As well as addressing what was in the Queen’s Speech, I think it’s important to consider, as others have done, what was not, and also to note that, of the 30 measures announced, 28 were old announcements. The now obligatory mention of Wales was even shorter than usual, with just one sentence on bringing forward a Wales Bill, something on which we’ve already had pre-legislative scrutiny. It is sad as well to note that neither the Prime Minister nor the leader of the opposition at Westminster mentioned Wales once in their contributions to the debate on the Queen’s Speech in the House of Commons. As we’ve heard, there are several England-and-Wales Bills, a few GB Bills, as well as UK-wide Bills. I think that one thing from this Queen’s Speech that needs considering is how we can implement a new process for such laws that are for England and Wales, or for just GB or the UK-wide ones that can bring together Governments, including the devolved administrations, so that it can be joint working on those Bills, even if they still fall in the reserved category in whatever Wales Bill we end up having enacted.

I hope consideration will be given to some of the ideas in Plaid Cymru’s alternative Queen’s Speech. Simon Thomas has already referred to the need for an EU funding contingency Bill, and I hope that is given serious consideration, and many communities in this country will expect such a Bill. It is clear, I think, that we need a Bill to establish an independent commission to resolve funding disputes between the UK Government and the devolved national Governments. The inequities of the Barnett formula were exposed by the independent Holtham commission many years ago, as well as several other commissions before and since, and the failure to allocate full consequential money to Wales as a result of HS2, as well as other examples, would be resolved and should be resolved in future by an independent commission. Establishing an independent commission is also essential in the context of the emerging debate over the fiscal framework within which the forthcoming tax sharing arrangements between the UK and Welsh Governments will sit.

As noted by the Wales Governance Centre, an independent adjudication commission should therefore be an essential component in the UK’s emerging fiscal framework. The Bingham Centre report proposed that this body, or another independent body, be responsible for adjudication in the event of disputes between Governments that cannot be resolved through joint ministerial processes—and if there’s one thing we’ve learned from this debate today, it is quite possible, I would suggest, that, in the future, there may be one or two disputes between two Governments.

In the Queen’s Speech, we would have welcomed a broadcasting Bill that would finally devolve responsibility, or part responsibility, for broadcasting to Wales. That would establish a BBC trust for Wales as part of a more federal BBC at a UK level. And, of course, as part of this broadcasting Bill, we would have welcomed that the responsibility for S4C be transferred to this National Assembly for Wales, as well as funding for the channel that is currently with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport at Whitehall.

Other Members have mentioned the responsibility for policing. We would very much have welcomed the devolution of policing as part of the Wales Bill or as part of separate policing legislation. The recent police and crime commissioner election results have resulted in all four of Wales’s PCCs supporting the devolution of policing, as well as a majority of parties in this National Assembly having stood on platforms for the devolution of policing.

Plaid Cymru believes that there is a better way of delivering prison reform, and, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, that is something that will be an England-and-Wales matter, an England-and-Wales Bill, and I very much hope that the Secretary of State can give a firm commitment that, if we’re not going to see the devolution of prisons any time soon, this legislature and the Welsh Government are involved in the pre-legislative process as further Bills move forward on policing.

Plaid Cymru would have welcomed, as I’m sure many other parties would have, a Bill to transfer responsibility, finally, for the Severn bridges to the Welsh Government when they revert back to public ownership. As a Member representing the South Wales East region, I can say that that would have been warmly welcomed in our communities. This would have enabled the Welsh Government and the National Assembly to decide on the appropriate level of charge, if any, which is at a current high rate and is a detriment to the Welsh economy.

There are elements that have been mentioned by others that Plaid Cymru welcomes in the Queen’s Speech, including the sugary drinks levy—something that was floated by Plaid Cymru some time ago and ridiculed by people who have now had a Damascene conversion. I hope, in closing, that, over the coming months, Westminster can deliver on its promise of a respect agenda between the two Governments that govern the country. We are yet to see that being fully born, I suspect. Thank you.