At some stage over the next eight months or so, Rishi Sunak will head to Buckingham Palace and ask King Charles III to dissolve Parliament, the formal act that will trigger a general election. It is a pivotal moment in the future of the United Kingdom, for this nation and for this region. And it is an occasion that each and every one of us needs to reflect upon very carefully indeed.

Do we want more money in our pockets in the form of income tax relief?

That, on the face of it, seems one of the few options left to this tired Conservative administration that seems doomed — if opinion polls are to be believed.

But no matter how attractive tax cuts may appeal — the Chancellor of the Exchequer is supposedly working on a plan now, in time for the budget due in a little more than a month’s time — those instant pounds and pence on our pockets come with a high and hard cost to our already shattered and broken public services.

As things stand now, our National Health Service in all four parts of this UK is shredded and on its knees. A vote then, for the Conservatives would surely only bring more of the same — and who is not tired after 14 years of underfunded and austere public services?

A vote for Labour seems attractive. But the reality is that Sir Keir Starmer has opted to play it safe rather than being bold.

Here in Wales, we know what Labour offers. It is a government that looks after its own along the M4 corridor. Live there, or along the A55, and you receive preferential treatment. Here in the rest of Wales, we are forgotten and ignored. Does Labour’s record in Wales deserve their vote for Westminster? Ponder that when you drive at 20mph to the polls.

Plaid Cymru might seem like an attractive option for those who believe this nation should go its own way. But has the party ever presented a fully costed economic case for this nation’s independence? Until it convinces a majority that its fiscal arguments are sound, it is but a protest vote — a voice lost in the wilderness at Westminster. And arithmetic there must always work in its favour.

Or Liberal Democrats? Again, results in Westminster must work in their favour — but forget not that they were happy bed-follows when Cameron and Osborne took their axe to our public services and began this 14-year period of decline.

So, yes, so much to contemplate...