I want to use today’s debate to explore Welsh identity in the city a bit further, to explain where I think it is at present but also how I think it can grow, especially amongst our younger generation, but also in the context of the Welsh Government’s ambitions to have 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Back in November and just before the world cup, I was at Rodney Parade for Newport County’s game against Gillingham. Prior to kick-off, the prominent Welsh language campaigner and singer Dafydd Iwan performed his song 'Yma o Hyd' and just as we saw with the Red Wall during many of Wales’s world cup games we saw the county faithful singing in harmony. Prior to this debate we asked Dafydd how it felt to sing in Newport and he told us the following:

'I was very impressed by the warmth and, indeed, the very strong Welsh nature of the reception I received both at Rodney Parade and in the city centre. It was a joyous occasion, and I was struck by the numbers in the audience who spoke to me in Welsh. There is no doubt about it, Casnewydd is challenging Cardiff in the Welsh stakes.'

He also said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience and hoped to return in the future. Deputy Minister, I mention this because not many years ago, the idea of a Welsh language musician performing with the Rodney Parade faithful in harmony would have seemed fanciful.

Sticking to football for one moment, I want to also pay tribute to Wales international stalwart Chris Gunter, who was born in Newport East and attended St Julian's School. He was part of the recent golden generation of Welsh footballers and, until recently, was our most capped Welsh footballer in history with 109 international caps. Only a certain Gareth Bale now has more with 111. So, we should be very proud of Chris’s achievements.

In looking at Welsh identity in Newport, the devolution referendums are instructive. For me they are a sign of the progress and journey we have been on over the years and illustrate the growth in Welshness across the city. Some 26 years ago now, I chaired Newport Says Yes as part of the campaign for Wales to have its own national assembly, as it was known then. And whilst the ‘Yes for Wales’ campaign won across the country as a whole, in Newport a clear majority voted 'no'. But that result was a significant increase in support for devolution compared to the previous referendum in 1979. In neighbouring Monmouthshire, which covers part of my Newport East constituency, we saw similar results. Fourteen years on from the vote that established devolution, a second referendum on whether or not to grant the then Assembly primary law-making powers saw 54 per cent of voters in Newport in favour, continuing the trend for greater support for Wales taking more responsibility and powers to serve our communities.

As we have seen that increase in support for devolution across Newport and Wales, we have also seen a growth in Welsh-medium schools. Prior to 1999, there were no Welsh-medium schools in Newport. We now have five in the local authority, the first two of these coming about in 2008-09, followed by another in 2011-12 and a further two in the last six years. And also in our English-medium schools, there is a lot more Welsh history and culture being taught, all of which I am sure will be strengthened by the new curriculum. When I was at school in the 1960s and early 1970s in Newport, I was taught little about Welsh language, culture or history. We must have learned the national anthem, but that was about it. Thankfully, we have come a long way in the last 23 to 24 years. Our children should learn of local history and Welsh history, as well as that of the UK, Europe and the world.

Of course, in Newport, we have a very proud history, including Chartism and the significant role that the city played in Welsh history, with the Chartist uprising outside the Westgate Hotel in the then town. One of the leaders, John Frost, was born in Newport at the Royal Oak Inn in 1784. Frost and the other Chartists had six demands: the vote for all men aged 21, equal electoral districts, payment of MPs, no property qualification for MPs, a secret ballot, and annual parliaments. Only the latter has not come about. The rising at Newport in November 1839 was the most serious manifestation of physical-force Chartism in the history of the movement. Hundreds of men marched on the Westgate, and a battle with soldiers stationed there ensued. At least 22 Chartists lost their lives, and treason trials followed.