‘Dominion
Status is not about a rigid pattern of government. The principle is enunciated
in the Statute of Westminster 1931 and has developed politically over 85 years
thereafter’. (Elystan Morgan).
‘What
should be the degree of self-government and pattern of constitutional
development in the new circumstances that are unfolding in Wales’? (Dafydd
Wigley).
Reading the debate in the House of Lords where the two elevated the debate from the uninspiring content of the Wales Bill reminded me of a similar happening during the passage of the Local Government Reorganisation Act in the early 1970s. Then it was about making the case for an Elected Council for Wales!
Lord Elystan Morgan moved an amendment to the Wales Bill in the House of Lords on November 7 2016 along the following lines.–
The
Secretary of State for Wales shall, within the period of three years following
the principal appointed day referred to in section 55(3) establish a working
group to study the possibilities for Wales, as a land and nation, of
constitutional development within the terms of and consistent with the
principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931, and developments thereafter and
shall within the said period of three years present a report of its study to
Parliament with such recommendations as it deems appropriate.
Extracts
from his speech include:
‘My appeal is when we are
thinking of the future of Wales is to think big. If you think big you will
achieve something worthwhile; if you think small, what you will achieve will be
small, or even perhaps smaller than that you have set out to obtain. That is
the situation that confronts us now.
Dominion Status is not about
a rigid pattern of government. The principle is enunciated in the Statute of
Westminster 1931 and has developed politically over 85 years thereafter.
Obviously when one is speaking one is not speaking in any way of the
constitutional one is not speaking of a replica of the constitutional situation
of New Zealand or Australia. of Dominion Status in the context of Wales.
It is an open secret that
about 10 years ago the Governments of the UK and that of Spain almost came to
an understanding – this is hardly believable – about the future of Gibraltar
with a plan for some form of Dominion Status.
In other words the concept
is so flexible, so malleable and so adaptable that it was possible for the
ancient conflicts there to come very near to a friendly settlement.
There are endless plans and
changes that can be considered.
Who knows what the situation
will be in five to 10 years’ time? It is a situation of total flux and it is
therefore incumbent upon us all to consider exactly what this possibility
should be, side by side with many other possibilities’.
Lord Dafydd Wigley supported
the amendment and said:
‘The recent referendum means
that the UK will now, most regrettably, leave the European Union – though goodness
knows what new relationship we shall have with our European neighbours,
including the Irish Republic.
In these circumstances we
must all look again at what should be the appropriate place for Wales in the
brave new world towards which we are, for better of worse, heading.
I also suggest that it is
also time for the London – centric political parties to start thinking in these
terms too.
What should be the degree of
self-government and pattern of constitutional development in the new
circumstances that are unfolding in Wales’?
He highlighted three guiding
principles:
The
people of Wales should have the right to determine the degree of independence
towards which they aspire and what is appropriate to their developing
circumstances.
Any
constitutional settlement between the nations of these islands should recognise
the practical reality that we must have open borders between all five nations.
Wales
should be empowered to take every decision that can be meaningfully be taken in
Wales by our own Government in our own National Assembly, to the extent that
the people of Wales so wish.
I will soon be
posting references to reports and papers by serious academic and political
sources which have recently been published in relation to the case for a
Federal UK, an English Parliament and regional assemblies in England. No doubt
things will change over the coming decade. As Elystan said 'think big you may
achieve something worthwhile'