A Parliament that is perfectly balanced between Government and opposition makes political co-operation across party lines not just desirable but necessary, and we stand, in Plaid Cymru, ready to find common ground in the interests of the people who have elected all of us to this Senedd. We'll work with Government where possible, and with the opposition parties where necessary, in the sprit of a united Wales, where the things that unite us are often much more important, much more enduring, than the things that divide us. 

The First Minister has won a mandate for the continuation of his Government, but surely there is no mandate, and certainly there should not be a mandate, for the continuation of child hunger, for the continuation of homelessness, of food and fuel poverty, of poverty pay, of the crisis in housing, in social care and mental health. The result of the election has been a political status quo, but it cannot be—it must not be—a social status quo, an economic status quo. And surely that is, above all, true. The First Minister referred to future generations; we, uniquely amongst the nations of the world, have put the interests of future generations right at the heart of our politics and our constitution. It is the animating principle of our Government. And surely the one area where we cannot accept the status quo is child poverty—a moral stain, a moral stain on any nation, and certainly an advanced economy like ours in Wales, where almost one in three of our children are living in poverty. As a former leader of the Labour Party said recently, poverty for anyone is a scandal, but child poverty is a crime. So, can we all make a declaration, across party lines, that we will work together to end and abolish this crime in Wales?

And I urge the First Minister—. And, unconventionally, I paid tribute to him many times throughout the election, because I honestly believe in his sincerity. When he talks about being radical and ambitious, I want him to succeed. I genuinely want him to succeed. And can I urge him—can I urge him to look across the Atlantic at the moment, to look at the Biden Government, which is electrifying, I think, in its commitment to showing how politics can be the vehicle for transformational change? He has set the goal, my goodness me, of halving child poverty within a year in the United States of America. And he has—. There are echoes of the Great Society of LBJ and FDR's New Deal. That's the politics of radical ambition that Wales is calling out for, and that's the leadership that we need from the new Government of Wales—not hesitation, not half steps. Change is going to happen anyway, whether it's automation or climate change. We must set our own positive change in the agenda that we will see in the heart of our politics here in Wales. There is a supermajority for self-government in this Senedd, and that's something to celebrate. Let's build a supermajority too for social justice and economic progress. If the First Minister and the new Government puts that at the heart of its politics, then it will find on these benches a party that is willing to support not just the end, but also the means.