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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

It is certainly not for a Welsh Grand Committee to argue for less representation for Wales. It is not for Welsh Members of Parliament to argue for less representation for Wales. We should be arguing for proper representation for Wales, which we have had over decades and centuries. Another issue that affects all that is the lack of consultation and negotiation with our colleagues in the Welsh Assembly Government on the implications of the Government’s policies. The Government have been in office for only a matter of weeks and in those weeks they have, on a number of occasions, ignored the proper consultation process between the Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions talked about the ““on your bike”” policy for council houses, forgetting that the issue of council housing is devolved in Wales. He should have talked to either the First Minister, or the relevant Welsh Assembly Minister. The Secretary of State should talk to the First Minister not only about the implications of the appalling Budget on the people of Wales, but the implications for Wales of the so-called parliamentary reform Bill.