Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:54 pm on 8 October 2019.
If it's a matter for Members, can you confirm to us that you will allow your Ministers also a free vote on this matter? There's certainly no legal barrier to calling it 'Senedd' only, and in explaining his reason behind his amendments to drop the Welsh-only name, your predecessor, Carwyn Jones, said in The Guardian a few days ago it's because it would cause confusion. But who's confused? Those who've now long called this place the Senedd, who are being told that should be undone—and, of course, we can still call it Welsh Parliament if we want—I'm sure I would at times too—but we're talking about the official name. Is it those who don't speak Welsh who would be confused because they can't understand why Welsh Government believes they somehow can't cope with the word 'Senedd'.
I sincerely hope that we are all very serious about creating a bilingual Wales, but that does not mean compartmentalising people into Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers. Here's what you call your Parliament if you speak Welsh; here's what you call your Parliament if you don't. Let's be confident in ourselves, uniting the nation behind the name that belongs to everyone regardless of their language, reflecting both our heritage and the dawn of a new kind of democracy. This is our Senedd, a unique name for a unique Parliament.