Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:12 pm on 9 February 2022.
Thank you very much, Llywydd, and thank you for all of the contributions. I will process the comments made by the Minister and return to those perhaps towards the end of my contribution here.
I and my fellow Members on the Plaid Cymru benches believe in Wales. We are ambitious for Wales, and I hope that everybody in this Siambr would say that they, too, agree with that aim. But what differentiates us on these benches here, I think, is our vision for a confident, fair and prosperous Wales that is normally independent, that can do what is usual in terms of using its strengths and its resources as the foundation for its future. But the final point there is one of those topics of discussion as people weigh up their relationship with this debate on the future of Wales. Some will ask with genuine interest, in seeking a response, 'What are our resources? Do we have resources of value here in Wales?' Others—I'm looking at the benches opposite, unfortunately—will use it as a statement more often than not. They will say, 'We have no resources', or to put it plainly, 'We don't have anything worth having, so forget about a better future.' The debate this afternoon, I think, has been a way for us to discuss what our resources are and what our potential is, as Delyth Jewell said in her opening words, and in identifying some of those resources, how they can be managed for the benefit of the people of Wales and to prevent the kind of exploitation, yes, that we have unfortunately experienced far too much of over the years.