Jack Straw has announced that devolution in Wales in the 1990's was rushed due to a 'pent-up' feeling in Wales for more power. This announcement comes in the context of the debate to reform the House of Lords ( no more Lord Cashpoints, then Jack!) Jack Straw continues his train of thought on devolution by stating that 'if we had had more time we could have done a better job.”
This seems perplexing to me, as the Government could have 'done a better job' with the new powers that are set to be introduced after May the 3rd this year. They had plenty of time and resources to asses the possible developments for devolution, and a well researched publication by the Richard Commission to refer to, whose ideas of introducing an STV voting system and expanding the Assembly to 80 members were famously rejected by Rhodri Morgan and the Labour Party in general.
In this latest round of reform to the National Assembly, Labour blocked candidates standing both on the regional list and on a constituency level so as to seek to retain their hegemony in Wales, they introduced a new veto for the Secretary of State for Wales who can either accept or reject new Welsh measures proposed by the National Assembly, and they failed to be bold enough to embrace the need for a proper Parliament for Wales.
If Jack Straw wants to contemplate the trials and tribulations of the devolution settlement, he should do so in the knowledge that it is his party that has hindered devolution developments in Wales since 1999. After all, they have had plenty of time in Government to act, but have let us down again and again.
The shining light in all of this could be that the SNP wins a majority in May's Scottish election, leading to a subsequent referendum on Scottish Independence. This could undoubtedly set the agenda for another, and well awaited 'pent-up feeling' in Wales for more power, and the establishment of a proper Parliament for Wales.
This seems perplexing to me, as the Government could have 'done a better job' with the new powers that are set to be introduced after May the 3rd this year. They had plenty of time and resources to asses the possible developments for devolution, and a well researched publication by the Richard Commission to refer to, whose ideas of introducing an STV voting system and expanding the Assembly to 80 members were famously rejected by Rhodri Morgan and the Labour Party in general.
In this latest round of reform to the National Assembly, Labour blocked candidates standing both on the regional list and on a constituency level so as to seek to retain their hegemony in Wales, they introduced a new veto for the Secretary of State for Wales who can either accept or reject new Welsh measures proposed by the National Assembly, and they failed to be bold enough to embrace the need for a proper Parliament for Wales.
If Jack Straw wants to contemplate the trials and tribulations of the devolution settlement, he should do so in the knowledge that it is his party that has hindered devolution developments in Wales since 1999. After all, they have had plenty of time in Government to act, but have let us down again and again.
The shining light in all of this could be that the SNP wins a majority in May's Scottish election, leading to a subsequent referendum on Scottish Independence. This could undoubtedly set the agenda for another, and well awaited 'pent-up feeling' in Wales for more power, and the establishment of a proper Parliament for Wales.
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