Thank you, First Minister, for your statement this afternoon. As someone who was involved heavily with the Silk commission and the setting up of the Silk commission, I would've preferred, if a commission was to be established, it be established on the remit that the Silk commission operated. I can remember the many times that we sat in Cathays Park—the then First Minister, the leaders of the other political parties and me—and discussed and worked through a programme and, ultimately, what would emerge as legislation. And I can remember leaving this place after First Minister's questions one day and heading up to Westminster to sit in the leader of the house's office, with the other leaders, and working through how devolution could move forward and, ultimately, transfer powers that were transferred via two successful Government of Wales Acts in the House of Commons. That wasn't the model that was chosen by the Welsh Government, and when the Counsel General made contact with me about putting forward Conservative representation, it was made quite clear to me that those individuals were not party spokespeople on that commission. I respect that, but, in the report, it does seem to try and indicate that the views expressed by the Conservative nominee on the commission is the view of the Conservative Party. That is not the case. We put through three names for consideration and the commission determined who that person would be to be sitting as the commissioner. One was a barrister, the one had experience in local government at cabinet level, and the other had experience at a Westminster level in the special adviser role that she fulfilled. That was what the Government chose as the model they wished to put on as commissioners. And I respect that, but I do believe that the Silk commission would've been a better way to look at, if there was to have been a discussion and a conversation, how devolution could have been enhanced and developed and moved forward.

From my personal perspective, I believe that the settlement, with some notable exceptions, such as the budget, for example, that you alluded to in First Minister's questions, and the financial arrangements that you have with the Treasury, do need change, but the overall settlement that we have, given the two legislative Acts that were passed by Westminster, are robust, are empowering and do turbocharge this Welsh Parliament in meeting the expectations of the people of Wales.

I would much prefer, today, to actually be responding to a statement from the First Minister on him putting the Government resource into a Wales-wide COVID inquiry, but I fully understand this was a manifesto commitment, maybe looking at, obviously, a deal with Plaid Cymru, at the end of the 2021 election, when maybe a coalition had to be put in place. Now, that would be the prerogative of the Government, because, obviously, you would've won that election—I accept that. And, obviously, that discussion could have gone on with, obviously, Plaid Cymru and you. But I think what most people's priorities here in Wales are is looking at why the Welsh Government did or did not do things in the COVID era, and that's why we would prefer to see a Wales-wide COVID inquiry. It is important to recognise, as well, how quickly colleagues of the First Minister at the other end of the M4 slapped down the proposals within this commission. I quote from Jo Stevens's point of view here, where she says,

'But we will not be looking at devolution of policing and justice.'

That's pretty clear. I had sympathy with the leader of Plaid Cymru last Tuesday—not that he'd be looking for sympathy from the leader of the Conservatives—when he tried to explore this with you in First Minister's questions. That's pretty clear, that is, that statement:

'But we will not be looking at devolution of policing and justice.'

This is a major tenet of this piece of work that has been undertaken by the commission on behalf of the Welsh Government in looking at further powers of devolution. And so, I would ask the First Minister how does he see reconciling the differences between his colleagues at Westminster and, obviously, here in the bay. And it is interesting to note that there's only one of the two leadership contenders in the Chamber for this important constitutional statement, and the one who's missing has the most endorsements from MPs at the other end of the M4—quite telling to say the least.

I would also ask of the First Minister why the Welsh Government doesn't look at the more empowering role it could play in reforming public services here in Wales. Devolution isn't just about devolving power from London to Cardiff; it's actually devolving power out of Cardiff to the regions of Wales. When we have a local government settlement that is still pre devolution, and each time the Government benches come forward with a proposal it's found it too hard to make any changes, it hasn't chosen to do anything on that, why doesn't the Welsh Government look at the settlement that it's got and use the levers that it's got in local government, in the health service, and the structures that could be empowered by greater devolution away from Cardiff to the regions of Wales? That would be something on these benches we would welcome with open arms.

I'll close on this remark, if I may. The First Minister finished his statement by addressing the needs of empowering the people of Wales, and the conversation he had with Dr Rowan Williams. He agreed only to take part in the commission if the commission's recommendations about empowering people's voices was a central theme of the Welsh Government and indeed the Senedd. We have just had the largest petition come before the Senedd of nearly 0.5 million voices signing up to a petition to get rid of a policy that his Government has brought forward. When you talk about listening to people, that is one hell of a loud cry from the people of Wales to change direction and change course. So, rather than just put those words in a statement that you have read out today, why don't you put that into action and get rid of the blanket 20 mph?