Ruth Jones

I beg to move, That this House has considered St David’s Day and Welsh affairs. It is a real privilege to open this debate as we come together to mark St David’s day and discuss Wales’s past, present and, critically, its future. I may not use my full 15 minutes to speak, because other colleagues will want to speak in this important debate. This is my seventh St David’s day debate and my second as Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. I thank my colleagues the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) and the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), who sadly is not in his place today, for helping to secure this debate. It continues to be an honour to Chair the Welsh Affairs Committee and to facilitate the effective cross-party working that makes the Committee so special. We work together to achieve the best for Wales, and I must thank all current and former members of the Committee for their valuable and constructive contributions over the past year. I particularly commend the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) for her practical support of Welsh cakes for our Committee meeting yesterday—they were very useful. I would also like to pay tribute to the fantastic team of Clerks, led by Alison Groves, who support the Committee. We simply could not function without them and are incredibly lucky to have such a diligent and skilled team assisting us. It has been a busy year for the Committee since our last St David’s day debate. We have four ongoing inquiries, with two reports set to be finalised in the coming months. We also published the conclusions of our inquiry into farming in Wales in November, and following it, the Treasury made very welcome changes to the thresholds for agricultural property relief and business property relief. Let me move on to the namesake of this debate: St David, who adorns the entrance to this Chamber coming from Central Lobby. He faced adversity from an early age, having been born in the middle of a violent storm as the child of an act of rape. Nevertheless, he would rise to become the first Bishop of Mynyw and establish new churches throughout south Wales, 50 of which are still named after him. St David is commemorated as a great orator and preacher who spread the Christian message. Indeed, one of his recorded miracles was forming a hill beneath himself as he preached to a large crowd to enable them to see and hear him more clearly. As a nation, we are proud of our rich and storied past, kept alive by our vibrant oral tradition. The Eisteddfod each summer forms a key celebration of this oral tradition, our Welsh culture and the Welsh language by attracting 170,000 visitors each year. From the chapels to the miners’ welfare halls, Wales is renowned for being a land of song. Regardless of the rugby score—we are trying to forget some of the latest scores—Members can be sure that we are the loudest and proudest on and off the field. Our choirs are not only a source of national pride but often the bedrock of community solidarity. Wales has an enduring history of valuing fairness, solidarity and respect—values passed down from generation to generation and shaped by our history, but employed time and again in our everyday lives. Indeed, before there was an NHS or a welfare state, Welsh communities came together to ensure dignity and respect for all.