6. Plaid Cymru Debate: A confirmatory European Union referendum

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:57 pm on 5 June 2019.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:57, 5 June 2019

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have to say, it feels a little bit like groundhog day every time I get up in here for one of these debates, because, yet again, we are discussing a Plaid Cymru motion that is seeking to have another vote in order to overturn the outcome of the first one. But let's not forget that 17.4 million people in the UK, the biggest mandate for anything in British political history, voted to leave the European Union. Carmarthenshire voted to leave. Anglesey voted to leave. Rhondda Cynon Taf voted to leave. I know it's an inconvenience for some of you on those benches, but they voted to leave. Yet, their Plaid Cymru Assembly Members repeatedly come to this Chamber looking for ways to undermine democracy and to overturn the will of their own voters, because they believe that politicians know better than the people and that, despite a clear majority wanting to leave, the Welsh political establishment claims to know better and wants to keep Wales in the EU.

Now, last week, we saw the Brexit Party win two of the four Welsh seats in the European Parliament, topping the poll in 19 out of the 22 Welsh local authority areas with 32.5 per cent of the vote for the pro-Brexit stance that they took. And I believe that that's a clear message. It's a clear message to all of us in this Chamber—