People watching from Wales may well be reflecting on why this once-a-year debate is cut so short and not given more time and prominence. The message of St David, “Gwnewch y pethau bychain”—to do the small things—resonates strongly, now more than ever. In the past year, we have experienced great hardships and sadness, and we could not have got through the past year without all those who have looked after us. In Cardiff North, the Feed the Heath group have kept our hard-working NHS staff going and delivered to the shielding in places such as Thornhill, Lisvane and Pontprennau. I should mention all those who have provided emotional support and advice. The kindness and impact of their small actions has travelled much further than they will know. They show our common values.
Our friend and former colleague here Hywel Francis spoke of those. Hywel was a great supporter of Welsh democracy. He understood that democracy is served by a strong Parliament in Cardiff, not one that could be undermined at the stroke of a pen or the whim of a Minister in London, without a mandate or without a clue or care. That is what we are seeing today; the UK Government’s attempt to control Wales’s levelling-up fund, riding roughshod over devolution, pitting nations and regions against one another and airbrushing out the last 10 years of Tory failure. We see businesses knocked hard, and parents worried sick by the cut in universal credit, having to make choices between a bus fare and feeding their children.
However, our Welsh Labour Government here in Wales continue to provide the most generous support package to businesses and are fully funding free school meals right through to Easter 2022. We know that what we do here has a huge bearing even on the most distant communities. From Cardiff to Kampala, we see the same common values of decency, compassion and solidarity, and we must keep fighting to protect those values. Here in Wales, the first fair trade nation, where we have the first Parliament and Government to declare a climate emergency, and where we are giving 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote and to shape their future, our Welsh Labour Government are leading, working to make the small things count. Gwnewch y pethau bychain.
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