Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. The crushing irony, of course, of this Bill is that the first thing it does is to re-impose European law on this country. First, article 1, clause 1, it re-imposes European law on the whole of the United Kingdom, but does so without any opportunity for us then to influence the formation of that law. And that is what we're being told is a good deal. The good deal, of course, is what we've got at the moment, where we lead the development of European law, where we shape the development of European law, where we lead the thinking across the whole of the continent, where the United Kingdom has a respected role and voice at the top table of European policy making. From decision maker to decision taker—a broken Britain, a laughing stock across the councils of the world. That is what this Bill is delivering. But it is also the emasculation of our democracy Bill, the emasculation of our democratic institutions.

One of the most disturbing parts of debate that we're hearing, that we're seeing taking place at the moment, is not the debate that says, 'Are you right or is somebody else right?', not an argument and a debate and a discussion about the facts, but the abuse that many of us receive, and that I am receiving on social media at the moment—that I no longer have a right to a view, that I no longer have an opportunity to argue the case that I was elected to argue, that I no longer have the opportunity to stand here or elsewhere and argue for that which I believe. That is no democracy—that is no democracy. And self-government is not about saying, 'Here's a Bill—you've got three days, take it or leave it'. That's not democracy either. That's not the democracy that many of us understand. The will of the people has become sovereign, but who are the arbitrators of that will? We're told that they're not the people who are elected by those people, of course; they're the hedge fund managers, the rich and the powerful, the newspaper proprietors, the offshore bankers. All of them have one thing in common, they try to avoid paying UK tax, and then they tell us that it is they who know what the will of the people is, not the people who are elected by the population of this country, and not the people who serve the people of this country—judges are 'enemies of the people'; we have 'Parliament against the people'. This is not democracy. This is the emasculation of British democracy.

And to say to the UK Parliament that you have three days to read through a Bill of 122 pages—and David Melding does his best to make the case for this rotten old Government, but I have to say to him, the bundle of papers available that you would need to understand to properly scrutinise this Bill runs to over 1,000 pages, and that doesn't include, of course, the economic impact analysis, which hasn't been done, and neither does it include the Act of last year, the withdrawal Act, that this Bill seeks to amend. Now, the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives didn't even realise that Act existed, so, in terms of arguing the case that we need more time for scrutiny, I'm not convinced that the Conservatives are on very firm ground.

But even the opportunity to read through it immediately tells us there are real dangers with this Bill. Clause 30 is very clear—only a Minister of the Crown can apply for an extension of a transition period. Has the Government learnt nothing from the last few months? It creates the opportunity to deliver a hard Brexit by the back door. It prevents people arguing for a different sort of Brexit. It prevents people arguing for a further extension, if that is needed. What it does is deliver something by the back door—it's typical Boris Johnson. And it does so without allowing us a proper say over future relationships. Clause 31 provides very little oversight of future negotiations by the UK Parliament and none whatsoever by this Parliament. After an initial statement of objectives a Minister of the Crown 'may, at any time' make a future statement. 'May, at any time'—no opportunity in this Bill to hold the Government to account. None whatsoever. But this place, this Parliament, will only receive a report after the event. Now, those of us who sit on the external affairs committee know—and we've seen this in our debates and discussions on international treaties—that, if you want to influence the shape of a negotiation, you do so at the beginning of that negotiation and not at the end of the negotiation, yet this Parliament is given no opportunity at all to influence the shape of those negotiations—no role for Wales, no role for this Parliament, no role for the Welsh Government, and then we are lectured on democracy. We've already heard on the situation in Northern Ireland, and I will say very seriously to those Labour MPs who tonight are trusting Boris Johnson on workers' rights, perhaps they need to go to Strangers' and have a chat with the DUP and see how far the promises of Boris Johnson actually reach, and see how far Boris Johnson can be trusted, because, when he stood up this afternoon in the House of Commons and said 'yes' time and time again to Labour MPs asking for assurances, you could see the DUP sitting there saying, 'Yes, we heard the same promises ourselves'.

Finally, clause 22 enables Ministers to make any regulations they choose—any they choose—on the matter of Northern Ireland, again by regulation, again beyond the scrutiny of Parliament. That asks and begs a question about the place of Wales. Clause 36 is an eccentric clause to find in any piece of legislation, apparently drafted by Bill Cash in order to provide him with some dubious pleasure. But let me say this—let me say this—we have changed radically the governance of these islands, and we have done so with the consent of the people. We have done so at all times in step with a developing constitution. Clause 36 has the power to end the United Kingdom because, when it, when the UK Parliament, tries to drive a coach and horses through the new democracies of Britain, the people of Britain will say, 'That's not what we want', and then it is for us, the elected representatives of the people of Wales, to determine what we wish to do about that. Last week—