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Government of Wales Bill

We had a full if not lengthy debate on these issues last week. In my view, clause 113 gives the Secretary of State almost carte blanche to prevent Assembly Bills from going forward if he is so minded to do. In the debate last week, we considered in detail the provisions in subsection (1)(a), which are very broad. It says that a Bill could be stopped by the Secretary of State if it"““would have an adverse effect on any matter which is not listed under any of the headings in Part 1 of Schedule 7 (or falls within any of the exceptions specified in that Part of that Schedule)””." Paragraph (c) is also very broad and says that a Bill could be stopped if it"““would have an adverse effect on the operation of the law as it applies in England””." I took even greater exception, however, to paragraph (b), which refers to water resources. In the debate last week, I took an intervention from the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) and we discussed the issue. I continue to be of the view that what I said about water resources is legally correct. I was hoping that I would be proved wrong by letter or by advice, but I am afraid that I am right and that, in future, if the National Assembly decided as a matter of policy that it would not sanction the creation of any further dams for water resource purposes, that Bill could be overridden by Parliament.