Wales has its Senedd. The new National Assembly building was officially opened today, a landmark on Cardiff Bay. It’s a world-class building – something to be proud of.

The critics, predictably, are saying that the money should have been spent on hospitals and schools. They’re wrong, for two overwhelming reasons.

First, Wales is now largely self-governing. That’s good for democracy. Why should the nation be governed from London or Brussels? Good government means everyone should be able to watch ministers and Assembly members in action. The Assembly’s first jerry-built, second hand home failed utterly to allow this to happen. The new building is a model of a modern parliament building. It’s open to the people. It’s a meeting place for everyone,rather than a select few. It’s not intimidating. In short, it’s very Welsh.

Second, this is a landmark building. It will stun visitors to Cardiff, in the same way that the city’s 100 year old civic centre does. Yet a century ago critics railed against Cathays Park. Now, we marvel at the vision of our Edwardian forefathers. The critics would never have built City Hall, the Houses of Parliament or Sydney Opera House. They were proved utterly wrong. Today those iconic creations help define their cities. Wales’s new Senedd will do the same for Cardiff.