Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this debate this afternoon. I speak to the amendment tabled in my name, and I do speak today not on behalf of the Welsh Government, but as chief whip of the Welsh Labour group in the National Assembly, and also as Jane Hutt AM, to set out the Welsh Labour position on increasing the number of Assembly Members in this institution. We're debating this issue just moments after debating the general principles of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill, which will pave the way to this Assembly becoming the Parliament for Wales and introducing votes for 16 and 17-year-olds—and I'm sure it will be passed later today.

I think, as David Melding said in the previous debate, this is a point of celebration, an opportunity to strengthen citizenship, particularly appropriate after the session we had two weeks ago with our Youth Parliament, a very important step in our democracy. But, I was also pleased to be here—and David was, indeed, and a few others—in 2004, when the Labour peer Lord Richard of Ammanford reported on his independent review of the powers and the electoral arrangements of this Assembly, and I welcomed his recommendations then. It's worth just reflecting on what his recommendation was in terms of the size of the Assembly and its role and responsibility. He recommended a rise in the numbers of AMs to 80—and I quote—as essential in order to enable AMs to increase their scrutiny of Welsh legislation and Welsh Government policies. 

Well, we're 15 years on from that review and we now have primary legislative, electoral, borrowing, tax-raising and varying powers, with the responsibilities and duties to deliver on those effectively. And, last year, we debated the Assembly Commission's report, 'Creating a Parliament for Wales' following the publication of Professor McAllister's report. I was very pleased to speak in that debate as a backbencher, and I particularly welcomed the panel's recommendations to widen the participation of women and young people in the Assembly. And I did say at the time, as one of the original founder AMs, proud to have been elected in 1999 and having served as both a Minister and a backbencher, I want us to take the steps to make our Assembly a Parliament that works for Wales, with women and young people at the forefront of that endeavour. 

Dirprwy Lywydd, Labour delivered devolution and Welsh Labour continues to be a fiercely devolutionist party. Alun Davies was commenting on the word 'devolution' earlier on this afternoon, and I do think that this is about decisions that affect Wales being made in Wales. And we believe in a strong Wales, as part of a successful United Kingdom, as the First Minister said yesterday, but to do that, our party does support the arguments made in the McAllister review that more AMs are needed to do the work of this legislature effectively and to hold the Government to account properly.

Opinion is divided, however, about how AMs should be elected in any reformed system, and when we asked members of our party, the responses supported the view that the case for a new electoral system within a larger Assembly hasn't been sufficiently made yet with the public. It's vitally important that we engage with the public in considering these issues and draw from the extensive evidence gathered by the McAllister expert panel and our own party consultations.

But I would draw attention to the letter from the Llywydd last month, which said that the second phase of electoral reform would not go ahead this term, but confirmed the Assembly Commission would continue to explore these issues relating to the size of the Assembly and how Members would be elected. And the Llywydd helpfully confirmed, in her letter to us all, that this work will continue to assist the public debate and political parties as they consider their views on these matters. So, we believe a cross-party working group to further examine these matters would build on the excellent work already carried out by Laura McAllister and her expert reference panel and group.

Now, I was surprised—