Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:49 pm on 7 June 2022.
Can I thank John Griffiths for that point and those points about Urban Circle, who were—they are—a fantastic organisation? I've spoken both to you and to my colleague Jayne Bryant about them and the work that they do, and it was great to meet Loren and Ali when we discussed the festival that's taking place next month. I think I've got an invite to go, as well, which will be, you know—which will be great.
But you're absolutely right, John, that the fact that we have these diverse communities that enrich our society and that we have links back, particularly in the Caribbean communities, Jamaica—we have lots of those communities in Wales—and that particular link with the slave trade as well, in terms of what we were talking about and what I was talking about specifically in my statement—. We have that link, we have that specific link in Wales, and we want to encourage that cultural diversity. We want to acknowledge the links with the slave trade, but, more importantly, we want to encourage our diverse communities to express their culture in Wales.
We've always been a welcoming country, a welcoming nation. It is our diversity that makes us very special. The whole of the UK is a very diverse nation, group of nations, and all of that is so important. So, I hope the reggae and riddim festival will be great. I'm sure it will be, because I will be there. I'm sure it will be great. I'm sure it will do an awful lot to bring young people together in that community—and not-so-young people, if I'm going, as well. [Laughter.] But it's really just to say, John, yes, they're an excellent organisation, and credit to them for the work that they've been doing in Newport.