A very long referendum campaign is, thankfully, due to come to an end, and I’m sure many will agree that the tone, the nature and the content of this campaign has not been a particularly good advertisement for democratic engagement. As the campaign enters its final hours, it appears that the ‘leave’ side in particular wish to focus on two primary areas, those of immigration and sovereignty. Sadly, on both issues, the ‘leave’ side have tried their best in not allowing the facts to get in the way of a good story. The facts on the issue of immigration have been well versed, and I do not wish to spend too much time repeating them this afternoon, save to say that I am of the firm belief that migration has made Wales richer in both a cultural and economic sense. There will always be a challenge in open, democratic societies in striking a balance between multiculturalism and integration, but the terms of such debate and discussion are only ever helpful when they’re conducted in a spirit of tolerance, rather than seeking to play up fears of the other. Perhaps one day such a context will exist.

I’d like to specifically address the question of sovereignty, which is often intentionally conflated with the principle of democracy by many Brexiteers. In listening carefully to those making the case for the reassertion of state sovereignty, one could be forgiven for thinking that we’re in the company of Thomas Cromwell, back all those centuries ago. Back then, there were arguments over whether Parliament’s sovereignty superseded holy scripture; now, it is parliamentary sovereignty versus EU regulation.

There was never a glorious time of absolute parliamentary sovereignty, even during those days of empire. In the twentieth century, following the devastation of war, international treaties creating fundamental rights for individuals and global conventions outlawing genocide were accepted as being universal and beyond the so-called sovereignty of any nation or any state. And, on this continent, blood soaked for much of the last century, nations decided to come together in a spirit of peace and solidarity. And, on this point, I want to emphasise that I find the suggestion that a UK withdrawal from the EU would lead to war to be crass and distasteful, but let no-one ever underestimate the fact that the European Union has laid the infrastructure for peace that makes war between its members impossible.

From a Welsh perspective, of course, we’re able to compare and contrast two very different unions of which we are members. The UK is based on the principle that the Westminster Parliament is supreme. We need no written constitution here to know that to be, indeed, the political reality. Here we have an unequal, uneven union built to endure, not to thrive. The EU, for all of its faults and its imperfections, and the challenges that it faces, has principles of subsidiarity and consensus built into its very anatomy. For those of us who love Wales, we must consider where power will lie in the event of a UK withdrawal from the European Union tomorrow. A ‘leave’ vote will amount to a transfer of functions from the European partnership to the hands of Whitehall, who will be free to do as they please to Welsh communities. A vote to leave means Europe leaving Wales behind in the shadows of the Palace of Westminster, occupied by an establishment drunk on a new self-confidence.