That was quick. Sorry, I wasn't ready. [Interruption.] Oh, I'm ready, believe you me. [Laughter.]

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I want to make it clear at the outset that I'm not ideologically opposed to expanding the Assembly. Labour's great constitutional experiment, introducing different systems of devolution to the three devolved nations, shows that they didn’t have a clue how to deliver true devolution. The scattergun approach left Wales with the short straw, evidenced by the fact that we're constantly having to tinker with the settlement and a new Wales Act every couple of years.

But, putting aside the constitutional arguments, what is the purpose of devolution? It certainly wasn’t to create another layer of bureaucracy. People didn’t vote in two referendums for an institution that would endlessly debate constitutional issues or decide whether we have a Welsh legal system or not. The public didn’t care about these issues. They care about whether they are going to have jobs at the end of the year, whether their children are getting a good education, whether the NHS will be there for their families when they need it. That is why I became an Assembly Member. Over the last two decades, our economy has deteriorated, our schools are failing and our NHS has got worse, not better.

The reason for those failures is not because we don’t have enough politicians. It’s because we have a one-party state, an elected dictatorship—a Labour Government in power for too long, devoid of ambition, vision and ideas. Another 20 or 30 AMs is not going to change that. As long as we have a Government that avoids scrutiny when it can get away with it, another 50 politicians won’t change that. And until we start actually improving people’s lives, no matter how overworked we are, we cannot make the argument for more politicians.

Just weeks ago, we passed a budget that will see massive cutbacks across the board, which will place our public services under massive strain, yet we are asking the public to employ more politicians, not more nurses and doctors. Our NHS is on its knees; it's struggling to cope. People are dying on waiting lists. We haven’t met cancer waiting times in a decade, we have the worst cancer survival rates in Europe, and a massive shortage of diagnostic staff is one of the key factors. We are introducing a new screening test for bowel cancer next year but have set a sensitivity level half that of Scotland’s because we don’t have the capacity in colonoscopy.

Until we deliver real change to people’s lives, how can we possibly expect them to support making our lives easier? We have to work smarter until such time as the country can afford the tens of millions of pounds it will cost to employ more of us. We have to stop playing tribal party politics and truly work together to improve health, education and the economy. Only then will the public support righting the wrongs of the Blair devolution experiment. [Interruption.] I will. 

The Welsh Government need to stop trying to shut down debate, stop trying to do things differently from the Tories in England. Do things better. And we all need to redouble our efforts. Yes, there aren't enough of us. Tough. We have to work with the tools we are given. We could increase our number by two by passing the duties of the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer over to Assembly clerks. After all, they are impartial and have a rulebook to follow. We can look at it differently and then we will have our full quota of 60 Assembly Members—[Interruption.] We have to run with—[Interruption.] We have to—[Interruption.] My opinion may be different from yours but it doesn't mean it's wrong. We have to run with the hand we've been dealt and, instead of railing against, we have to do the very best that we can.

The more time we spend debating constitutional issues, the less time we spend improving people’s lives. Although—[Interruption.] Although if more powers become devolved, it would be unrealistic not to review—[Interruption.]—not to review this in future, but at this time the country can’t support and cannot afford more politicians. I say 'at this time' because it would be unrealistic not to review more Assembly Members in the future, but if you look at the current state of the economic climate, now is not the time. Thank you.