May I thank the Chair for her excellent address at the beginning of this debate, and the clerks and researchers for their very hard work over many months? This committee was formed following a decision of this Senedd. I regret, therefore, that not all parties participated in the activities of the committee, although it was a Senedd decision. The decisions of this Senedd should be respected.

The vast majority of the detailed evidence that we took over a period of months did come to the conclusion that this Senedd needed more Members and that they needed to be elected with the proportional representation system of STV in order to improve scrutiny. Improved scrutiny gives you better legislation and also saves money. That’s what the Auditor General for Wales’s report said recently when discussing the issue too: it would save enough money to fund the costs of the additional Members.

But, of course, there are those who oppose all of this. We’ve heard them this afternoon. They oppose the very existence of this Senedd despite the results of two referenda, with the result of 2011 showing that 64 per cent of the people of Wales were in favour of enhanced powers for this Senedd. However, there are people who still oppose recognising Wales as a political entity in any way whatsoever, particularly following Brexit. They want to abolish our Senedd and our nation and to sweep us off the face of the earth, and to take us back to some golden age of British empire when the sun never set on the red zones on the map.

But Wales has survived despite all oppression and we will continue to survive. But we do need to strengthen our political structures. We need to strengthen our Senedd. Yes, by having more Members from diverse backgrounds with enhanced powers. Sixty Members here and that is less than many of our county councils. There are 72 councillors in the chamber in the city of Swansea; 90 Members of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland; and 797 Lords in the House of Lords, constantly increasing without any elections at all, and spending £5 billion to repair Westminster and nobody mentions it. No, we have withstood being swept off the face of the earth as a Welsh nation for eight centuries, now we need to strengthen our Senedd. That is the next step and, ultimately, independence: that is the only solution to all of those forces that seek to abolish our Senedd and our nation. Thank you.