English: Well, Neil Hamilton is calling for us all to be more cheerful and we've got to that point of the evening when Mike Hedges is being urged to create a new political party. So, I think it's clearly time we all packed our bags and wound up this debate, which I will allow - [ Interruption.] - which I will allow my colleague to do after the Minister has spoken. Look, I think, as Mohammed Asghar said towards the start of this debate, 2019 marks 20 years of devolution, and we remember some of the great promises that were offered to us back at the dawn of that process. One of the key promises, of course, was that the Welsh Government would have control of its economic levers and would be able to boost the economy. Well, to be fair to that early Welsh Assembly, the powers were limited. We now stand at a crossroads with the devolution of tax powers and more tools in the toolbox - I remember that expression that we've heard so many times - and we've been through many referenda to enhance powers. As Russ George said in opening this debate, we need to boost the economic fortune of Wales's poorest areas - that's what this debate is about. And there is no quick fix. There is no place for platitudes and pretending that any single party here has all the answers and by simply changing policies overnight then you would suddenly get to a magical never-never land that doesn't exist. The only way to resolve this situation is through supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and also developing our transport network, and, indeed, our networks, not just transport but also broadband, which I don't think has been mentioned today, and making sure that our digital infrastructure - sorry, Mike, you mentioned it; one of your manifesto policies, obviously, for the new party - developing our transport network and our broadband infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. Because, yes, there is a lack of parity between urban and rural areas of Wales, and, yes, the north and the south and the east and the west, but that cannot be solved by one quick fix. New tax powers must be part of the solution, increasing the accountability of this place on the one hand, accessing new borrowing powers to invest in infrastructure - and, of course, developing a competitive and sustainable tax base that encourages wealth generation is key, because, without developing that wealth generation, you do not have the wealth to divide up; you do not have the wealth to tax and to spend on all-important public services. And I welcome the Finance Minister's renewed commitment to keeping income tax on a par with English levels, at least until the next Assembly election. As the First Minister said towards the end of his tenure as Finance Minister: if you raise the basic rate of income tax, you take away money from people who can least afford it in challenging times. And we know there currently aren't enough higher-rate taxpayers in Wales - a far lower proportion here than in England - for those to be taxed in any way like they would need to be to raise the sort of money that we would need to without really increasing economic growth. So, we need to grow the tax base. The Cardiff city region has been mentioned, and, indeed, the Swansea region, and I really take Mike Hedges's point: the city regions are all well and good, but we've got to look at the companies within those city regions, and it's no good having lots of small and medium-sized enterprises of the type we all want to encourage if we then have a break between those companies going on to be really big players on the European and, indeed, the international stage. So, there are all sorts of things that need to be looked at here, and as I say, I don't think that there is any single policy that will alleviate this. It falls to Ken Skates, the economy Minister, to be responding to this debate, but, actually, I think it's pretty much covered every portfolio and every ministerial department in some way or another - it's one of those debates. But, one thing is clear: we need the next 20 years of devolution to deliver on economic growth and growing prosperity in the way that the last 20 years, quite simply, didn't. I think we do stand at a crossroads on devolution where the times when we can turn around and say, 'This place doesn't have the powers to achieve that', are soon going to be behind us, and it will fall to the people in this Chamber to make sure that we do deliver that sort of improvement in the Welsh economy that we all want to see. You don't have to give me a membership form for a new party quite yet, Mike Hedges, but I, for one, am very happy to work with yourself and any Member of this Chamber who wants to move Wales forward now and in the future.
Welsh: Wel, mae Neil Hamilton yn galw ar bawb ohonom i fod yn fwy siriol ac rydym wedi cyrraedd y pwynt gyda'r nos pan fo Mike Hedges yn cael ei annog i greu plaid wleidyddol newydd. Felly, credaf ei bod hi'n amlwg yn bryd i bawb ohonom bacio'n bagiau a dirwyn y ddadl hon i ben, a byddaf yn caniatáu - [ T orri ar draws.] - i fy nghyd-Aelod wneud hynny wedi i'r Gweinidog siarad. Edrychwch, fel y dywedodd Mohammed Asghar, rwy'n credu, tuag at ddechrau'r ddadl hon, mae 2019 yn nodi 20 mlynedd ers datganoli, ac rydym yn cofio rhai o'r addewidion mawr a roddwyd i ni yn ôl ar ddechrau'r broses honno. Un o'r prif addewidion, wrth gwrs, oedd y byddai gan Lywodraeth Cymru reolaeth ar ei hysgogiadau economaidd ac y byddai'n gallu hybu'r economi. Wel, a bod yn deg â'r Cynulliad cynnar hwnnw, roedd y pwerau'n gyfyngedig. Rydym yn sefyll ar groesffordd yn awr gyda datganoli pwerau treth a mwy o adnoddau at ein defnydd, ac rydym wedi bod trwy lawer o refferenda i ymestyn pwerau. Fel y dywedodd Russ George wrth agor y ddadl hon, mae angen inni hybu ffyniant economaidd ardaloedd tlotaf Cymru - dyna yw hanfod y ddadl hon. Ac nid oes un ateb cyflym. Nid oes lle i ystrydebau ac esgus bod gan unrhyw blaid unigol yma yr atebion i gyd, ac y byddech, drwy wneud dim mwy na newid polisïau dros nos yn cyrraedd y wlad hudol honno nad yw'n bodoli. Yr unig ffordd o ddatrys y sefyllfa hon yw drwy gefnogi mentrau bach a chanolig a hefyd drwy ddatblygu ein rhwydwaith trafnidiaeth, ac nid ein rhwydweithiau trafnidiaeth yn unig, ond band eang hefyd, ac nid wyf yn meddwl bod hwnnw wedi cael sylw heddiw, a sicrhau bod ein seilwaith digidol - mae'n ddrwg gennyf, Mike, fe sonioch chi amdano; un o bolisïau eich maniffesto, yn amlwg, ar gyfer y blaid newydd - datblygu ein rhwydwaith trafnidiaeth a'n seilwaith band eang mewn ardaloedd trefol a gwledig. Oherwydd, oes, mae yna ddiffyg cydraddoldeb rhwng ardaloedd trefol a gwledig Cymru, a'r gogledd a'r de a'r dwyrain a'r gorllewin, ond nid oes modd datrys hynny ag un ateb cyflym. Rhaid i'r pwerau trethu newydd fod yn rhan o'r ateb, gan gynyddu atebolrwydd y lle hwn ar y naill law, a defnyddio pwerau benthyca newydd i fuddsoddi mewn seilwaith - ac wrth gwrs, mae datblygu sylfaen dreth gystadleuol a chynaliadwy sy'n annog creu cyfoeth yn allweddol, oherwydd, heb ddatblygu'r dulliau hynny o greu cyfoeth, ni fydd gennych gyfoeth i'w rannu; ni fydd gennych gyfoeth i'w drethu ac i'w wario ar wasanaethau cyhoeddus hollbwysig. Ac rwy'n croesawu ymrwymiad newydd y Gweinidog Cyllid i gadw treth incwm ar yr un lefel â lefelau Lloegr tan etholiad nesaf y Cynulliad fan lleiaf. Fel y dywedodd y Prif Weinidog tuag at ddiwedd ei gyfnod fel Gweinidog Cyllid: os ydych yn codi cyfradd sylfaenol treth incwm, rydych yn mynd ag arian oddi wrth y bobl sydd leiaf tebygol o allu ei fforddio a hynny mewn cyfnod heriol. A gwyddom nad oes digon o drethdalwyr ar y gyfradd uwch yng Nghymru ar hyn o bryd - cyfran lawer is yma nag yn Lloegr - i allu trethu'r rheini mewn unrhyw ffordd sy'n debyg i'r hyn a fyddai'n angenrheidiol er mwyn codi'r math o arian y byddai ei angen heb gynyddu twf economaidd mewn gwirionedd. Felly, mae angen inni dyfu'r sylfaen drethu. Crybwyllwyd dinas-ranbarth Caerdydd, a rhanbarth Abertawe mewn gwirionedd, ac rwy'n derbyn pwynt Mike Hedges: mae'r dinas-ranbarthau'n iawn, ond rhaid inni edrych ar y cwmnïau o fewn y dinas-ranbarthau hynny, ac nid oes unrhyw werth mewn cael llawer o fentrau bach a chanolig o'r math y mae pawb ohonom am eu hannog os oes toriad wedyn rhwng bod y cwmnïau hynny'n mynd ymlaen i fod yn gwmnïau gwirioneddol fawr ar y llwyfan Ewropeaidd, ac yn wir ar y llwyfan rhyngwladol. Felly, mae angen edrych ar bob math o bethau, ac fel rwy'n dweud, nid wyf yn credu bod un polisi unigol yn bodoli a fydd yn gwella hyn. Ken Skates, Gweinidog yr economi, sy'n mynd i fod yn ymateb i'r ddadl hon, ond mewn gwirionedd, rwy'n credu ei fod wedi cwmpasu pob portffolio a phob adran weinidogol mewn rhyw ffordd neu'i gilydd - mae'n un o'r dadleuon hynny. Ond mae un peth yn glir: mae angen i'r 20 mlynedd nesaf o ddatganoli gyflawni twf economaidd a ffyniant cynyddol mewn ffordd na wnaeth yr 20 mlynedd diwethaf. Credaf ein bod yn sefyll ar groesffordd o ran datganoli pan fydd yr adegau pan allwn droi a dweud, 'Nid oes gan y lle hwn bwerau i allu cyflawni hynny', y tu ôl i ni a mater i'r bobl yn y Siambr hon fydd gwneud yn siŵr y byddwn yn cyflawni'r math o welliant yn economi Cymru y mae pawb ohonom am ei weld. Nid oes raid i chi roi ffurflen aelodaeth plaid newydd i mi eto, Mike Hedges, ond rwy'n hapus iawn i weithio gyda chi ac unrhyw Aelod o'r Siambr hon sydd am symud Cymru ymlaen yn awr ac yn y dyfodol.