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Queen’s Speech

My Lords, I apologise to the Minister for my absence at the start of the debate. I was plunged into the crisis in Cumbria in order to respond to the Government’s Statement at that time. I wish to concentrate on eight words from the Queen’s Speech. They are: ""will continue to devolve more powers to Wales"." I ask the questions: how and when? Devolution in Wales is undoubtedly a success and the current opinion polls confirm it. I have been involved in campaigning for a Welsh Parliament since the 1950s and I took part in the 1979 and 1997 referendums. Progress was so slow, frankly, as to be painful. Indeed, it was only the door opened by the agreement between my noble friend Lord Maclennan and Robin Cook which produced the possibility of a referendum on an Assembly for Wales. The Government of Wales Act 1998 was embryonic. There was no separation between the Assembly and the Executive but, in their coalition with Labour, the Liberal Democrats advocated a commission to investigate this. The Richard Commission under the noble Lord, Lord Richard, produced a splendid report containing an ideal template for a Welsh Parliament, with primary legislative powers, an 80 Member Assembly and election by single transferable vote. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Richard, on the wonderful work that he did at that time. Unfortunately, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Wales Office lacked the courage to incorporate those principles into the Government of Wales Act 2006. They settled for a compromise with the Welsh Labour Party, some Labour MPs being opposed to more powers and some in favour. The current system of legislative competence orders is cumbersome and time-consuming, and subject to veto by the Secretary of State. It should be a fundamental principle that powers for domestic legislation should reside in Wales, not in Westminster. If we have a Welsh legislature, why does it not have the competence to legislate for functions in Wales without seeking approval for every dot and comma of a legislative competence order—for such things as rubbish disposal and education—from Westminster? It is demeaning. We must now, 10 years after the Assembly’s creation, introduce the Scottish model of governance, whereby certain domestic functions are written into the competence of the Welsh Assembly, as specified in the Government of Wales Act 1998 and reinforced by the Government of Wales Act 2006. Education and other important matters should surely be within the total competence of a Welsh Assembly, with certain functions being excluded as in the Scottish model; for example, foreign affairs, defence, social security and other matters. It is crucial, too, that the Barnett formula is resolved on a basis of needs. The Barnett Formula Select Committee in this House has endorsed that. We believe that it should go ahead, and I hope that it will. The current position creates economic disadvantages for Wales. Its gross domestic product has fallen to less than 80 per cent of the UK average. Its average income is £4,000 less than that of the UK, and much less on a family basis. The resolution of these financial problems is vital. We need economic and infrastructural support which we do not have. We should introduce a Bank of Wales. There is no better time to do it because the Government own two banks. Such a move could be greatly advantageous, because we have a public sector-based economy, with many people reliant on it. When the cuts come after the general election, we fear for our employment in Wales. Wales is crying out for private sector employment. Progress on making available risk capital and working capital for business start-ups has been lamentable. The encouragement of local entrepreneurship is vital. Far too many branch operations in Wales are far too easy to close down. Wales needs its own banking sector to help create Welsh-based industries. The Labour Government have missed out in their inability to deploy sufficient Objective 1 capital into the private sector. However, Wales also needs co-operative enterprise and companies with employee share-ownership. It is no fluke that the original John Lewis was a Welshman. We need legislative powers to create that kind of economy. We now have an opportunity, because on the same day as the Queen’s Speech, which devoted a mere eight words to Wales, with a vague reference to devolving more powers, the report of the All Wales Convention was published. That substantial document, produced by a convention group chaired by Sir Emyr Jones Parry, came out unanimously in favour of more powers for the Assembly and concluded that a referendum, provided for in Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, could be won. What more evidence do the Government require? The report states at the beginning that the choice for the public debate focused on two issues: ""Firstly, the current arrangements, where the National Assembly for Wales acquires powers to make laws step by step, with the permission of the UK Parliament"—" which is the current situation— ""Or for the National Assembly for Wales to get powers to make laws in all 20 areas all at once after an affirmative vote in a referendum"." That is backed by the Jones Parry report. A referendum should be held in the autumn of 2010. I believe that it will be won and that Wales will get a legislature with full primary law-making powers based on the Scottish model. Now is the time for boldness to secure justice for Wales.