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Welsh Affairs

I join the Secretary of State in saying how moving the service in the Crypt was. It was truly inclusive, and it was good that it was held in both Welsh and English. I was particularly moved by the reading from ““Under Milk Wood””; it took me back to my childhood. I pay tribute to Lord Thomas of Gwydir, who, sadly, passed away last month. Everybody in the House would agree that he was a great Conservative Welsh politician who spent a lifetime serving the public. He will be greatly missed, and on St. David's day it is appropriate to remember him. We should also recognise that four Welshmen have been tragically killed in action while deployed on operations across the globe. On St. David's day, we should remember the ultimate sacrifice that they have made for the United Kingdom and for Wales. We must also pay tribute to the undisclosed number of service personnel who have returned home with serious injuries sustained while in theatre. Thousands of Welsh sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines from the constituencies of every Member here remain overseas, each making a significant contribution to vital military missions, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards have been placed on immediate notice to deploy to Kosovo in support of the NATO taskforce already in the country. Their commitment to service is greatly appreciated, and on St. David's day the best wishes from everybody in this House go out to them. On a linked matter, I hope that the Secretary of State will continue to support the sustained investment in St. Athan for military training and to show the political leadership that is required to maximise our military assets in Wales. There is some doubt about that, not least because of the views that have been expressed on defence policy by Labour's partners in the Labour-Plaid coalition in the Assembly. I hope that he will reject their policies and give us the assurance we need that the project will go ahead. Much has changed since we last celebrated St. David's day. Certainly, 2007 was a watershed year for Welsh politics. May's Assembly elections marked a fundamental shift in support away from Labour and, as I believe the Secretary of State agrees, marked a new chapter in the devolution process—perhaps an unexpected chapter from the Labour party's perspective. Welsh Conservatives became the official Opposition, and our gains last May underline, I hope, our party's credentials as the only credible alternative to Labour. Not least, without wishing to rub in it in, last May represented Labour's worst electoral performance since 1918. On this St. David's day I, like the Secretary of State, look forward to the local elections in May—and to a general election, if the Prime Minister, who seems to spend most of his time dithering, summons up his courage and manages to call one. The other change—the obvious one—is the one at Gwydir house. When, during last year's debate, I predicted the departure of the right hon. Member for Neath (Mr. Hain), it was only in jest. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank him for his courtesy and consideration to me throughout his tenure at the Wales Office and when I shadowed him on foreign affairs. He has always treated me with courtesy and respect—behind the Chair, if not always on the Floor of the House. I wish him well, and I would like to put that on the record. I am pleased to welcome the right hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy) back to the post of Secretary of State for Wales. The Chamber seems slightly surreal this week, as we have had a Murphy—Jim Murphy or Paul Murphy—at the Dispatch Box every single day; we seem to be making Murphy's law. What a challenge the new Secretary of State faces, given the very different devolutionary settlement from the days when he previously held the post. He painted himself as a devo-realist and highlighted some of the problems that he has to deal with. I think he now realises that, far from diminishing, the work load at the Welsh Office has increased and is becoming increasingly complex. At the same time, the number of staff is increasing to support that increased work load. One could take the view that more work means that there is more activity, but this is not necessarily an improved deal for Wales—it reveals a Government Department that is struggling to cope with a very complicated system that the Government themselves have created. I do not know whether the Secretary of State has had a chance to count the number of ways in which we can legislate for Wales, but we now have 13, including Wales-only Acts, provisions in Acts applying to Wales specifically, Acts of the UK Parliament applying to England and Wales, subordinate legislation for Wales, and legislative competency orders—I could go on. It is clear that the Government were not prepared for such a complicated system. We have struggled to get Welsh clauses drafted for Bills, Ministers have given confused and contradictory explanations of how the different processes should work, and legislation has been held up in Wales, in Westminster or sometimes in a bureaucratic black hole between the two institutions. For me, it is crucial that an over-complex and unsatisfactory system set up by the Government does not damage the legislative process for Wales. That is why I have pushed repeatedly for protected time to discuss the Welsh provisions in Westminster Bills. I am glad that the Secretary of State and the Wales Office have now agreed on that, and I look forward to ensuring that legislation on Welsh matters, no matter what form it arrives in, is fully scrutinised and given the time that it deserves in this House. Let us face the truth—this complicated legislative system was developed to bridge the gap between Labour MPs and Labour Assembly Members—to try to pacify those holding increasingly divergent views and to fool those at both ends of the motorway, as was said in the debates on the original legislation to create the constitutional settlement. Nearly 10 years after the first devolutionary settlement in Wales, instead of getting on with the business of governing Wales we still have that constant pressure from internal politics and positioning, which I hope we will be able to put to rest at some stage. I still think that the right hon. Member for Neath was mistaken when he said that the Government of Wales Act 1998 settled the constitutional question for a generation, but we shall see.