Group 1: Name of the National Assembly for Wales and designation of its Members (Amendments 162, 127, 2, 128, 44, 147, 148, 149A, 149B, 149C, 149D, 149, 45, 150, 46, 151, 47, 152, 153A, 153B, 153C, 153, 48, 154A, 154B, 154C, 154, 49, 50, 51, 52, 155, 156, 53, 54, 81A, 81B, 81, 16, 129, 69A, 20, 55, 157, 56, 158, 57, 159, 21, 130, 22, 23, 131, 24, 26, 132, 59, 60, 58, 73A, 27, 133, 28, 134, 29, 135, 30, 136, 32, 137, 33, 138, 34, 139, 35, 140, 36, 141, 37, 142, 38, 143, 39, 144, 41, 145, 42, 146, 164A, 164B, 64, 161)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:29 pm on 13 November 2019.

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Photo of Elin Jones Elin Jones Plaid Cymru 4:29, 13 November 2019

(Translated)

Thank you, Deputy Presiding officer. And to start, I would like to remind Members that I will not be voting on the amendments that we are debating today. Standing Order 6.20 states that the Presiding Officer or Deputy may vote in Plenary proceedings only for the exercise of a casting vote, and in the circumstance provided for by Standing Order 6.21 with regard to needing a two thirds majority for legislation. So, I will be able to vote in Stage 4 of this Bill, as will the Deputy Presiding Officer.

With regard to the name of the legislature, Members will remember that I had outlined in Stage 2 how the name 'Senedd' is already a familiar term across Wales, because it is used widely to refer to the home of Welsh democracy. Using the name 'Senedd' alone would reflect the Assembly's strong commitment to promoting the status and use of the Welsh language and normalising its use. That's my personal opinion, and it's my opinion as the Member responsible for introducing this legislation, but, as I already have said, it's the Members here today who should decide what the new name of this place should be. If amendments 161 and 162 from Rhun ap Iorwerth, to call our national legislature by a single name, 'Senedd Cymru', pass or not, the Bill will achieve the ambition shared by Members in 2016 to change the name of this place to reflect its constitutional status as a national legislative Parliament.

With regard to the name of Members, when I introduced the Bill I proposed the titles 'Aelodau o'r Senedd / Members of the Senedd'. The amendments introduced by Carwyn Jones and David Melding today propose different titles for Members, and both sets of amendments would be useful in solving the inconsistency in the Bill at the moment, and would ensure that there would be a clear result at the end of this Bill's progress, to respond to the point that Mike Hedges made in his contribution a little earlier.

Carwyn Jones's amendments propose the consistent use of the titles 'Members of the Senedd' and 'Aelodau o'r Senedd'—those were the titles proposed in the Bill on introduction. As I said at Stage 2, I feel there is a simplicity to these titles and that is very attractive in terms of the titles for us as Members. We're voting today on a name that will stand the test of time; a name that will be incorporated in the hearts and minds of the people of Wales in time, and the choice facing Members, therefore, is a simple one: 'Members of the Senedd', or 'Aelodau o'r Senedd' in Welsh, or 'Aelodau Senedd Cymru', 'Member of the Welsh Parliament' in English, as put forward by David Melding. Whichever option is chosen today, that will be the title for the final vote in Stage 4, and that will be consistent throughout the Bill.