Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:34 pm on 27 March 2019.
If I think back over the last three years of this debate, I have to say, I don't believe that this has enhanced our democracy or our democratic traditions, either in Wales or across the United Kingdom. We've seen people who claim to be campaigning for the restoration of a sovereignty that I, frankly, don't believe ever existed, then attacking the fundamental structures and architecture of that sovereignty. Judges are no longer the independent arm of a judiciary, they are enemies of the people because they happen to disagree with UKIP and with Brexiteers. Parliament and MPs are abused, and I see this in my own home, how MPs are systematically abused for standing up in the House of Commons and saying what they believe. What greater tenet is there in any democratic tradition that an elected Member can stand in a Chamber and speak their mind without being abused and without receiving threats? There's a 77-year-old lady—let me finish this point—who launched a petition last week. She is now receiving protection because of the death threats she has received. How does that enhance and strengthen our democratic traditions? I'll give way.