I would like to thank the culture committee for today's debate, and for their efforts over the past five years under the chairmanship of Bethan Sayed. I'm sure she's been a very good Chair. Unfortunately, I have to say I disagree with the report that they've produced. I think that the report, although well intentioned, is based on a false premise. After all, who decides what media Wales needs? This is a value judgement before we even start. Why would I assume that Wales does not already have the media that it needs? If it needed something else, then there would be a commercial market for it, which some broadcaster would already have exploited. So, Wales has got precisely the media that the people of Wales actually want. If you give the Welsh people something else by Senedd diktat, then you will be giving them something that the Senedd wants them to have, not something that the people of Wales actually want.

We already have too much political interference with tv in Wales, if I can focus on tv for a moment, and this report is proposing even more. The BBC is a biased operation, which favoured 'remain' over 'leave', which favours the left over the right, and, in Wales, has a disturbing tendency to be stuffed full of Welsh nationalists. Just the other day, who was appointed head of content at BBC Wales? Rhuanedd Richards, former chief executive of Plaid Cymru. BBC Wales are desperately trying to ignore my party, Abolish the Assembly, by leaving us out of the leaders' debates in this election, even though we are polling far higher than the Lib Dems, who they are proposing to put in ahead of us. This is a measure of the shadowy networking between BBC Wales, the political left and Welsh nationalism, which has been strangling the life out of civic society in Wales for the past 20 years. We actually need less political meddling in the media, not more.

The report also says we should have a Welsh-focused news programme. What that might mean in reality? If we have a Welsh-focused News at Six, what is the point of that when we already have Wales Today? How would it work? On Wales's News at Six we would have Lucy Owen talking to Nick Servini standing outside the Houses of Parliament talking about how the day's events affected Wales. Then, on Wales Today we would have Jen Jones talking to Teleri or Ione and they would be really scratching for material. We would end up with lead stories about a sheep falling down a hillside in Criccieth. Or we would zoom to a live broadcast of an exciting meeting of the constitutional affairs committee here at the Senedd, with an even more exciting interview with Mick Antoniw afterwards. All riveting stuff to look forward to, if the culture committee gets its way. 

This is where the report really falls down, because politicians are trying to judge what comprises good tv. Apparently, more programmes made in Wales have to be set in Wales. Why? I would have to ask, what right have the committee members to tell us what the viewing public needs? If we needed it, we would already have it. With all due respect, this report is complete nonsense and Abolish will be voting against. But I thank the committee for its efforts in all sincerity, although I disagree.

I also thank the Dirprwy Lywydd, Dafydd Elis-Thomas and Jane Hutt—who may be back, of course—but, if I don't see any of you, thank you very much for your assistance during my time in the Senedd. Diolch yn fawr iawn and hwyl fawr.