Diolch, Lywydd. I move amendments 1 and 2 in the name of Simon Thomas.

In the aftermath of the EU referendum, Wales at the UK level is at the custody of a deeply divided Conservative Government. In fact, the entire Westminster establishment is racked by in-fighting, including the UK’s official opposition, the Labour Party. This has a series of implications for Wales, because the 2016 speech sees the continued progress, of course, of the Wales Bill, which sets out the next short-term changes for the Welsh constitution.

Llywydd, as part of my response to the EU referendum result, I stated that Plaid Cymru would move to increase the powers and the responsibilities of the National Assembly. If the EU referendum result was a vote against perceived distant rule or perceived centralised rule, then it was not a vote to concentrate more powers in Westminster. If the EU referendum result was a vote to take control over people’s lives, then it was not a vote for more Welsh laws or decisions to be made outside of Wales. This referendum result, in fact, makes it even more essential that the Welsh Government and the National Assembly are empowered to protect our country’s interests, in line with how those interests have been decided at Welsh general elections.

There have not yet been any significant attempts to link the EU referendum result to a reduction in the National Assembly’s powers or to a pause in the development of Wales as a self-governing country, but we must all remain vigilant and wary of such attempts emerging in the future. We must proactively make the case for ever more decisions about Wales to be taken here in this country. And once those additional powers and responsibilities are in place, we should broaden the debate about their use to include those communities that are not well connected to events that take place in this Chamber at present, including those places where large numbers of people feel disenfranchised and disillusioned with democratic politics.

Our second amendment deals with the EU regulations more directly, and those will be addressed further by other speakers.

Llywydd, the entire future of the United Kingdom is now in a state of flux. There deserves to be a full national debate about future options for us to re-join the European Union in the future, if that’s what people want to do, accepting, of course, that this would require a new, fresh choice to be made by people here. But the Wales Bill is the appropriate vehicle for those immediate short-term changes, which could bring our country up to a similar level of devolved competence as other UK devolved legislatures. And it’s on those short-term measures that I’d like to focus now.

Plaid Cymru regrets that the UK Government’s proposed Wales Bill falls short of comparable powers as those available to, or on offer to, Scotland. We have yet another situation where the Wales Bill has been overtaken by events. The UK Government approach is too narrow, with the Secretary of State failing to attend the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee. I share the concern of the Chair of that committee, who is absolutely right to point out that the Wales Bill could take the devolution settlement back in some respects. He’s also right to seek to involve wider Welsh society in the committee’s scrutiny of that Bill, but that scrutiny has been undermined by the Secretary of State’s non-appearance at that committee.

At this stage, we can only speculate how a weak Wales Bill will affect future appetites for more self-government. But in no way will the current Wales Bill end the constitutional debate in this country, and, on that count, it will fail to meet the UK Government’s objectives.