I thank the Minister for an advance copy of his statement, although it was just as bad hearing it from his lips as it was when it crossed my desk earlier on today. It should come as no surprise to Members of this Welsh Parliament or the people of Wales that the Welsh Government is seeking to undermine the UK Government's efforts to deliver on its promise to the people of the United Kingdom that it would maintain and strengthen the integrity and the smooth operation of the UK internal market.

As you know, Minister, this Bill provides a framework for the orderly transfer of European Union powers back from Brussels to the United Kingdom. That is something that I welcome and the majority of people in Wales welcome. You have branded this Bill on numerous occasions as a power grab, and a number of other people have tried to present this as a power grab. Perhaps you can be specific, Minister, today, and tell me which powers this Bill will transfer from the Welsh Parliament, because the reality is there aren't any being transferred away from this Welsh Parliament. The reality is far from the case. Isn't it that, far from being a power grab, this Bill actually provides for the orderly transition of those powers from the EU to the United Kingdom? And, in fact, there are scores of new powers that are actually going to be endowed upon this Senedd, directly transferred from Brussels to the Welsh Parliament and, indeed, other devolved legislatures. And the powers that aren't being transferred to this place will be transferred, quite rightly, to the UK Government and the UK Parliament in accordance with the wishes of the British people and the people of Wales in the Brexit referendum. Now, can you tell the people of Wales why you object to the UK Government and UK Parliament holding these powers when you didn't object to the European Parliament and the European Union and the people in Brussels having hold of these powers? Why is it that the Welsh Government is so uptight about the UK Government and Parliament setting rules on state aid, but you didn't seem to have any problem in those rules being set in Brussels?

Similarly, why does the Welsh Government have a problem with Part 6 of the Bill? You have suggested that this paves the way for some sort of top-slicing of the Welsh block grant in order to support UK Government spending priorities, but of course you know that this is absolute nonsense. There's no evidence to support your claim. The UK Government has been absolutely clear that any spending will be in addition to and not coming from the Barnett consequentials that we receive here in Wales—in addition to. Now, I don't know about you but I would welcome anything over and above Barnett, and I think that you should be welcoming it too. I can't believe that you are rejecting a proposal that could bring significant additional resources into Wales as a result of this piece of legislation.

And, of course, the Bill does not actually break international or domestic law. It actually provides a safety net—a safety net—which the UK can fall back on in the event that the EU continues to attempt to divide the United Kingdom by the creation of a tariff border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, something that of course is completely and utterly unacceptable and goes against the commitment that the EU have already given in article 4 of the Northern Ireland protocol, which says, and I quote,

'Northern Ireland is part of the customs territory of the United Kingdom.'

Do you accept that that is what article 4 of the Northern Ireland protocol actually says? And if you do, do you not recognise that this Bill is designed to ensure that that continues to be the case beyond the end of the transition period?