Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 7 June 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:50, 7 June 2022

(Translated)

I thank Adam Price for that question. It was a privilege to be present in the stadium on Sunday evening, and the feeling in the stadium was so strong behind the Welsh team. But not just for the Welsh team, the respect that people showed towards the people who were there to support Ukraine as well, that was something that struck me while I was sitting in the stands in the stadium. Where I was sitting and around me, what people were talking about was not just football—of course, football was very important—but what the team and the success of the team said about Wales today and the confidence they had. And we know that, over the years, as a nation, we have suffered from lack of confidence sometimes in our future, and our capacity to make decisions on things that are important to the people of Wales. And we've seen time and time again teams just on the boundary of reaching the world stage and then, at the final hurdle, just falling short. That's the important thing that people were talking about in the stadium: the football, of course, but the message that the team and everything that was happening there were giving to people, particularly young people, people who are growing up in Wales today. People were referring to the young people in the team, people who have come through and who are playing for Wales, and that's the stage that's important to us: the World Cup stage of course, but a broader stage than that to build that confidence in the people of Wales for the future and in terms of what we can do when we work together.