Today, we vote on introducing the Law Derived from the European Union (Wales) Bill as a Government emergency Bill. This fulfils Plaid Cymru's call for the introduction of a continuity Bill and it's a significant moment for our nation and our response to the EU withdrawal process. This Bill provides the most significant leverage we have as a country in this debate at this present time.

I'd like to take you all back to 8 November 2016. That's when the idea of a continuity Bill had its genesis—when it was first proposed by Plaid Cymru as a way of preventing a Westminster power grab. This was before the introduction of the UK Government's EU withdrawal Bill, and demonstrates that those of us on these benches predicted that there would be a threat to those powers returning from Brussels. And now, more than a year later, we're finally in a position where this continuity Bill is going ahead. This has only happened because of relentless advocacy in favour of the Bill, and because of the UK Government's failure to provide a solution to the real problem of a Westminster power grab. They've failed to satisfy the Welsh Government or the Scottish Government. It's important to note that in both Wales and Scotland, support for a continuity Bill is not just from the Government; in both cases, it comes from a majority of the Parliament. This is not just about Executive power and the power of Ministers; this is about the whole Assembly. It's about Welsh democracy and the successive votes in favour of devolution and law-making powers.

Plaid Cymru will, of course, be voting in favour of both motions this evening. But, Llywydd, I am of the view that it is unfortunate that the vote tonight will not be unanimous. We will still have a clear and overwhelming majority of Assembly Members in favour of this Bill, which is positive, but as David Melding has already conceded, a much stronger message is sent when all parties are united. The legislation does not depend on supporting or opposing the principle of leaving the EU. This is not about that. I would welcome voting alongside the other opposition parties on this after the Member's legislative proposal received unanimous support earlier this year. But despite this, we must now move forward with an effective two-thirds majority in support of this Bill, which represents a strong vote of confidence in favour of protecting Welsh democracy.

Llywydd, I agree with the argument that the emergency procedure could've been avoided, but that is now too late. Plaid Cymru would've supported this Bill being introduced much earlier; we wanted that to happen. But introducing the Bill under emergency procedure is better, in our view, than having no Bill at all. At this stage in the EU withdrawal process, there is no convincing argument for sitting back and allowing Westminster to intercept the powers that are already devolved. We have learnt the hard way, time and time again, not to trust Westminster. How many promises? And Westminster has already ignored a legislative consent motion from this place on police commissioners. Any devolved powers that are to be shared on a UK or GB basis must be co-decided by the Governments of the UK. We urge the Welsh Government to hold fast to that view and to resist any attempts to try and override the decisions of this Assembly in the courts.

Llywydd, to conclude, Plaid Cymru continues to call for a continuity Bill and will vote in favour of today's motions. We will always, always protect our hard-won democratic institutions and our national democracy—always.