Popeth ddywedodd Rhun ap Iorwerth yn ei araith i'r gynhadledd Wanwyn

Rhun ap Iorwerth oedd yn rhoi’r brif araith yng Nghynhadledd Wanwyn Plaid Cymru yng Nghaernarfon.

Gyfeillion. Gynhadledd. Pnawn da i chi.

Diolch am y croeso. Mae’n braf bod yma efo chi yng Nghaernarfon - caer sy’n gymaint o symbol o Gymreictod, ein bod ni ‘yma o hyd’, caer yr Iaith Gymraeg, a diolch i’r rheiny sydd wedi gwasanethu’r gymuned cyhyd… yn cynnwys dau ŵr yn benodol, caer i Blaid Cymru.

Dan ni’n dathlu hanner can mlynedd leni ers ethol arwr gwleidyddol i mi – arwr i gymaint ohonan ni – yn Aelod Seneddol Caernarfon am y tro cynta. Mae’n fraint cael Dafydd Wigley yn y gynulleidfa heddiw.

Mi fes i’n pori drwy gofnod Hansard o’i flwyddyn gynta un o yn San Steffan. Ac mae’n ddifyr iawn gweld rhai o’r pynciau y buodd o’n siarad amdanyn nhw bryd hynny: sefyllfa economaidd y dydd, ail gartrefi, buddsoddiad rheilffyrdd, y diwydiant dur, dwyieithrwydd, cyllid awdurdodau lleol… ac mi oedd ‘na Gomisiwn Cyfansoddiadol bryd hynny hefyd – comisiwn Kilbrandon. Dyma ddwedodd Dafydd hanner canrif yn ôl, bron i’r diwrnod.

“A nation is an organic entity. It can grow or it can die. It can be killed, and it can hardly be brought to life again, save by exceptional measures. We want to create conditions in Wales which will foster the development of a full national life for the people of Wales, and we are looking for the system of government which can best do that. We have not yet reached it.”

Mae’r ffaith fod testunau dadleuon 1974 yn dal i adleisio yn 2024 yn dangos ein bod ni’n DAL heb gyrraedd! Ond mi ydan ni ar siwrne, a cofiwch ein bod wedi cymryd camau bras ymlaen ar y siwrne erbyn heddiw, diolch i bobl fel Dafydd.

Mae’n amhosib gorbwysleisio cyfraniad Dafydd i’n mudiad ac i’n cenedl, ei rol yn ysbrydoli eraill - ac mi fydd Caernarfon yn dref Dafydd Wigley am byth!

Ond erbyn heddiw, mae hi’n dref Hywel Williams hefyd.

Mae’n ddigon posib mai hon fydd cynhadledd olaf Hywel cyn yr etholiad cyffredinol, a chyn ei ymddeoliad o o wleidyddiaeth etholedig - er nid o fywyd cyhoeddus Cymru, dwi’n siŵr o hynny.

Hywel, nid yn unig y gwnest ti wrthsefyll chwech ymgeisydd Llafur, ond fflyd o fysus eu hymgyrchwyr hefyd!

Dwi ddim yn arfer rhannu cyngor efo pleidiau eraill, ond mae ‘na wers yn fan hyn does - peidiwch a meddwl  mai’r allwedd i amddiffyn y wal goch ydi ceisio torri yr argae gwyrdd!

(Wrth gwrs – i fi does mond un wal goch – a honno oedd yr un oedd yn dathlu yng Nghaerdydd neithiwr!)

Hywel – ti’n cynrychioli’r gorau ohonom ni. Mi gollwn ni ddycnwch dy gwestiynu, dy benderfynoldeb yn dal Llywodraeth i gyfri ar ran pobl Arfon a Chymru. Dy safiad dro ar ol tro dros gyfiawnder a dros y difreintiedig. Ma pobl Arfon yn ddyledus am ddau ddegawd a mwy o ymgyrchu di-ddiwedd a chynrychiolaeth penigamp.

Ar ein rhan ni i gyd, diolch am arwain o’r blaen ac er lles Cymru paid a chymryd sedd ôl.

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Friends, I could talk at length about the joy of being in Caernarfon amongst friends once again. But we’re here because we have business to take care of.

Rishi Sunak may well have made up his mind to squat on in Downing Street until autumn or even beyond, but whenever he calls it, Plaid Cymru is ready.

And campaigning is well underway. I can already see well worn shoe leather around the conference. And on doorsteps Wales-wide, those invaluable conversations are taking place. 

So why Plaid Cymru?

Why vote to send an MP to Westminster whose ultimate goal is to no longer be ruled by that institution?

Because we go there to settle up, not settle down.

Because we go there to be Wales’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Wales.

Because we’re not like the London parties who see Wales as being on the margins.

Because our policies are not dictated by the polls, and our principles aren’t predicated on aping the Tories at every turn.

As that snippet from Dafydd Wigley’s speech in 1974 showed:

We were fighting for more powers then.

We were fighting for steel workers then.

We were fighting for fair rail investment then.

And whilst we have won so much for Wales over the years, we’re still fighting for them now.

Conference, we are not in thrall to archaic ways and banqueting halls because the best part of OUR week at Westminster is heading home to Wales to the communities we serve. 

We go there to speak up for those communities. And to seek justice for them.

Whenever and wherever we see injustice we call it out and seek redress.

We have a proud record in Plaid Cymru of standing with and campaigning for those fighting against vested interest.

From the former workers of Allied Steel and Wire in Cardiff, robbed of the true value of their pensions and whose cause I was privileged to pursue again recently. We’ll carry on!

To the thousands who lost their lives as a result of the contaminated blood scandal, their plight I continue to pursue locally and as Chair of the Senedd Cross Party Group on Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood.

We’ve stood with WASPI women every step of the way, from our 2016 Conference motion calling on the UK government to change course to the years of campaigning by Ben Lake on their behalf since his election in 2017. The women wronged by Westminster are a step closer to justice, now government must act without delay.

And friends, there is no scandal, no miscarriage of justice that’s angered people more in recent times than the one that struck so many Sub-Postmasters.

Livelihoods and even lives lost, the innocent under lock and key. And no one has shown more courage or more grace in the face of Government’s disgracefully slow response, than a gentleman I’m proud to know – Noel Thomas. Committed Plaid Cymru councillor. Pillar of the community. Wronged by a system which put profit before people and which allowed those at the top to act with reckless impunity.

I spoke with Noel this week. He was sorry that he couldn’t be here today. We’re sorry, Noel. But we want to say thank you for never giving up. Diolch, Noel, am arwain y ffordd.

Noel reminds us why we always have to be ready to fight for fairness. And of course Plaid Cymru will never give up fighting for Wales. Judge us on our actions, and ask to what extent will other parties stand up for Wales when their London bosses ask them to step into line?

Conference, the truth is that we can all stand up to Sunak. But as much as we need to ditch this Conservative Government, and fast… we’ve got to be ready to hold Starmer’s feet to the fire too. And who’ll do that in Welsh Labour?  

Plaid Cymru will always stand up to whoever’s in Downing Street. And remember - Westminster is structured to keep Wales quiet. To deny Wales that fair play we seek, to hoard powers in its hallowed halls and let us down with hollow words.

This time next year, the number of MPs from Wales will be cut by a fifth.  

That’s a deliberate move by the Tories to not only game the system for their own electoral self-interest (though that’s not going well!), but also to diminish Wales’ voice in a Chamber where it is already dwarfed.

This means that what Welsh MPs do with their time in Westminster will now matter more than ever before.

Plaid Cymru MPs don’t have a UK Party Leader to obey.

They don’t have a unionist party line to parrot or a whip decided by others to follow.

They exist not to serve a London Head Office or the Westminster system itself, but those whose faith they have earned and whose trust they refuse to betray by putting party before principle.

Liz, Ben and Hywel – a formidable trio. Passionate, hard-working, always fighting for Wales.

I know that in Llinos Medi in Ynys Môn and Ann Davies in Caerfyrddin, and in constituencies across Wales, we have equally formidable prospective Plaid Cymru MPs. Champions of their community, championing Wales and chomping at the bit to make our voice heard.

Ac o Fetws y Coed i Fetws yn Rhos, mi fyddai Bangor Aberconwy mewn dwylo da fel bro Catrin. Llanelli yn cael llais gan Rhodri.  

Eu brwydr nhw fydd ein brwydr ni – a phob buddugoliaeth yn fuddugoliaeth i ni gyd, i Gymru gyfan.

Ac wrth i’r dydd ymestyn – gadewch i ni ymrwymo yn nhraddodiad gorau ein plaid i wneud popeth allwn ni i sicrhau’r garfan gryfaf posib o Aelodau Seneddol Plaid Cymru yn San Steffan.

Friends, though billed so often as red versus blue, General Elections aren’t the preserve of two parties.

In Wales, we can do things differently.

Keep the Tories out. Put Wales’s interests first. And… at the same time tell Labour that we won’t let them take Wales for granted.

Take a moment to reflect on what the other parties say about themselves.

With all the irony of a Leader whose party has been in power for the past 14 years, Rishi Sunak declared at his party conference:   >>>>>

“Be in no doubt – it’s time for a change and we are it!”

We could laugh, were the consequences of his government’s actions on so many lives not so profound.  

From Ynys Môn to Monmouth, Conservative MPs have backed a wrecking ball regime causing untold damage to the people they’re meant to serve.

Keir Starmer’s answer was to proclaim the need for an entirely new approach to politics. But Conference, following the Conservative orthodoxy isn’t a new approach to politics.

The sight of Rachel Reeves walking in lockstep with Jeremy Hunt only offers more austere times. Sacking a Shadow Minister for standing on a picket line is a new Labour low. Sunak AND Starmer’s HS2 betrayal only keeps Wales in the slow lane. And the Labour–Tory coalition on lifting the bankers’ bonus cap only goes to prove whose side they are really on.

So why Plaid Cymru?

Friends, we stand apart from UK establishment politics. We don’t want the future to look like the past. We want people to feel hope about politics once again.

The spirit of ’99 was one of ambition and optimism – of possibility and purpose. Twenty-five years on, our Senedd is being Reimagined, more proportional in its numbers and more representative of the people of Wales.    

And just like in 1999, I am proud of the role Plaid Cymru has played in building our national institution.

But I know that you, like me, are restless. Impatient, itching for change, imploring those in Labour who deep down agree with me when I say this isn’t as good as it gets for Wales, to have the courage to say so out loud – to call out Westminster as a system which is not simply failing but has categorically failed.

Red or blue – history has taught us that the London parties will always view Wales through a rather distorted prism. Their belief in the supremacy of the British state will always trump what may be best for Wales, however clear the writing on the wall.

Take justice, for example.

An England and Wales jurisdiction, controlled by a Minister in Whitehall. And here in Wales - the highest incarceration rate of any country in Western Europe. A new super-prison “built in a way that even Victorians would not build prisons” to quote the former Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform.

Cuts to police budgets and record knife crime offences.

In six weeks, we go to the polls to elect Police and Crime Commissioners. Building on the work of Dafydd Llywelyn in Dyfed Powys, who for eight years has been as progressive as he’s been principled, Plaid Cymru candidates will put the devolution of the criminal justice system front and centre of the campaign, from police to prisons to probation.

Labour’s answer? Let us win the election and clean up the Tories’ mess, but leave the powers in Westminster.

Speaking in 2017, Tony Blair let the cat out of the bag when he labelled devolution as “a dangerous game.”

Some years later he admitted that attempting to use devolution as a tool to quash aspirations for independence in Wales and Scotland had proved to be a tougher fight than he ‘d anticipated.

Remarks like this go to the heart of how the UK Labour party views the notion of empowering Wales.

Their mantra? Let devolution work for the Labour party, perhaps let it work for the Union, but not really for the people of Wales.

Devolution is only a “dangerous game” for those who refuse to accept not only the viable but the inevitable – that Wales – like the vast majority of nations in the world, can and will one day decide her own future. Independence is viable!  

Not just our view in Plaid Cymru but the recent view of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales.

Words like ‘landmark’ and ‘historic’ are perhaps over-used, but they really are words that reflect the significance of the Williams-Mcallister Commission’s report. It rightly warns of the unsustainable nature of the status quo, and affirms that independence has earned its place at the heart of Wales's national conversation.

Not muttered around the margins, but said with purpose and conviction - Wales Can. Mi all Cymru wneud hyn.

The report reflects on the challenges independence  would bring. Of course. Let’s face them together. But conference… we’ll ask Wales to balance the risks of independence with - not even the risks - the REALITY of of our current place in the UK… a stagnant economy, entrenched poverty. We can be better than this.

Ffrindiau, ‘dan ni’n gwybod fod y daith tuag at annibyniaeth yn un y mae rhai yn ofni ei throedio .

Mae'r neges fod Cymru yn rhy fach, yn rhy dlawd – yn rhy dwp hyd yn oed - wedi cael ei hailadrodd wrthon ni gymaint o weithiau nes bod llawer wedi dod i’w chredu hi.    

Ein gwaith ni felly ydi nid i feirniadu nac i feio, ond i ddwyn perswád ar y rhai sydd ddim eto wedi cael eu perswadio, i gyd-gerdded hefo ni.

Gam wrth gam mae gwneud yr achos. Nid achos bod ‘na ddim brys - mae Cymru'n ysu am newid, a dwi ar ras, credwch fi! - ond mae llunio gweledigaeth sydd nid yn unig yn cynnig ysbrydoliaeth ond sydd hefyd yn meithrin ymddiriedaeth, yn greiddiol i lwyddiant.

Dyna pam ‘mod i’n angerddol dros gael Comisiwn Cenedlaethol parhaol i adeiladu ar waith Dr Rowan Williams a'r Athro Laura McAllister er mwyn archwilio dyfodol cyfansoddiadol Cymru ymhellach.

Mae'r Comisiwn yn barod wedi’n rhoi ni ar y droed flaen ac mae cyfrifoldeb arnon ni rwan i sicrhau nad ydi'r momentwm yn cael ei golli.

It is up to us to lead the discussion on Wales’ future. Wales NEEDS leadership.

I guess we should reflect here on the past week.

I repeat the congratulations I extended to Vaughan Gething on his election victory last weekend. Indeed, I do so with sincerity, knowing full well the honour and responsibility that the office of leader brings with it.

Of course he now also bears the greatest responsibility of all – leading our country as its new First Minister.

But just as Rishi Sunak ironically said he offered “change”, it’s true also that the only ‘newness’ with Vaughan Gething is the fact that he’s only been in post for two-days.

The leadership campaign wasn’t a campaign of new ideas, and now there’s only one new face in the cabinet! They and the First Minister have to take responsibility for creating the challenges they themselves new inherit. Vaughan Gething himself, has held arguably two of the most important jobs in Government, firstly in Health and more recently as Economy Minister.

In health? It was growing waiting lists. Fewer doctors per head of the population. Soaring spend on agency staff. Disappearing WhatsApps. A failure to read key documents. Not to mention the greatest scandal of all - no Wales-specific Covid Inquiry.

New Leader, yes.

A palpable gasp of ‘same again’? Most certainly. 

And let’s not forget that this was no ordinary campaign. The voting stitch-up, the ducking of scrutiny for his own record, and whilst we’re used to questions about dodgy donations around the Conservative party, what we’ve seen during this Labour campaign has undermined so much faith. And when we talk about the need to pay something back, we can mean that in 2 ways – it’s not just the cash, it’s trust too, and that is even more valuable.

So what does a new Welsh First Minister coupled with a likely Starmer-led government in Westminster mean for us?

Friends, my fear is that it’s be more of the same. More stagnation, more managerialism, more cuts to public services.

But our energies are best placed not cursing the 'what now' but crafting the 'what next.’ Another way, another Wales.

So what is that other way and how do we get there?

Let's begin with the economy. Because without economic renewal, there will be no national revival.

Labour’s failure to future-proof our economy has seen them putting out fires when they could have been igniting our nation’s potential. 

Short-termism and sticking plaster solutions have been the hallmark of their time in power.   

Their answer to a shortage of skills in key industries? Cut apprenticeships.

Their solution to the woes of the hospitality industry still reeling from the pandemic? Cut business rates relief.

Where is the imagination? Where’s the strategy? We need joined up thinking and long-term planning. We need our fair share of investment – it’s why we propose an Economic Fairness Bill to deliver that. We’ve lost billions in rail investment alone.

And we need focus. I believe we can get that through Plaid Cymru’s new Wales Development Agency too – not a carbon copy of the original but rather a body fit to face the challenges of the twenty first century, with an ambitious mission to promote trade and attract investment.

And what about the greatest challenge of all - creating an NHS fit for the future. It's not just the system that's broken, it's the people within it too. Overworked, underpaid and working under extreme daily pressures – that is the sad reality of life on the front line for doctors and nurses.   

Yet, the NHS – lauded as a national treasure by politicians of all colours has all too often become a football.   

David Cameron’s crass description of Offa’s Dyke being a line between life and death. Andrew RT Davies’s vacuous NHS England versus NHS Wales ‘Politics by Twitter’. And successive Labour Ministers’ ducking blame.

We need approaches rooted in honesty. And a real desire to reverse the decline in our most treasured public service for the sake of everyone who works in it, and everyone who relies on it.

I know the problems of the NHS won’t be solved overnight. Of course not. You can’t click your fingers and magic up more staff.

You can’t conjure up more ambulances and beds if the workforce isn’t there. But we have to get started, and build hope for the NHS’s future.

That is why I’m determined to develop a plan for the workforce of tomorrow. On primary care for example… getting to work on providing 500 extra GPs is Plaid Cymru’s promise.

To ease the pressure on our existing staff, and to ease the pressure on the Welsh budget – a far smarter and more sustainable return on investment than the eye watering £320 million spent on agency staff during 2022.    

If we view the challenges facing the NHS merely as health problems, we’ll fail before we’ve even tried.

According to the Welsh NHS Confederation, evidence suggests that at most, only 20% of a nation’s health and wellbeing is dependent on actual healthcare services.

60% of people in Wales say the rising cost-of-living has negatively affected their wellbeing, says the Royal College of Physicians.

People in Wales face a higher risk of dying in poverty than any other UK nation, says Marie Curie.

Health inequalities cost our NHS £322 million every year, says Public Health Wales.

The full social cost of obesity to Wales is around £3 billion a year says Frontier Economics.

The experts are speaking but the Labour Welsh Government just isn’t acting.

Preventative health is one of the areas I feel most passionately about. Dealing ACROSS Government with all those issues if touched on there. Recognising the REAL impact of poverty. The benefits of exercise and a balanced diet, is a tale as old as time but is still not embedded enough in our national conversation about health.   

In fact, the Welsh Government is simultaneously squandering millions on frontline agency staff whilst cutting the prevention budget - at best short-sighted and at worst irresponsible.

I do sympathise with Welsh Government on the impact of UK Treasury cuts, of course, and the ongoing impact of the unfair and outdated Barnett Formula.

But my sympathy is somewhat curtailed by Keir Starmer’s continued refusal to deal with that if he does become Prime Minister - Labour can’t on one hand rue UK Government’s treatment of Wales, whilst on the other refusing to commit to the reform we desperately need!

That is why Plaid Cymru will be unapologetic in demanding fair funding for Wales from whoever holds the keys to 10 Downing Street by the end of this year.

Decades of chronic underinvestment must come to an end.

So too must the centralisation of power in Westminster which leaves us without the tools to bring about meaningful change.  

Take the Crown Estate for example - Welsh assets estimated to be worth £853 million but with gains directed to the Treasury – and with a portion handed to the Royal Family for good measure.

When Welsh households are paying among the highest energy bills in the UK, this is nothing short of perverse.

The same is true of welfare. Tied to cruel and arbitrary Tory policies devised in Westminster, struggling Welsh families are left at the mercy of a system which is out of sight and woefully out of touch.

“The two-child limit on benefits is one of the biggest policy drivers of child poverty” - not my words but the words of the Chief Executive of Barnardo’s. A policy which Keir Starmer has astonishingly refused to scrap should his party form the next UK Government. A policy on which he is so tone deaf that his own party has set up a new campaign group - ‘The Labour Campaign to End Child Poverty’ in a desperate attempt to change his mind!

It was Gordon Brown who said that child poverty is “a scar on the soul of Britain.” It appears that whoever wins the next General Election, that scar will continue to run deep and get deeper. Shame on them. 

So yes, it’s high time that Wales demanded more from Westminster. Some will wrongly label this a begging bowl mentality – in fact, it’s the very opposite.  

Give us the funding which is rightly ours from Treasury coffers contibuted into by Welsh taxpayers’ money, just like every other part of the UK.

Give us the levers we need to build a powerhouse parliament, not piecemeal devolution which can’t keep pace with the hopes of our people.

Give us the freedom to prove what all of us in this hall and many thousands beyond it already know – that this is not as good as it gets for Wales.

And we WILL thrive. Wales CAN.

Gyfeillion, er gwaethaf parodrwydd y blaid Lafur yng Nghymru i blygu’n dawedog i San Steffan, mae sawl cymuned wedi rhoi gwers i’n llywodraeth ni mewn angerdd ac actifyddiaeth yn y misoedd diwethaf.

Tra bo dynoliaeth mi fydd amaethu – geiriau’r diweddar Dic Jones, arwyddgan addas i genhedlaeth newydd sy’n mynnu dyfodol llewyrchus i’w diwydiant.

Mae’r Cynllun Ffermio Cynaliadwy yn bradychu ei enw cyn cychwyn - does ‘na ddim yn gynaliadwy am gynllun afresymol fydd nid yn unig yn cosbi ond yn gelyniaethu’r ffermwyr sy’n gynghreiriaid mor bwysig yn y frwydr yn erbyn newid hinsawdd.

Dyna pam fod Plaid Cymru wedi sefyll ochr yn ochr efo ffermwyr a mynnu newid. Mae’n frwydr dros gyfiawnder. Fel y mae’n brwydr ni dros y cymunedau dur, lle mae ddiffodd y ffwrnesi blast ym Mhort Talbot yn bygwth diffodd gobaith ei hun. Dan ni’n sefyll efo nhwythau, ac ar y llinell biced, dan ni wedi sefyll efo nyrsys, meddygon a diffoddwyr tân yn erbyn amodau anheg. 

Ac fel rhyngwladolwyr mae’n gorwelion ni yn ymestyn tu hwnt i Gymru hefyd wrth gwrs. Dan ni di sefyll efo dioddefwyr ymosodiad ffiaidd Hamas ar Israel ar y 7fed o Hydref hefyd, ac wedi sefyll efo holl bobl Gaza sydd wedi wynebu erchyllterau tu hwnt i eiriau ers hynny, gan fynnu cadoediad bob cam.

Mi fydda i’n meddwl yn aml am ein lle ni yn y byd, ac mae’n anodd peidio meddwl am effaith Brexit. Mae’n sicr wedi crebachu statws a dylanwad y Deyrnas Gyfunol ar lwyfan y byd.

Prydain Fach ydi Prydain Fawr erbyn hyn, ond nid dyna sy’n bwysig i ni - nid nostalgia am oes ymerodraethol ond hiraeth am y cwlwm dwfn hwnnw efo’n cefndryd Ewropeaidd.  

Y rhyddid i deithio, y rhyddid i weithio, i fasnachu ac i ddysgu gan ein gilydd.

Dwi’n benderfynol o adfer y cysylltiadau hynny gan ddechrau efo’n cymdogion agosaf i’r gorllewin - Iwerddon.

Yn wir, diolch i system drafnidiaeth simsan Llafur dwi’n gallu cyrraedd Dulyn yn gynt na Chaerdydd!

Mi ges i gyfle i draddodi araith ym Mhrifysgol Corc yn ddiweddar - dinas arbennig sydd ei hun â hanes hir o gysylltiadau Cymreig.

Yng nghanol y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, mi oedd ryw 40% o boblogaeth Caerdydd yn Wyddelod - y mwyafrif ohonyn nhw o orllewin Corc, wedi eu cludo draw gan Farcwis Biwt i weithio yn y dociau, ac er fod y cymunedau Gwyddelig fel Newtown, neu Little Ireland, wedi hen ddiflannu ar eu ffurf gwreiddiol, mae’r agosatrwydd hwnnw at ein cyfoedion Celtaidd yn parhau.

Yn yr araith honno yn Corc, mi soniais i am waith ein diweddar gyfaill Steffan Lewis. Mi oedd Steffan yn wr ifanc o feddwl craff a gweledigaeth glir, oedd yn daer o blaid ffurfioli’r cysylltiadau rhwng Cymru ac Iwerddon drwy Gynghrair y Mor Celtaidd - yn enwedig rhanbarthau gorllewin Cymru a rhai dwyreiniol Iwerddon.   

Mi wnaeth o’r achos dros efelychu’r bartneriaeth rhwng Norwy a Sweden, lle mae un genedl y tu mewn i’r Undeb Ewropeaidd a’r llall y tu allan - ond efo’r ddwy yn cydnabod y rhyng-ddibyniaeth ar ei gilydd.

Mae na GYMAINT i elwa o gydweithio, ac mi allai Cynghrair Geltaidd hybu cyfleon economaidd a diwylliantol nid yn unig rhwng Cymru ac Iwerddon ond yr Alban hefyd.

A gadewch i ni beidio anghofio potensial nid yn unig yr hyn sy’n ein clymu ni ond yr hyn sydd rhyngddan ni hefyd – y posibiliadau sy’n dod efo bod yn genedl hir ei harfordir efo cyfoeth o adnoddau naturiol.  

Dan ni’n wynebu argyfwng hinsawdd, a rhaid i ni frwydro yn erbyn hynny ar bob ffrynt. Mae potensial ynni mor Iwerddon a’r mor Celtaidd yn enfawr ac mi allen ni elwa gymaint o weithio efo’n gilydd ar siapio’r diwydiannau newydd wneith  dyfu o hynny – hydrogen gwyrdd er enghraifft, rhywbeth dwi’n cyffroi amdano fo a rhan, heb os o ddyfodol economaidd ac ynni Cymru.

Diolch i Blaid Cymru mae cwmni ynni cyhoeddus – Ynni Cymru – wedi’i sefydlu, ar Ynys Môn, i hybu prosiectau creu-ynni lleol a chadw elw yn ein cymunedau, nid eu colli mewn elw i gwmniau rhyngwladol neu i goffrau San Steffan: un o’r polisiau blaengar gan Blaid >>>>> Cymru sy’n cydbwyso buddiannau economaidd ac  amgylcheddol efo gweledigaeth wedi ei gwreiddio mewn creu Cymru werddach, decach a mwy uchelgeisiol.  

Mae’r angen am y weledigaeth economaidd honno’n dwysau wrth gwrs, wrth i ni weld effeithiau Brexit yn brathu ac aelwydydd ym mhob cwr o’r wlad yn talu’r pris am gelwydd y Ceidwadwyr.

Yn ol ffigyrau Llywodraeth Cymru, mae colli’r cyllid Ewropeaidd wedi gadael twll o £1.1 biliwn yng nghoffrau Cymru. Mae’r Deyrnas Gyfunol gyfan wedi colli gwerth ryw £29 biliwn o fuddsoddiad busnes ers y refferendwm, a dan ni’n meddwl bod rhwystrau i fasnach bwyd wedi costio ryw £250 i bob aelwyd ym Mhrydain.

Dyna pam fod y cam nesaf yn gwbl glir – mae raid i Lywodraeth San Steffan ddechrau trafodaethau efo Brwsel ar unwaith i drafod ailymuno efo’r farchnad sengl a’r undeb tollau.

A nid mater o wrthdroi canlyniad y refferendwm ydi hyn, ond ymgais i wynebu realiti, a nid gwadu’r sefyllfa yr ydan ni ynddi, ac i wneud yr hyn sy’n iawn er mwyn gwarchod buddiannau’n dinasyddion a’n cymunedau. 

Rhwng 1999 a 2007, mi oedd rhwng 50-55% o allforion y Deyrnas Gyfunol yn mynd i’r Undeb Ewropeaidd. Erbyn 2022, mi oedd y ffigwr wedi gostwng i 42%.

Does dim syndod felly fod arolwg gan YouGov ym mis Tachwedd yn dangos fod 57% o bobl Prydain am ailymuno efo’r farchad sengl.

Mae disgwyl i’r Cytundeb Masnach a Chydweithio rhwng y Deyrnas Gyfunol a’r Undeb Ewropeaidd gael ei adolygu yn 2025 neu 2026 beth bynnag, felly cwestiwn syml sydd gen i ydi ‘pam aros?’

Mae na leisiau o bleidiau eraill yn cytuno - yn wir, mi wnaeth yr ymgeisydd aflwyddiannus am arweinyddiaeth Llafur Cymru yr un alwad yn ddiweddar - er gwaethaf pleidleisio yn erbyn cynnig Seneddol gan Plaid Cymru i’r un perwyl.

Ond ra bod rhai yn fodlon troi yn y gwynt, dwi’n falch o ymrwymiad GYSON ein plaid ni i gydweithio agosach efo Ewrop. A dydi’n gweledigaeth ni’n pylu dim o fod - efo  cydsyniad pobl Cymru - yn aelod annibynnol o’r Undeb Ewropeaidd.

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Conference, in my first address to you as leader, I spoke of my desire to guard the clear green water between our politics and the politics of others. 

Whilst we can be rightly proud of what we’ve achieved through directly influencing Welsh Government – on free school meals, childcare, bold steps to tackle the housing crisis, measures to protect the Welsh language, strenthening our democracy - it is our distinctiveness which I cherish the most.

There is no contradiction in this.

It is how a mature and constructive opposition behaves. Find common ground for the common good where you can, whilst at the same time holding the government’s feet to the fire on the decisions they make every day.

Not just sniping from the sidelines, not denigrating our democracy.

That is the Tory way - as irreverent as they are irrelevant.

Where we can effect change, influencing others, we will.

But friends, that is not the limit of our ambition.

We must lead the work of changing Wales for good, because Wales desperately needs change.

A change of gear, a change of direction, a change of conviction among our leaders in what our people can achieve.

A National Health Service that’s fit for the future.

An education system worthy of our proud history as a leader in literacy.

An economy which is not at the behest of the UK Government of the day.

An environment whose future belongs to us all and is guarded by us all.

A society in which each individual can be themselves, free from prejudice and pre-conceptions.

A Wales where everyone can call home, whatever their language, wherever they’re from.

That is Plaid Cymru’s vision for our nation.

It’s what we yearn for. For our children. For our communities.

That is why I will never apologise for building that case. Day in, day out. Week after week.

For fairness. For ambition. For Wales.