Diolch, Llywydd. At the heart of this historic first debate, this parliamentary session's last debate, is the simple but fundamental proposition that the decision on whether Wales should become an independent nation must rest alone with the people of Wales. We believe that Wales's right to determine its constitutional future, including the right to become an independent country, should the people of Wales vote to do so, should be enshrined in law. Specifically, this requires conferring on this Senedd the power to choose when and whether to call a referendum on Wales's constitutional future, giving practical effect to the right of the people of Wales to choose the form of governance best suited to their needs, and also how, and who with, they want to pool their sovereignty.

Democracy is by definition government by the people. But then we have to decide who the people are, and for us the answer is obvious. The people are the people of Wales, who live within its borders and collectively form a nation that enjoys the right to self-determination that is a basic tenet of international law, a founding principle of the United Nations charter and, as Mick Antoniw said, of the Socialist International. So, we hope many Labour Members will join us in supporting our motion tonight.

This sovereign right of the people of Wales to determine their own future is the cornerstone of this Senedd. But currently our accumulative legitimacy, the powers we hold, are not ours by permanent right in a formal sense, but loaned to us by another Parliament that describes itself, without irony, as 'supreme', even as it crumbles slowly into the Thames. That is a constitutional conceit with which the Labour Welsh Government has said it firmly, firmly disagrees. In its White Paper 'Reforming our Union: Shared Governance in the UK', the Welsh Government said this:

'Parliamentary sovereignty as traditionally understood no longer provides a sound foundation for this evolving constitution…it must be open to any of its parts democratically to choose to withdraw from the Union.'

So, when we affirm in this motion the right of the people of Wales to decide whether Wales should become an independent country, we should reasonably expect this Government to support Wales's claim of right. But what we have from the Government is a parliamentary wrecking ball tonight, a 'delete all' amendment that removes all reference to the right to determine our own future. It says nothing about the voluntary nature of this union, and it introduces the lion and unicorn mythical pairing, so beloved of progressive unionists—a reformed United Kingdom.

The Welsh Government's position is the constitutional equivalent of St Augustine's plea, 'Make us sovereign, Lord, just not yet.' No, let's give the idea of a reformed UK, which would allow for co-ordinated governmental action to be pursued, one last heave, even though we've seen, over the last few months the catastrophic mistakes of a dysfunctional, incompetent, shambolic—the First Minister's words, not mine—Westminster Government that has treated the Welsh Government and the Welsh nation in a manner that has oscillated between benign neglect and outright contempt, led by a political and administrative elite that still believes that Westminster knows best, even as Britain registers amongst the worst death rates in the world.

When it comes to reform in any area—the First Minister mentioned earlier today the limbo in social care since the Dilnot commission—Westminster makes Godot look positively punctual. We will never make change by waiting for others to change things for us. We can either assert our right to determine our own future, or else we will find the future determined for us—whether it's the tarmacking of the Gwent levels, or the latest state-aid power grab by the Chancellor.

Whatever we decide tonight, it's important for our Welsh democracy that the debate in here reflects the debate happening already out there. And whatever our view on the question of independence, the right of the people of Wales to ask it should be inalienable. For us in Plaid Cymru, the answer to both those questions is 'yes'—yes to having a say, and yes to 'yes'. The people of Wales are on the move, and they are where they should be—in the vanguard, in the driving seat, leading the debate and listening to ours tonight.

When the story of our independence is written, these last few years of crisis and upheaval, from Brexit to COVID, will, I think, loom large, and for this reason, because, rather than causing people to cleave to the old certainties, these times of crisis have opened people's minds to new possibilities. That slogan, 'building back better', resonates for us all now in different ways. We have lost so many, but we have gained an understanding of what we truly value. That is the golden thread, the silver lining from the dark cloud of this time. We, the people of Wales, are the builders of that better Wales. No-one else will build it for us, but, if we believe in ourselves and in each other, there is nothing we cannot achieve.