The concept of devolution which espouses principles of
domestic rule and subsidiarity inevitably rests fundamentally upon the
acceptance of what I would call the ‘watershed’ of justice and reason.
A denial of this watershed is both an affront to common sense but also
a betrayal and a devaluation of devolution.
This Tuesday January 10th 2017 Lord Elystan Morgan is proposing an amendment to the Wales Bill to direct the Secretary of State for Wales to establish a Working Party to report to Parliament within 3 years as to the operation of the reserved powers retained by Westminster under the bill - particularly those matters which can properly be regarded as belonging to the province of the devolved Parliament.
The function of
the working party would be to winnow out the dozens of trivial matters whose
inclusion in the Reserved Powers list is an affront to Welsh nationhood and
would never have been considered in the 1950s in the context of a British
colony in the Caribbean or Africa.
Lord Elystan
Morgan goes on to say
‘I venture to
think that the proposed amendment is of the most crucial importance to the
Welsh devolution settlement in that it seeks to correct a fatal flaw in the
heart and cornel of that settlement.
The concept of
devolution which inevitably espouses principles of domestic rule and
subsidiarity inevitably rests fundamentally upon the acceptance of what I would
call the watershed of justice and reason.
This is no more
and no less than an acceptance that while certain matters belong inevitably to
the mother Parliament (Westminster), such as succession to the Crown, Defence
and Foreign Policy; the vast bulk of the remainder are matters which palpably
belong to the jurisdiction of the devolved parliament (the Welsh Assembly).
A denial of this
watershed is both an affront to common sense but a betrayal and devaluation of
devolution.
This is what
exactly what the bill creates in Wales when functions such as liquor licensing
(devolved to Wales in 1881) and the organisation of charitable collections! are
set amongst the Reserved Powers.
I would expect
the Working Party to report to represent the broadest interests in Wales both
socially and politically.
If the Secretary
of State wishes to have a working party ‘off the shelf’ he could do no better
than invite the Silk Committee to sit again, remembering that this
distinguished body represented all political opinions has reported twice –
unanimously and constructively – upon Welsh devolution.