Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:44 pm on 29 June 2022.
Diolch. [Interruption.] I won't be singing, I'm afraid. Can I thank Members, first of all, from across the Chamber for their contributions in the Welsh Conservative debate today? I'm delighted to be closing this debate as well as opening. As Members who take a keen interest in Eurovision will know, it's normally only the winner that gets to perform twice, so read into that what you will.
I think the general consensus from the debate is that all of us across the Chamber, from whatever party or whatever part of the country we represent, are united in the idea of bringing the Eurovision Song Contest here to Wales. Can I just rattle through some of the contributions from Members? I’ll come back to the Plaid amendment at the end, but Heledd Fychan started by saying, 'Mae’n hen bryd'—it’s about time that Wales hosted the Eurovision. Absolutely right. We heard from a number of contributors about the role that Ukraine would play, and I’m grateful as well to the Deputy Minister for pointing out Ukraine’s continued ambition to want to host Eurovision if that is possible, but obviously, the EBU has made that decision that the UK should step in if that is not possible, and we feel very strongly that Wales and Cardiff should be that place where that is hosted.
Gareth Davies talked about how this has been a welcoming country to Ukrainians that have fled here, and if it is not possible to host it in their home, we should really be hosting it in Wales, which has now become obviously a temporary home for a number of Ukrainians as well.
Dawn Bowden, the Minister, at the end there talked about the cultural support over the pandemic, but I didn’t quite hear her full support for the ability to host Eurovision. I understand there is a cost-benefit analysis to be done, but I wish that the Deputy Minister would show 'Ooh Aah...Just a Little Bit’ more ambition. [Laughter.]
Can I just touch briefly on the Plaid Cymru—[Laughter.] I’ll move on. Can I just touch briefly on the contribution from Heledd Fychan and the Plaid Cymru amendment? And as we heard, I understand Plaid Cymru’s continued ambition to see Wales compete as an independent nation at the Eurovision—I understand that—but as we heard from the Deputy Minister and from Andrew R.T. Davies, that simply isn’t possible. And as the Deputy Minister said, the BBC would have to withdraw as a host broadcaster for the event. Unfortunately, Plaid Cymru are using this debate to drive their usual wedge of separatism between what they think and what the Welsh public really feel.