Thank you to Natasha Asghar for bringing this debate to the Senedd today in the name of Darren Millar. I’ve said it before—and many of my colleagues have, multiple times—that a decent road and transport infrastructure is the absolute key to a vibrant economy. And you’d think that was an obvious statement to make, yet we have a Government that is insistent on blocking Wales’s progress at every turn. We’ve come to expect nothing less, of course, from a failed socialist Government intent on banning things and taking us back to the dark ages. Where is the vision and want to open up Wales for business, for jobs, for tourism? We could and should have seen an M4 relief road by now and a multitude of other infrastructure projects, such as the A470 in Caerphilly, M4 junction in Merthyr. We should be seeing an ambitious Government opening up Wales, making it accessible and more economically open. Unfortunately, we have a Government intent on punishing people who drive cars, putting off inward investment and bringing Wales to a grinding halt. It just goes to show that this Government will spend millions on anything apart from improving our road infrastructure.

People don’t just drive for the fun of it. I can see you shaking your head. They need to get work, they need to get to hospital appointments, school—a multitude of reasons. If you live and work in rural area like I do, and many people across Wales, without significant public transport routes in place, you simply have to drive. Maybe that’s why the Deputy Minister over the last four years has claimed for nearly 12,000 miles of car journeys, and only three train trips. This says to me that the Minister knows deep down that cars and roads are needed and it just goes to show how he’s failed abysmally—and this Government, your Government—at improving public transport in the last two decades.

The Welsh Government once again has chosen to put ideology over people’s priorities. The UK Labour Party don’t even want to put their names to this road review. They see it’s ridiculous and toxic. Most of Deputy Minister’s Members of his own party are outraged by this, as we see by an empty Chamber here today. It is high time the Minister finally gets on with doing something positive in his role, like building the roads that Wales needs. After two decades, we have a transport infrastructure that is not fit for purpose and I urge everybody to support our motion today.