Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:51 pm on 29 January 2020.
Therefore, Deputy Presiding Officer, what do we want? I'd like to emphasise two things. Firstly, we want a meaningful role in the negotiations on the future relationship with the EU, and indeed in the negotiations on other free trade agreements that could have an impact on devolved competence. This should reflect the 'not normally' principle of Sewel. That is, when a devolved competence is at stake, the UK Government should not put forward views on negotiating positions without first agreeing those with the devolved institutions.
In the meeting of the joint ministerial committee on European negotiations yesterday, although there was some progress on the process to include the devolved institutions, the central principle that I've just mentioned hasn't been accepted. I can't tell you that I'm confident that it will be accepted, but we do hope that the UK Government will now move on this, and will do so before the next meeting of the joint ministerial committee.
Secondly, we would like to see meaningful consideration given to constitutional change to ensure that the UK is not destroyed as a result of leaving the European Union. The result of the 2016 referendum, to a great extent, was an expression of rage from communities about the lack of control they felt over their own destiny. It would be a disaster if it led to the centralisation of power more and more in the square mile around Big Ben.
The UK Government and the Welsh Government both want the UK to succeed, and the Welsh Government believes that it needs to be reformed if it is to survive. We have introduced a sensible plan to root devolution in amending the constitution more broadly in our document 'Reforming our Union'. Also, the UK Government has a manifesto commitment to establish a commission on the constitution, and we hope and expect that the devolved institutions will be fully included in that process.
That's why, Deputy Llywydd, in our amendment, in recognising the opportunities that leaving the European Union will provide, including the potential to secure a closer relationship with other nations who trade, and to recognise clearly that we are leaving the European Union, we have focused in this amendment on the constitutional challenges that will arise. We must all now turn our attention to those. Therefore, I ask this Senedd to support the amendment and to reject the motion.