Well, I'd like to thank the Member for the way in which he has engaged with this issue, and I understand his concerns, and those questions are fair. I will try and answer some of them now. I will write to him with those I haven't answered, and, as I say, we will set up a meeting for him and others to speak with the Welsh Government chief engineer to talk through the detailed questions and concerns he has.

I think the overall questions, 'Was enough done?' 'Are there lessons learned?', are fair questions, and those are questions we're asking ourselves, and we shall be reviewing what has happened to get us to this stage. I think it's fair to say that our officials were surprised when we had the report last Wednesday that urgent work needed to be done. I was told about it Wednesday and initially told that it is not unusual for concerns to be raised, but the process is to challenge and to test them, given the consequences of closing, to make sure we were absolutely certain. I was then told on Thursday, having had further testing and further conversations—. As I say, the firm of engineers who've been doing this work are world-renowned for this work. They also work on the Clifton suspension bridge, so are familiar with the type of engineering involved. And given that their advice was so clear, it was felt that this had to be done right away, but it wasn't something we anticipated. So, obviously, something had changed since the previous inspection to require this work. But, in a sense, the system worked. The system is one of checks—regular checks, follow-up work, analysis—and that's what happened. It was first identified as a problem in 2019, there was a restriction on heavy vehicles crossing, further follow-up and testing work was done, and that has resulted in today's decision and discussion. So, in a sense, the safety measures we had in place have proven effective.

The risk of a catastrophic event happening to the bridge is still low, but it is too high for us to be able to risk it. And as the Member rightly pointed out, this is a very old bridge. Some 40 of the hangers were replaced in 1990s, but there are over 200 remaining that are much older, and a much older technology. And that also creates a degree of uncertainty, because the newer technology is able to be tested and able to be monitored in a far more reliable way. There's a degree of uncertainty that we have with the much older hangers. That is one of the reasons why we've been cautious in making the decisions that we have. It's possible that the checks that will happen over the next two weeks will find that this has been an overreaction and that we'll be able to open the bridge, with a weight restriction, much, much sooner. My officials advise me that they think that's unlikely, but it is certainly a possibility, and we won't keep this closed any longer than we feel is justified by the balance of risks.

To try and answer some of the questions about the traffic flowing, well, there are plans being developed with the local authority and with UK Highways to monitor that and to put in place any mitigation measures, and I'm happy to give you more detail of those. In terms, then, of the contingencies for what should happen if both bridges are closed—. And just some reassurance on this—this has tended to happen something like no more than twice a year. So, it's a rare event and, when it happens, it generally happens for a matter of hours. It clearly causes huge disruption, and I'm not minimising it; I'm just putting it into context of how often. I think it's closed 10 times since 1987, the Britannia bridge.

Now, as it happens, there are high winds predicted for tomorrow, so it allows us to immediately put in place plans to inform drivers of the conditions and to urge those with vulnerable vehicles, like caravans and motorbikes, not to travel while those high-wind conditions are in place, and those that do so do so at their own risk. The officials are working with the north Wales trunk road agency on a new high-winds strategy for the A55 Britannia bridge to review wind gusts against the speed of vehicles, and the option to reduce the speed limit to 30 mph could assist with allowing the most vulnerable vehicles to cross at high-wind gusts. There are also contingency plans being drafted, and initial options in this plan would include the options to increase park-and-ride facilities, create potential stacking site options, and review the rail use to and from the island. So, there is a lot of thought, as you might imagine, going into looking at a whole range of possibilities, given the importance of this link.

In terms of the long-term resilience of the bridge, as Rhun ap Iorwerth mentioned, work has been going on to look into a third crossing. That has now gone through WelTAG stage 2. It would cost somewhere in the order of £400 million. That's the current estimate. So, it's a significant decision to make and investment to make. As you know, it's been reviewed as part of the roads review panel, along with all other schemes in Wales, and we'll also be asking the Burns review in north Wales to look at what contingencies could be put in place in the short term. Even were we to start to build it now, the process takes somewhere around seven years. These things are expensive and slow. So, we will be asking Burns to address the issue of resilience in the longer term, and that report will be available next year.

So, I think, as I've set out, we're doing some short-term things. If that inspection in two weeks' time shows that the decision was the right one, then some detailed modelling will be done by an entirely separate firm, who also are highly experienced in these structures, to make sure that it is independent, and then further modelling will be done. So, we will make sure that we do this right and we will make sure that we do it with safety in mind, and we will do all we can in the meantime to help the people of Ynys Môn and beyond who are inconvenienced by the congestion this causes at peak times.