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Government of Wales Bill

It does not lie here, because where Assembly measures are concerned in Part 2, the power has already been delegated to the Assembly under Stage 1. I see the noble Lord shaking his head; but I believe that the position I have taken to be absolutely right. If the Committee were to support Part 3, it would endorse a system of executive decision-making between the Government of Wales and its First Minister on the one hand and the Secretary of State for Wales on the other. This Parliament, shamefully, has only a passing interest in what is going on. It has no right to amend to support any view that it expresses; there is absolutely no obligation for either the Welsh Government or the United Kingdom to take any notice. That is not a system the Government ought to be proud of. I would have put this matter to the vote if we had finished half an hour earlier. It is plain to me now that the hour is late. Therefore, with reluctance, I am obliged to withdraw the amendment and bring it back at Report stage. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.