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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to make my first contribution to the proceedings of this House, Mr Sheridan. I have not had much luck so far. I asked to make my maiden speech in a debate in Westminster Hall, but as soon as I said I wanted to speak, the proposer of the debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski), was immediately taken to hospital for treatment. I then asked if I could make my maiden speech in the Budget debate on Wednesday, but then I was taken to hospital for treatment and was there for three days. I hope Members are all well and nobody is feeling a bit sick at the moment. I want to speak briefly about an issue that is important to me: the commitment in the Queen’s Speech to hold a referendum on moving to part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. There has been a lot of discussion over the years on that issue. I remember that a lot of the Opposition parties in Wales felt that a Conservative Government would be so involved in dealing with the economic crisis that we believed we would be facing that we would not be prepared to do this. It was a huge event for Wales when, at Broughton, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney, then the leader of the Opposition, committed the party to holding a referendum. Certainly for me that was a big deal, and I was very proud to be in the Chamber to hear a commitment to holding that referendum. I will look very briefly at the history of where I and several other people come from. I was not in favour of devolution—establishing the National Assembly—in the first place, and in 1997 I campaigned against it. Travelling home from the count, however, I realised that the reality was that we now had a National Assembly and that it was here to stay. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth, who is not in his place now, made reference to being a Unionist. I was a Unionist who came to a different conclusion. I immediately took the view that the arrangement under which there were no primary powers, despite responsibility in devolved areas being transferred, posed the danger of creating constitutional instability, if not worse. I certainly was not alone in that view, because in 2006 we had another Government of Wales Bill, which granted law-making powers to the National Assembly, but by a very complex route. Earlier, the right hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth referred to the number of legislative competence orders that have gone through, but many people believe that the system is far too complex and far too difficult to understand. A lot of people took the view that we needed to move very quickly to part 4 of the Act, under which, in effect, primary powers in all the areas devolved to the Assembly would be granted in one fell swoop, rather bit by bit, which is what is happening. I am very much in favour of that. The point that is important to us, and which others have made, is that this has to be a decision of the people of Wales. I will probably argue for a yes vote in the referendum, but if I lose I want to be in a position where I have great respect for the other side of the argument and feel that it is a genuine decision of the people of Wales. I hope that we can go forward in the debate without rancour and that it will be a genuine debate, in which those of us who take different views argue our case and make it politely and with respect for others’ points of view. We can then all stand behind the decision that is taken. I feel that that is what we really want in the referendum, and that is what I am committed to doing.