A similar mandate, incidentally, would be required for those who seek to take Wales out of the United Kingdom. We don't want that to happen for the reasons that I outlined earlier. A strong Wales that has its voice heard and its needs reflected—and certainly better heard and reflected than today—in a strong UK is what we want to see. Now is not the time, so soon after the UK Government has taken us out of our European family of nations, neither to separate further nor, as the Member seeks, to curtail our democracy in Wales.

Independence is, of course, the path that the current Scottish Government seeks to take for its people. We don't want to see Scotland leave the union, though we respect the right of Scottish people to make that decision. If it did happen, we would need to fundamentally revisit Wales's relationship with England. But, the surest way to lead to a dissolution to the union is simply a defence of the status quo. Let me be clear: there is no case for the status quo. As a recent Financial Times editorial put it, Britain's constitution is a mess. The union itself is in peril. The best way to support the union and its constitution is, contrary to the Member's theme, to respect and, in fact, to extend the devolution of power to Wales and across the UK.

Yet, the UK Government has inflicted constitutional vandalism upon various powers, most recently—despite, I should say, the valiant efforts of the House of Lords—through the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, which threatens to constrain the legislative space for the Senedd in areas that are currently devolved. It threatens the Government of Wales Act 2006, and a reduction in devolved power, all at the whim of the UK Government. It's an appalling state of affairs that I have been compelled, as law officer, even to contemplate seeking the intervention of the courts.

I do want to acknowledge the long programme of work between the four Governments on co-operation within the UK in that area, and I pay tribute to civil servants in all nations, and our partners and stakeholders, for the efforts that they have made to ensure that we have had in place the common frameworks for the end of the transition period. But that collaborative spirit certainly was not reflected in the actions of the Johnson Government in its unilateral imposition of this legislation. As well as ignoring the Senedd's refusal to consent to the internal market Act 2020, UK Government didn't even bother to give any of the legislatures in the UK sufficient time to scrutinise the legislation—a fresh constitutional outrage, particularly given that the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 is one of the most important constitutional statutes of recent history. The full effects of it will only become clear in the medium term. The UK Government has broken the Sewel convention, and we as a Government will continue to ensure that the Senedd can exercise its right to scrutinise legislation within our devolved competence, but we bitterly regret that we cannot guarantee that the Senedd's consent will be respected. 

Llywydd, I fear I've painted a bleak picture, so let me finish on a more positive note. The pandemic has shown Wales acting at its best, as a confident and caring nation that can collaborate within the UK and internationally, whilst also making its own decisions for its own people—through the worst of times, we have supported each other, and because we are part of the UK and because we have the devolved powers to respond to the needs of our citizens and communities. The Welsh Government is, I would say, at the forefront of creative, constructive constitutional thinking in the UK because we believe in Wales in a reformed union, and as we adjust to life outside the European Union and, before too long, to life after coronavirus, shared governance of the UK has never been more important. That's what we set out in 'Reforming our Union' in 2019—20 propositions for public debate for a more ambitious, more democratic constitutional future. We don't pretend to have all the answers—no one has, incidentally—but we believe we've asked the right questions, and it's time that we came together now as politicians and as civil society to answer those questions and offer a path of radical reform that meets the needs of today and tomorrow's Wales.