In the region I represent, namely South Wales Central, up to today, 58,615 cases have emerged. From that, 2,095 people have died as a result of COVID-19 and we're all aware, of course, of the heartbreaking stories, with many people losing many loved ones within the same family, meaning that there have been over 2,000 funerals and so many tears shed within our communities. And I'm sure we're all agreed that the past 16 months have been extremely challenging for all Governments throughout the world. And, of course, for a number of researchers, such a pandemic wasn't entirely unexpected, because a number of studies have been published over the past few years emphasising the link between the climate emergency and the impact of this on people's health and the spread of infectious diseases.

From a Welsh perspective, we are in a very vulnerable position in terms of the health of our population, as was noted in the 'Future Trends Report', published by the Welsh Government in 2017, and I quote,

'Overall life expectancies and ‘healthy’ life expectancies are increasing in Wales. However, there are significant differences between the most and least deprived. In terms of overall life expectancy, there is a difference of around 8 years between the most and least deprived areas, while the difference in healthy life expectancy is around 18 years. There is no clear trend of these differences reducing in the future.'

Unfortunately, this was the reality in terms of the population's health when we were struck by COVID-19, which once again cruelly highlighted the fundamental differences between the most and least deprived of our population. And it shows, in my view, the failure of the Welsh Government—and UK Governments way before the establishment of the Senedd—in terms of tackling poverty in Wales. I'm sure that we all recall—well, perhaps not everyone, because there are some Members who are a fair few years younger than me in the Senedd—but many of us will recall the targets for eradicating child poverty by 2020, and there were ambitious targets there. But by 2021, child poverty levels are higher than ever.

What this has meant for our communities, as the latest data shows, is that Rhondda Cynon Taf is the authority with the second highest rate of deaths in the UK—second to Southend-on-Sea—with 366 deaths per 100,000 of the population. And also in the top 10 of authorities are Merthyr and Bridgend, outlining again how vulnerable our post-industrial communities are. Of course, although we are included in these UK-wide tables comparing authorities the length and breadth of the UK, there's no denying the fact that the context in terms of regulations was different here in Wales, and that is why I, today, am supporting the demand for an independent public inquiry for Wales.

Of course, we must be part of an inquiry at a UK-wide level; we are connected as nations and it would be madness for us not to be involved. But, the people of Wales have relied on the Welsh Government during this pandemic. It's the Welsh Government that the police have been working with in terms of the enforcement of regulations here in Wales. One needs only to look at things such as Sky News and the BBC to see that they are emphasising how different the regulations are in all parts of the UK. And, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, we saw the Welsh Government—not the UK Government—taking the decision to bring specific regulations and put them in place in Rhondda Cynon Taf when the cases were at their worst.

So, for me, with the virus here to stay and with the possibility of further infectious diseases in the future, it is crucial that we have a full public inquiry here in Wales so that we can learn the lessons and ensure that our communities, in the future, when this type of thing happens again, don't see these appalling levels of loss of life, and also the impacts of long COVID. For me, we have to look at why Wales was in such a vulnerable position and how we approached this. Unless we have a Wales-focused inquiry, we won't be able to do anything to protect our communities for the future, and many of these deaths will have been in vain.