It's our concern for our struggling economy, for jobs, for wages that drives Plaid Cymru on this question, and that's what drove us to co-author the White Paper with the Government, which said that Wales's interests would be best served by us remaining in the single market. This option has not only been rejected by the Prime Minister, but has also been rejected by the leader of the official opposition. So, in truth, the party in Westminster fighting for what both of our parties have agreed is what's in Wales's best interests is Plaid Cymru. Labour in Westminster are not advocating for the principles outlined in that White Paper, and that is a matter that can't be easily resolved with a general election. We had one of those just last year and it solved nothing. A Labour UK Government wouldn't take us closer to that agreed position either. We all know that. Different coloured ties at the negotiations at this late stage will solve nothing.

So what options do we have to get out of this mess? What options do we have to avoid this economic nightmare that could make austerity look like a walk in the park? A people's vote on the final deal will give people a further opportunity to give a view when more detailed information has become available. As someone who has described herself as a Welsh European, I want us to keep our links with the European Union, but we do have to keep our eyes wide open here as well. There are no easy options or perfect outcomes. If Brexit goes ahead, especially if it goes ahead without a deal, it will be a disaster for our economy. I'm absolutely convinced of that.

But there are concerns for our democracy, too. If people perceive that a pro-remain establishment is simply overturning the original vote because of some sort of paternalistic, 'They don't know what they're doing' attitude, then there are dangers facing our democracy. How will people have faith in democratic processes if they can be simply overturned? So we need to be very careful of not being open to accusations that politicians, experts, academics are only interested in overturning the original result.

I support a vote on the final deal, to ratify or otherwise, but simply re-running the original question or overturning the result will not resolve the issue. Many people who voted 'leave' did so because they had nothing to lose. People in my area, right across the former coalfield, especially the older generation, they can remember a time when our communities were not relying on handouts that often seem to be spent on projects with no tangible benefits to their lives. They understand that our communities were built by people doing things for themselves. There were no widespread public services when the villages of the Rhondda were being thrown up around the pits. Those were created by collective action, pooling pennies earned in the mining industry, and since that industry was deliberately demolished in the 1980s, our people have had no choice other than to be dependent on benefits, on handouts from Westminster or Brussels or the lottery or Communities First-type initiatives. After a decade of austerity and even longer of not being listened to, many people living in these communities decided to send a big and powerful message to the establishment. They used what little power they had to stick their two fingers up to dependence, to poverty, to hand-wringing, to paternalism and to the Tories. I can't tell you how many people I know who wanted to give David Cameron and George Osborne a bloody nose, and simply could not understand how I was on the same side as those two conmen.

Whatever happens, the concerns of working people, of those on zero-hours contracts, dependent on benefits and food banks, as well as those older people who yearn for a different time, must be addressed. If we have a people's vote on the final deal, then we need to learn the lessons of the 2016 referendum and address the underlying causes that led to the Brexit vote: poverty, disillusionment with our political system, and the despair felt by many of our communities. A people's vote needs to be an exercise in further democracy, not seen as an attempt to overturn a democratic decision, and as a Welsh European, I will continue to campaign for Wales's best interests on that basis.