. Although, as I said earlier, outdoor activities such as golf and football do appear safer, the public health advice is that the risk posed by these activities in terms of supporters and participants is greater than we can allow.

The development of the virus has been unexpected to some people, but not for anyone who has been studying public health and other pandemics and plagues, as we are currently experiencing. That is why we cannot allow exceptions or concessions at the moment. So, we remain firm on that 'stay at home' message. The decisions of the Welsh Government have to be based on the reality of the situation in Wales and public health priorities.

That doesn't mean that I don't agree with everything that's been said about the importance of physical exercise. I'm fortunate, because of where I live in north Wales—and also now here most of the time, if not all of the time, in Cardiff, because I'm not able to travel because of my age—but continuing to exercise outdoors, running and so on, is what I've continued to do, and it's not only pleasurable but a necessity for me. So, it's not like I don't understand the arguments being put forward, but I have to say unambiguously that we at the moment must ensure that we support the sports sector. We have allocated £23 million to assist the sport and leisure sector during this pandemic, but this is not the time for us to open the doors or go through those doors if that is not safe.

I am very grateful for the developments in terms of vaccines, but it's important that we don't undermine the effectiveness of vaccines in terms of public health by allowing the opening of activities that aren't safe at the moment. This is not a party political issue, of course; it's too important for that—it's a matter of life and death.