Thank you to Plaid Cymru for bringing forward today's debate, the first one I've had an opportunity to speak in, and it's been an interesting and impassioned debate so far through this evening. I just thought it would be useful to share some of my own reflections on what I've heard so far and the item before us, of course.

The opening part of Plaid Cymru's motion is quite a bold claim, in that the 

'sixth Senedd has a mandate for the devolution of significant further powers from Westminster to Wales.'

And what Plaid Cymru have failed to mention is, of course, the significant rejection of independence yet again at the latest set of elections. The people of Wales clearly know the strength of the United Kingdom and of us working together across that United Kingdom.

Plaid Cymru's second point seems again to completely disregard the powers that our Senedd already has over a vast array of areas, and it's clear that, more than ever, the Welsh people—the people of Wales—want a strong Senedd that works side-by-side with the UK Government, working together to achieve the best outcome for the people of Wales and, again, this was demonstrated in the referendum, as it were, last month at the elections, where residents came out and voted for parties who support building a stronger union across the United Kingdom.

On the third part of the motion today, my colleague Mr Millar eloquently described it as this rhetoric of a power grab that clearly is a myth and does not exist, because, as described earlier, the end of the transition period for the Brexit arrangements and the internal market Bill coming into play—that powers in at least 70 policy areas previously exercised at an EU level will come directly to here in the Senedd. Furthermore, none of the powers currently held by devolved administrations will be removed.

The final part of the motion, of course, from Plaid Cymru ends by outlining that they would seek further powers down here in the Senedd. But it's clear to me that the people of Wales—what they want is a strong recovery after a pandemic that we've all been having to grapple with, with jobs and the economy at the forefront of that.

Moving on to the Government's amendment, I was initially quite positive when I saw those words 'Delete all'—[Laughter.]—at the start of that amendment. But, unfortunately, I wasn't able to continue supporting the rest of what was described. In particular, I was disappointed that the Welsh Government continues to call for the devolution of policing and justice. Indeed, the Silk commission has estimated that it would cost around £100 million a year to create a separate Welsh jurisdiction, and I'm sure the people of Wales would be questioning why £100 million-worth of their money is being spent on a separate jurisdiction, when, actually, what they'd want is more police officers, a better probation service, more probation officers, as well as increasing capacity within our court and prison systems. So, that has to be questioned significantly.

Moving on to the Conservative amendment submitted by Darren Millar at the start of this debate, we are clear that there's no mandate for constitutional change or a further referendum on devolved powers. This was put, as I said earlier, to the voters at the ballot box, and they rejected this in their masses. As previously stated, the people of Wales continue to support a strong Wales in a strong United Kingdom, with the Welsh and UK Governments working together in the best interests of the people of Wales. And as previously expressed, we cannot forget the good work that has been shown across the United Kingdom through this pandemic with £6 billion-worth of extra funding given to the people of Wales to protect us here in our jobs, our incomes and our livelihoods. By working with the UK Government, not against it, we can maximise the benefits of this great United Kingdom.

To conclude, Deputy Llywydd, the future of Wales is best served as part of a strong United Kingdom. The last thing that the people of Wales need are further proposals from Plaid Cymru around constitutional chaos. And isn't it ironic that Plaid continue to push the false accusations that the UK Government are ripping up the devolution settlement, and in fact it's Plaid Cymru who are the only political party in Wales who want to rip up the devolution settlement, despite it being supported in multiple referendums? I urge all Members to vote for our Conservative amendment, tabled in the name of Darren Millar. Diolch yn fawr iawn.