Thank you, acting Presiding Officer. It's my pleasure to formally move this motion and it's a pleasure to open this debate, which, for me, asks the Senedd to give the seal of approval to a fundamental democratic principle. As much as I am personally quite clear in my own mind that Wales could prosper as an independent nation, we are not asking the Senedd to support independence today, but asking the Senedd to support the principle that the people of Wales should decide.

I’m grateful to a constituent of mine who sent a letter to me this morning sharing her view that it's the right of the people of Wales to decide on whether Wales should become an independent nation. And she goes on to say that the power to call a referendum should be in the hands of the Senedd; after all, it's the right of any nation to determine its own future.

The last clause of this motion asks the Welsh Government to seek the constitutional right to allow the Senedd to legislate during the next term to hold a binding referendum on independence.