English: I listened in some perplexity to the speech that David Melding gave. He seemed to be speaking in a kind of vacuum, as though the reason why we're here today has nothing to do with the United Kingdom Government. This is not a bogus Bill, and if there is a constitutional crisis looming, it comes about because something that was entirely predictable has happened because of the neglect of the United Kingdom Government to take this process seriously. We've been waiting for three months for amendments to this EU withdrawal Bill, and nothing had arrived until the last few hours. Of course, in these circumstances, the Welsh Government and indeed the Welsh Assembly must provide against the possibility that an LCM does not pass this Assembly and there is then a legislative void. It would be absurd if it were to behave otherwise. We are an Assembly that is here to pass laws and to repeal them, not to allow legislative voids to come into existence. Theresa May and her administration have, of course, achieved the most remarkable feat of uniting parties as diverse as Plaid Cymru on the one hand, the Labour Party and UKIP in this Assembly. As the leader of Plaid Cymru pointed out a moment ago, this is not about remain or leave, because we come from the polar opposite in our views on the desirability of remaining within the European Union. The last time that this was raised in the Assembly just a week or two ago, both the leader of Plaid Cymru and I made the fundamental point that this is not just about the EU referendum; it is also about the two referenda that established devolution and brought this Assembly into existence. My position has always been that referenda are to be respected, or the results of those referenda are to be respected, whether they refer to internal United Kingdom matters or, indeed, external, and it's respect for that process that goes to the very heart of what this Bill is about. It is a Bill about democracy - again, as the leader of Plaid Cymru said a moment ago. The reason why, overwhelmingly, I've always been in favour of leaving the EU - indeed, I opposed going into it in the first place - was because the processes of legislation within the EU are democratically deficient. As a result of repatriating these processes to Westminster or to Cardiff, Edinburgh or to Belfast, the opinion of the people, as represented by those who are elected by them as proxies, will be fundamental to the creation of law, or the repeal of law, in future. The European Union, as it has developed, created a corpus of law that was immune from the democratic process. The European Court itself, in judgments going back as far as 1963, gave itself the power to override democratic processes, and in a case in 1970 - the Internationale Handelsgesellschaft case - it gave itself the power even to override national constitutions, which has never been accepted by the German constitutional court, or the Dutch, but which the European Court of Justice has always held to be fundamental to the internal workings of the EU. As a result of that, as far as the United Kingdom is concerned, whether it's a constitutional measure, which is what David Melding was concerned about, or whether it's any other form of legislation, then those who are elected to represent the people will be able to provide the scrutiny that presently cannot be applied to the laws that we have to observe, because they are made either by bureaucratic processes - because the European Commission has the sole right of legislative initiative in the European Union - or as a result of cases in the European Court of Justice, which cannot be amended or repealed by any straightforward process. Therefore, as a result of the European Union withdrawal Bill, we will be repatriating those powers to the parliaments of the United Kingdom - and by that I mean the devolved parliaments as well as the UK Parliament at Westminster. I see that as a wholly benign process. There are, of course, short-term constitutional difficulties that this process brings about - and clause 11 of this Bill is one of them, with the issue of Henry VIII clauses. I am prepared to accept, for the short term, that this clause is necessary in order to provide ourselves with the legislative certainty that we need for the future, but it is an undesirable principle to set, generally, and I hope that there will be a sunset clause, or something akin to it, which will ensure that this will not be perpetuated for longer than is necessary. The legislative task before us, to consider or reconsider 44 or 45 years of legislation, is vast. That cannot be conducted in a meaningful way without these extraordinary powers. Over the course of many years ahead, we'll have the opportunity to repeal and amend as necessary, but I consider this to be a vitally necessary Bill to protect the interests of the Welsh people, as well as of the British people. I see no contradiction or conflict between the two, and I regret that the United Kingdom Government has created a wholly unnecessary degree of friction in what otherwise, I should have thought, would have been regarded by most Conservatives as a wholly beneficial process of restoring democracy to the British people and the Welsh people.
Welsh: Gwrandewais mewn peth dryswch ar araith David Melding. Roedd yn ymddangos ei fod yn siarad mewn rhyw fath o wagle, fel petai gan y rheswm pam yr ydym ni yma heddiw ddim i'w wneud â Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig. Nid Mesur ffug yw hwn, ac os oes argyfwng cyfansoddiadol ar y gorwel, mae hynny oherwydd bod rhywbeth a oedd yn gwbl ragweladwy wedi digwydd oherwydd esgeulustod Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig i fod o ddifrif ynglŷn â'r broses hon. Rydym ni wedi bod yn aros am dri mis ar gyfer gwelliannau i Fil ymadael yr UE, a doedd dim wedi cyrraedd tan yr ychydig oriau terfynol. Wrth gwrs, o dan yr amgylchiadau hyn, mae'n rhaid i Lywodraeth Cymru a Llywodraeth y Cynulliad yn wir baratoi ar gyfer y posibilrwydd nad yw'r cynnig cydsyniad deddfwriaethol yn pasio'r Cynulliad hwn ac wedyn bod bwlch deddfwriaethol. Byddai'n hurt pe byddai'n ymddwyn fel arall. Rydym ni'n Gynulliad sydd yma i ddeddfu ac i ddiddymu deddfau, ac i beidio â chaniatáu i wagleoedd deddfwriaethol ddod i fodolaeth. Wrth gwrs, mae Theresa May a'i gweinyddiaeth wedi cyflawni'r gamp fwyaf rhyfeddol o uno pleidiau mor amrywiol â Phlaid Cymru ar un llaw, y Blaid Lafur a UKIP yn y Cynulliad hwn. Fel y dywedodd arweinydd Plaid Cymru eiliad yn ôl, nid yw hyn ynglŷn ag aros neu adael, oherwydd rydym ni'n coleddu barn cwbl groes ynglŷn â'r dymunoldeb o aros o fewn yr Undeb Ewropeaidd. Y tro diwethaf y crybwyllwyd hyn yn y Cynulliad dim ond wythnos neu ddwy yn ôl, fe wnaeth arweinydd Plaid Cymru a minnau y pwynt sylfaenol nad yw hyn yn ymwneud â refferendwm yr UE yn unig; Mae a wnelo hefyd â dau refferendwm a sefydlodd ddatganoli ac a ddaeth â'r Cynulliad hwn i fodolaeth. Fy safbwynt i bob amser yw y dylid parchu refferenda, neu y dylid parchu canlyniadau'r refferenda hynny, pa un a ydynt yn berthnasol i faterion mewnol y Deyrnas Unedig neu, yn wir, rai allanol, a pharch ar gyfer y broses honno sydd wrth wraidd yr hyn y mae a wnelo'r Bil ag ef. Mae'n Fil am ddemocratiaeth - unwaith eto, fel y dywedodd arweinydd Plaid Cymru funud yn ôl. Y rheswm pam, yn bennaf, yr wyf i wedi bod o blaid gadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd erioed - yn wir, gwrthwynebais ymuno ag ef yn y lle cyntaf - oedd oherwydd bod prosesau ddeddfwriaeth o fewn yr UE yn ddemocrataidd ddiffygiol. O ganlyniad i ailwladoli'r prosesau hyn i San Steffan neu Gaerdydd, Caeredin neu Belfast, bydd barn y bobl, fel y'i cynrychiolir gan y rhai sy'n cael eu hethol i'w cynrychioli, yn hanfodol i greu cyfraith, neu ddiddymu cyfraith, yn y dyfodol. Mae'r Undeb Ewropeaidd, wrth iddo ddatblygu, wedi creu corpws o gyfraith a oedd ar wahân i'r broses ddemocrataidd. Rhoddodd y Llys Ewropeaidd yn wir, mewn dyfarniadau yn dyddio'n ôl cyn belled â 1963, y grym iddo'i hun i ddiystyru prosesau democrataidd, ac mewn achos ym 1970 - achos Internationale Handelsgesellschaft - rhoddodd y pŵer iddo'i hun i ddiystyru cyfansoddiadau cenedlaethol, hyd yn oed, na chafodd ei dderbyn erioed gan lys cyfansoddiadol yr Almaen, na'r Iseldiroedd, ond y mae Llys Cyfiawnder Ewrop wedi dweud erioed ei fod yn sylfaenol i waith mewnol yr UE. O ganlyniad i hynny, o ran y Deyrnas Unedig, pa un a yw'n fesur cyfansoddiadol, sef yr hyn yr oedd David Melding yn poeni yn ei gylch, neu a yw'n unrhyw fath arall o ddeddfwriaeth, yna bydd y rhai sy'n cael eu hethol i gynrychioli pobl yn gallu gwneud y gwaith craffu nad oes modd ei wneud ar hyn o bryd gyda'r deddfau y mae'n rhaid inni ufuddhau iddyn nhw, oherwydd iddynt gael eu llunio naill ai gan brosesau biwrocrataidd - oherwydd y Comisiwn Ewropeaidd sydd â'r unig hawl i gynnig deddfau yn yr Undeb Ewropeaidd - neu o ganlyniad i achosion yn Llys Cyfiawnder Ewrop, na ellir eu diwygio na'u diddymu gan unrhyw broses syml. Felly, o ganlyniad i Fil Ymadael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd, byddwn yn ailwladoli'r pwerau hynny i Senedd-dai y Deyrnas Unedig - ac wrth ddweud hynny rwy'n golygu'r senedd-dai datganoledig yn ogystal â Senedd y DU yn San Steffan. Rwy'n ystyried hynny yn broses gwbl ddiniwed. Wrth gwrs, mae'r broses hon yn esgor ar anawsterau cyfansoddiadol tymor byr - ac mae cymal 11 y Bil hwn yn un ohonynt, gyda'r mater o gymalau pwerau Harri'r VIII. Rwy'n barod i dderbyn, yn y tymor byr, bod y cymal hwn yn angenrheidiol er mwyn rhoi'r sicrwydd deddfwriaethol sydd ei angen arnom ni ar gyfer y dyfodol, ond mae'n egwyddor na fyddem yn dymuno ei osod, yn gyffredinol, a gobeithiaf y bydd cymal machlud, neu rywbeth tebyg, a fydd yn sicrhau na fydd hyn yn parhau am gyfnod hwy nag sy'n angenrheidiol. Mae'r dasg ddeddfwriaethol ger ein bron, i ystyried neu ailystyried 44 neu 45 mlynedd o ddeddfwriaeth, yn enfawr. Ni ellir gwneud hynny mewn ffordd ystyrlon heb y pwerau eithriadol hyn. Yn ystod y blynyddoedd sydd i ddod, bydd gennym y cyfle i ddiddymu a diwygio fel bo'r angen, ond rwy'n credu bod hwn yn Fil hanfodol angenrheidiol i ddiogelu buddiannau pobl Cymru, yn ogystal â phobl Prydain. Ni welaf unrhyw anghysondeb na gwrthdaro rhwng y ddau beth hyn, ac rwy'n gresynu bod Llywodraeth y Deyrnas Unedig wedi creu rhywfaint o wrthdaro cwbl ddiangen o ran yr hyn y byddai, fel arall, rwy'n credu, y rhan fwyaf o Geidwadwyr wedi ei ystyried yn broses gwbl fuddiol o adfer democratiaeth i bobl Prydain a phobl Cymru.