Plaid AM welcomes Assembly powers report
Plaid AM Dr. Dai Lloyd has welcomed the report of the All Wales Convention which calls for the National Assembly for Wales to be given primary law-making powers.
Since starting work last July the 16-member Convention received more than 3,000 submissions and held meetings to gather evidence across Wales.
Research found 47 per cent of people would vote in favour of extra powers, while 37 per cent would vote against.
The Convention concludes that handing primary law-making powers to the Assembly in devolved fields would “provide greater clarity, be more consistent with the rule of law and democratic tradition, and reflect the emerging maturity of the National Assembly for Wales”.
Dr. Lloyd stated:
“It is very heartening to see that the Convention has found that the people of Wales see the need to improve our system of government, something that Plaid has been arguing for some time.
“This process has been very comprehensive and it is important that elected politicians listen to the Convention’s recommendations, which are based on the views of the people of Wales.
“We have seen time after time that the current system has prevented us in Wales from implementing our priorities – by blocking our efforts to ensure more affordable housing, by tying our hands as we tried to ensure that our children can travel safely on buses and by ignoring our attempt to legislate to tackle climate change.
“The Assembly must be given the tools to do the job. There are so many issues that need addressing in Wales, yet Wales’ directly elected Assembly is not able to deliver on them due to a lack of powers.”
Dr. Lloyd added:
“The people of Wales have said ‘enough is enough’ – we must have a democratic order which is transparent which ensures accountability, which is faster and which is understandable.
“If the Scottish people can be trusted to create their own laws, then why not the people of Wales?
“On the 7th July this year, every party in the Assembly agreed that it was necessary to hold a referendum before the Assembly elections in 2011 – there is a consensus amongst the Welsh political parties – the next step is fulfilling this.”
