The COVID crisis has clarified so many things: what's important to our society, what we want to change, why decisions should be made close to the people they affect, and the crisis has also given us glimpses into different futures, because this debate about independence isn't a remote constitutional question for tomorrow; it is grounded in the urgency of now. This week, the First Minister confirmed that the Prime Minister of this so-called United Kingdom had not picked up the phone in a time of pandemic to him since the end of May. We are halfway through July. Last week, the Prime Minister said he was willing to tarmac over the Gwent levels and devolution in a brazen show of arrogant entitlement. And even now, in the dark corridors of Westminster, convention is being ripped up to ensure we crash out of the EU without a deal. Millions are being earmarked for border controls and barriers, and all the while the Tories plot their next assault on the powers of the devolved nations. That is the future of this beleaguered union. 

Our motion offers something different, a glimpse, a hope of a future where the people of Wales decide our own destiny, a future that opens doors instead of closing them. Llywydd, the people of Wales are pushing at that door. Support for independence has reached levels many thought impossible. Yes Cymru activists are winning the argument on the ground, and the All Under One Banner marches show a confident nation on the move. We do not see independence as the end of a journey but rather its beginning, because independence is the only political answer to the question of how we can build a nation that reflects our values and realises our dreams. Given the tools, we in Wales can build a resilient nation, a progressive economy, a place that cares for young and old, where our environment can flourish and our people can build something better.

In an independent Wales, child poverty could be eradicated through investing in our education system, our workforce, alongside a benefit system that answers need. There is nothing intrinsic about Wales's poverty—it is a poverty of ambition that keeps us this way, a poverty of ambition writ large by this Welsh Labour Government's decision to delete our entire motion, instead of grappling with what's proposed, an attempt to close a door if ever there was one. 

Llywydd, it is my great honour to be my party's shadow Minister for the future. There is a crude graphic from a Labour MP doing the rounds that screams about Welsh debt, ignoring conveniently the fact that the UK's debt currently stands at £2 trillion. Surely, the biggest debt we owe is to future generations, because politics is currently failing those generations. We've known for more than 40 years that a carbon dioxide catastrophe is facing us because of the levels that we are releasing into the atmosphere, and still we are releasing 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. We can't control what happens in other countries, and trying to get Westminster to see the light is a fool's errand, but what we can do is take responsibility for ourselves. Through harnessing rather than burning our natural resources, we in Wales could lead the way and become a beacon of an enlightened economy facing the future proudly. 

This motion is not asking Members to vote on independence; it is affirming that the people of Wales should have the right to decide. I spoke of different futures, and I know that many Members on the Labour benches share the vision I've set out of a globally-responsible nation espousing hope, equality and prosperity. I'd say to them that without independence, no other path will point us toward that future. For as long as we remain part of the union that impoverishes our people and follows economic policies designed to benefit the wealthy centre at our own people's expense, we will never reach our potential and all paths will fork back on themselves. If we want to build something better after COVID, our future cannot be decided in the ramshackle ruins of Westminster. So, I'd ask all Members of this Senedd to show their belief in the people of Wales, I'd ask them to keep that door ajar, and I'd ask them to vote for our nation's future, not its past.