Dr Julian Lewis: I want to focus the Minister's attention on a specific recent urban crime: the defiling of the synagogue at Ffynone in my home city of Swansea. Does the Minister [Don Touhig] know that the previous synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War? Is not it ironic that Nazis should be trying to destroy the current synagogue? Will he accept, through his office, the thanks of the Swansea Jewish community, including members of my family, who have lived there for more than 100 years, for the warmth and hospitality that the people of Swansea have traditionally shown to their Jewish residents?

[Don Touhig: I can think of nothing more offensive than desecrating a place of worship. Like all decent Welsh men and women, I was outraged by the attack on the synagogue in Swansea. The Jewish community in Swansea has always played a vibrant and important part in the life of the city, as the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr Evans) knows. We must condemn such actions; we should be ashamed of them in this day and age.]