Diolch, Llywydd. Let's be clear, from the onset, the UK Government's Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is nothing more than an attack on working class people, not just in Wales but across the UK. A draconian, fascistic attempt to erode the fundamental rights of workers and the trade unions that represent them, and we all know why this is happening.

The past year has seen workers in all sectors reject the politics of austerity, reject stagnant and real-terms cuts to wages, reject attacks on working conditions and reject the idea that this is as good as it gets. And in crippling fear of that, those at the top, aided by their willing partners in the Tory party, are now looking to put us back in our place. Well, good luck, because class solidarity is back, and we have a hell of a lot of catching up to do. In the face of a common struggle, workers up and down the country refuse to be divided by where they're from, what job they do, what they look like, and we, as a Senedd, must play our part in strengthening that struggle and empowering working people against the tides of Tory tyranny. No worker, no person deserves to be left using a foodbank, deserves to be left poring over every single pound and penny to decide if they can afford to heat their homes while companies are raking in profits on an astronomical scale. 

But before we get into the implications of the Bill and how we should respond to it here in Wales, it's worth reminding ourselves of the circumstances that gave rise to this. This is coming off the back of crisis after crisis: the 2008 crash, then the austerity that followed, then the pandemic, and now the cost-of-living crisis. We are in the midst of a perfect storm of soaring energy prices, high inflation and a new wave of Tory-driven austerity that is pummeling our public finances.