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Government of Wales Bill

I was disappointed not to be able to contribute to the debate on 9 January. I know well, from reading early-day motion 1421, that Welsh Members take an active interest in the deliberations of the Scottish Parliament, and this is reciprocated by Scottish Members in respect of the National Assembly of Wales—[Hon. Members: ““For Wales!””] I mean the National Assembly for Wales. In any event, the Scottish Parliament provides an important point of reference in the explanatory notes on the Bill. I listened carefully to what the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) said, and it is pretty much the same as what he said in the debate in 1997, when the Liberal Democrats made the same proposal. Now, as then, we are not convinced of its merits. Indeed, our view is even more pronounced now than when it was eloquently put on that occasion by my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans). The term ““Welsh Assembly”” has been in common parlance for some six and half years among the people of Wales. Some—although not those on the Conservative Benches—may take its name in vain; others may speak more highly of it. It would bring little benefit, other than to signwriters and stationers, who are already well catered for in Wales, to change the name at this stage.