In contributing this afternoon, I've been reflecting on the centenary of the Royal British Legion. It was, of course, established in the shadow of the great war, and many of the things that we see today were influenced by that conflict. We don't celebrate conflict, and we don't celebrate war, we take a moment to bow our heads in silence, to remember those people who were lost, who sacrificed for our freedoms and to protect our society and our communities. Nobody there takes any pleasure in war and warfare, but we recognise the importance of their sacrifice, and we bow our heads in silence, and that silence represents the memory of that conflict. In the same way, when those of us who have visited those cemeteries across the western front and in Normandy and elsewhere—you will see those graves, each one of them equal, not according to rank, not according to social standing, but together in death in equality, again, as a consequence of that sacrifice. The cenotaphs and the memorials that we see in every town, every community, every village, every city of this land, again remember the sacrifice of those men and women in, largely, the first and second world wars, but also in subsequent conflicts. And when I stand again with the British legion and with others in Abertillery on Sunday morning, we will bow our heads in memory of the people from our communities that were lost in fighting for our livelihoods and our lives and our country.

It's important that we honour that memory, but it is also important that today we honour that memory not simply on one day or two days of the year, but on 365 days of the year by ensuring that we don't let people down, that we do have the services available to veterans, that we do provide services for the serving community, that we're able to ensure that whether it's the physical health or mental health needs, they are met, and that we continue to provide support for the armed forces in this country. The First Minister mentioned during questions earlier this afternoon that Wales has traditionally and still does contribute a greater number of people to serve in the armed forces than our population. It is important that we're able to continue to support those who are serving today, to ensure that they have not only the equipment that they need, but we support the industrial base that maintains our freedoms, that we support the industrial base that ensures that our armed forces have everything they need to keep them safe and to protect them when they are fighting for us, and we have an absolute responsibility to do that, but also to ensure that we can provide the bases, the locations, facilities for the armed forces here in Wales.

Some of us joined the army in operation Cambrian patrol earlier this autumn, and we saw again the sacrifices that people make and what is expected of servicepeople today. It is important that we're able to continue to do that.

So, in conclusion, Deputy Presiding Officer, I hope that we will join together in this Chamber and beyond in bowing our heads this weekend and this week in memory of all those who have gone before us. But, next Monday, we roll up our sleeves to continue the work to support those people who are with us today who have served and those who are continuing to serve.