Like others, I'd like to start my contribution this afternoon by paying tribute to Aled Roberts. I served here with Aled, and I remember seeing his face on those benches over there, and he was smiling across the Chamber. Whatever people said, he had a smile on his face, and he always had a kind word to say in the tearoom after any debate. It was a pleasure to serve here alongside Aled, and it was a pleasure to work with him afterwards. Politicians like Aled are the best of us, and I know that every single one of us miss him in the time since we lost him. We need more politicians like Aled Roberts who can reach across the political spectrum and who can serve his communities in the way that he did. I remember hearing the news that he had been appointed as Welsh Language Commissioner, and I knew the role was safe in his hands. You knew, whatever the challenges that we were all facing, when someone like Aled serves in a role like that, you can have faith that the role will be filled in a way that we would wish to see. And that is very rare, too often, in politics.

Having said that, I too welcome, of course, the appointment of Efa Gruffydd Jones. She appeared before the culture committee a few weeks ago, and she was robust in the way that she responded to our questions and the way that she discussed policy—Government policy, Welsh language policy, and 'Cymraeg 2050' policy—but also the way that she understood what the needs of the role of commissioner are. And I do think, every time we have a new commissioner, what will the focus of the new commissioner be, where's the policy going to go, and what will the priorities be. I do think that we have to change, sometimes, the focus and the priorities as we move forward to recognise the different context and new context, and to recognise the evolving context with time.

In launching 'Cymraeg 2050' we wanted to see a challenge for the Government. There was a need for the Government to change. The Government wasn't acting in a way that would have supported the Welsh language and in a way that the Government should have supported the language. I was very pleased with the First Minister at the time's support, Carwyn Jones. We knew that things needed to change, and that we as a nation had to be challenged as well, because it's Welsh people who will be speaking Welsh, not just civil servants in Cathays Park. It's the Welsh people who will revive the Welsh language—those of us who already speak the language, who are learning the Welsh language, and who use the Welsh language. I remember talking to Carwyn about how we were going to launch the policy, and members of the Welsh football team came together at a school not far from here. Chris Coleman was the manager at the time, and he talked about how the Football Association of Wales had tried to use the Welsh language, normalising the use of the Welsh language, if you will, during the Euros that had just been held at that time. And we look now towards the next few weeks, and we take pride in seeing Cymru playing in the world cup, and we take pride in the new culture that has grown through the medium of Welsh, and where Welsh is being used completely naturally in supporting the football team. I look forward to supporting Cymru next week, and I look forward to see how we use the Welsh language in doing that. 

When we think about challenging the Government, we also have to challenge each other. And all too often I hear, in the context of policy debate with regard to the language, that we aren't willing to challenge each other. I said this to Cymdeithas yr Iaith a few weeks ago. New work is currently being done, work that is exceptionally important. The appointment of Simon Brooks by the Minister is a very important appointment, and I welcome that. I welcome the tone of the Minister's contribution, and I welcome the way that he's willing to consider how we plan education in the Welsh language for the future. There is a new challenge. 

But I'd also like to offer another challenge in the time remaining to me this afternoon. I think that we need to look at the legislation that we have to support the 'Cymraeg 2050' policy. I don't believe that the standards are adequate. I don't think that the regulatory emphasis is going to promote the Welsh language, or create that confidence to speak the Welsh language. And I'll say this with all respect to Heledd—and I welcome her contribution by the way—but as someone who has learned the Welsh language, may I say this? When I was learning Welsh, I wasn't learning Welsh because there were standards or rights in the background. I wasn't learning Welsh because of the kind of regulation that wasn't happening at the time, as it happens. I was learning Welsh because of what Welsh meant, the nature of the life I could lead through the Welsh language, and the way that the Welsh language can change your life. And I think we need to talk not just with those Welsh people who speak Welsh every day anyway, but those Welsh people who don't speak Welsh, those Welsh people who are learning Welsh at the moment, the Welsh people who don't have the confidence to use the Welsh language every day. That's where the important challenge is. If we can do that—