Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:07 pm on 5 March 2019.
And I think that it is incumbent—. We are in dangerous times in all kinds of senses: 24 days out from what I think most of us would accept is a disaster—a disaster for our economy, but also a disaster for our politics and our political institutions. Trust is at an all-time low. Neil Hamilton is right in this regard, at least—not words I would say very often. But it is a result, of course, of the kind of lies that were at the heart of the referendum campaign and then, subsequently, the complete paralysis that we've seen at Westminster.
And the reason that we propose this amendment is: it's not enough just to say we are opposed to 'no deal'—of course we are—but we cannot either be in a position of tacitly facilitating no progress. So, simply arguing—. Indeed, as the Counsel General himself said, the European Union will expect, of course, any application for an extension to article 50 to be associated with a purpose. We have long come to the conclusion that the only purpose, the only realistic resolution of the situation we find ourselves in, is a people's vote. Because time is now pressing we are in a position where the fierce urgency of now has to dictate what we say and do, and that's the reason why we felt that it was incumbent upon us to lay this amendment down, which, unequivocally, calls for a people's vote. And we, of course, made a tentative step in that direction in January in calling for immediate preparations—this amendment goes further than that because we have to. We have to go further than that because we're running out of time.
I welcome the Damascene conversion that we've seen from the leader of the Labour Party at Westminster in the last few days, but I worry because it seems to me we're always in a position of one step forward, two steps back. So, even today, John McDonnell has been quoted, in response to a question, 'What will you do, in terms of whipping Labour Members at Westminster, crucially, in order to support the policy of a people's vote?' He said that they will be treated with the usual 'good humour and comradeship'. Therefore, there will be no consequences whatsoever, and therein lies—. If this is to be a real commitment, then we, all of us, absolutely have to unite, with just weeks to go, behind the only possible resolution of this issue for our nations.
That is why we do invite Members here—. I understand that maybe the leader of the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Labour group are in a different place on this, but in this Parliament, with this additional—it's an 'add' amendment, so we can still have the common text agreed, but let's, actually, in this Parliament say what we all think, I think, in Plaid Cymru and, I think, on the Labour benches as well, and call unequivocally for a people's vote, because that's the only way forward.