Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and can I add my voice to those who are saying how grateful they are to you for your firm and determined leadership in your position as Deputy Presiding Officer? I have been very grateful, during your term of office, for your guidance and support, and, in fact, ever since I joined the Assembly, back in 2011, I've been grateful for your friendship, comradeship, advice, good guidance and constant presence, good humour, laughter and fun. I'll really miss you, Ann, as will all the rest of us, and I wish you all the very best for the future.

I'd also like to thank Members for the opportunity to respond to this debate. I think it was pretty brave of the Conservatives to table a motion, which, as ever, shows just how much out of touch they are with the people of Wales, and gives us the opportunity to showcase all of the many ways in which we have, of course, time and time again, stood up for the people of Wales in the face of the Tory threat.

Our amendment sets out just a handful of our achievements in Government, and I'll happily list many more in a moment, but I thought I'd begin with sharing with you the original amendment that I was considering, and it would have said this: 'delete all'—of course, because the proposition is preposterous—'and replace with: to propose that our Senedd regrets that, despite 20 years of devolution, the Welsh Conservatives have vowed not to spend a single penny on things that aren't strictly devolved, things like our 500 PCSOs that we fund; regrets that the Conservatives have failed to match our UK-leading business support packages; regrets that the UK Conservatives have blown £37 billion on test and trace contracts for their friends, £37 billion that a former Treasury Permanent Secretary described as the most inept public spending programme of all time; regrets that the Tories abolished EMA and Erasmus, whereas this Government has stepped in to protect the demonstrable benefits that come with both schemes; regrets, indeed, the disdain that the Welsh and UK Conservatives have for devolution.' This is particularly evident right now, in recent reports that the Conservatives regret 'allowing the Welsh Government to run your own NHS and response to COVID-19'—and I quote.

Well, Deputy Presiding Officer, we on these benches do not share those views. Indeed, because of this Government and the dedication of remarkable public servants across Wales, we have shown how it should be done. We have an outstanding test and trace programme, run by our own local authorities, not outsourced to the highest bidder. We have one of the best vaccine programmes in the world, with over 50 per cent of the adult population having had their first dose. We have the UK's most generous business support package, showing that Labour is the party of innovation and entrepreneurship. We have provided over £1.5 billion-worth of extra money to our NHS, and secured over 580 million items of PPE, some of which we shared with England. We have bolstered our free school meals programme and delivered over 2.1 million food boxes to those on the shielding lists. We have expanded our discretionary assistance fund by over £13 million to help the worst affected by the pandemic. We have provided £20 million-worth of emergency funding to local authorities and housed over 7,000 people during the course of the pandemic, and, unlike England, we have never moved away from our 'everyone in' policy during this pandemic, and we are very proud of that. We have provided a £500 'thank you' payment to our NHS staff and care staff, which the Conservative Government has seen fit to tax. We have set up an £18 million freelancer fund, which simply does not exist in England, and secured over £90 million-worth of support to our key cultural sectors, at a time when the Tories were telling artists to retrain as IT specialists.

The Tories in Wales have flip-flopped over measures they do and don't support. Beholden to an indecisive UK Government, they have made the wrong call time and time again. It's a strange reality when we have a Conservative Party that wants to defund the police and cut every single one of our 500 PCSOs, that doesn't show the slightest remorse for blowing £37 billion instead of funding public services, and has proven weak on business, indifferent to freelancers, and callous on free school meals. This is not our record in Wales.

Our amendment is just a glimpse of how we have, time and time again, fought for the people of Wales, how we have bolstered our NHS, secured jobs, provided 100,000 apprenticeships, built schools, reformed our curriculum, fought against climate change, built 20,000 homes, created a vision for tourism and culture, strengthened our local authorities, invested in our town centres, expanded childcare, helped people and businesses pay less tax and rates, prioritised workers' rights and the social partnership, increased funding for mental health. We have published an unprecedented race equality action plan. We were the first nation to provide PrEP across the UK. We introduced a gender recognition service. We have committed to a taskforce to tackle inequality faced by disabled people. We have increased our funding to tackle violence and domestic abuse. We have invested in active travel, in placemaking, and in finding housing solutions to challenges such as fuel poverty, changing demographics and reducing carbon emissions. Our coastal communities and towns remain a priority for this Government, and that's why, despite the UK Tory Government's decision to stop this important funding, we have committed to providing £6 million to our coastal towns.

Deputy Presiding Officer, the list goes on and on, and so does our absolute determination that, together, we will keep Wales moving forward. Llywydd, on this side of the house, we are rightly proud of the record of this Government. Despite the challenges of COVID and of Brexit, we have kept our eyes on the future of this country, and on the hopes we all share. Diolch.