Diolch, Ddirprwy Lywydd. Can I, at the outset, say that I am personally relieved to have had messages that my own family and colleagues in London are safe, but very much saddened to hear of an attack on a fellow Parliament, and hope that everyone will be well and that things will turn out to be controlled? It’s a very shocking thing, and it’s very relevant to the fact that we are debating a big exercise in democracy that has led us to this position, and it’s as well to remember the role of Parliaments and representative democracy to ensure the rule of law and peace—peaceful resolution of disagreements.

Can I turn to the report and say how much I welcome this report? Very comprehensive, very well thought-out, and very substantial evidence that has been brought to bear, and I very much agree with the way that the Chair has set out the conclusions, which are many—not so many recommendations, because we don’t quite know how some of these things will be panning out, but it’s important we come to some early conclusions about the issues that are important for Wales, our economy, and our public services. I think that I can boil it down, however, to two main things, which is about funding and powers. And when we look at powers, first of all, I think there are several important issues discussed in this report that I’d like to put Plaid Cymru’s view on.

First of all, in the repatriation, as it’s called, by the UK Government of powers from the EU following the decision to leave the European Union, it is important and vital that this is done on a question of parity of esteem between the four nations here in the United Kingdom. I think UK-wide frameworks, which are addressed in the context of conservation, the environment and agriculture in the report, are to be welcomed, and we can work on that basis, but that basis must be one of agreement, not one whereby powers are repatriated to Downing Street and then imposed upon the rest of the United Kingdom. That does mean, in our view, that there should be some development of a UK council of Ministers, and there should also be a development of an independent arbitration or independent adjudication method of dealing with disagreements. We will not be able to go from meeting to meeting, as the finance Cabinet Secretary has said in the past, with no minutes, no progress, no kind of development of ideas. We must have properly run councils of Ministers, and a proper independent system to arbitrate, if necessary, as well. When those powers also return, we’ll need to be sure that those that are exercised now at a European level, which I think need to be still exercised, where relevant, at a European level—I’m thinking in particular, as I asked earlier to the Counsel General, of powers around environmental legislation, environmental justice, the ongoing work of the European Court of Justice, which won’t directly relate to the UK but has a bearing on some of our jurisprudence. That needs to continue as well so that UK citizens have a clear idea of how issues that run across national borders can be resolved again in a peaceable and agreed manner. So, I think there’s an issue there that we need to look at in terms of powers as well.