Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:23 pm on 24 January 2017.
Can I just say that the judgment, obviously, sets the foundations that enable us to move forward? As I’ve said, it now opens the door and establishes a clear framework, and hopefully there will be consensus and agreement in respect of all the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom, and achieving consensus and endorsement should be a fundamental part of that. In terms of the implications as to a lack of consensus, well, I’m a real optimist, because I think most people—and across parties—do want to see us get through this, and to succeed in respect of common interests. It is the responsibility of everyone to play their part within that, so I think that is achievable. But what I think has been important about our role to date is that we had a very specific Welsh voice in these processes. Without that, without this Assembly, without a Welsh Government, we would not have had that voice. We would not have been able to make those representations, and we would not be able to stand up in the way we are doing. That doesn’t mean that things ahead are easy, that there aren’t going to be considerable difficulties, that we don’t have to be alert, because, as I’ve said, we’re on a constitutional helter-skelter, we are in a process that is changing, and there are going to be challenges we have to face up to. But I’m going to be an optimist on this, because I think that is our role and I think it is our role to achieve the best we can for the Welsh people. I think the White Paper that is going to be discussed shortly is going to be a major contribution to that debate and to that process.