Government of Wales Bill

The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) said in introducing this group of amendments that it was iconic. Basically, he and others believe that they should have a parliament for Wales, but the Government of Wales Act 1998 and this Bill do not create a parliament. The hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell)—the name of his constituency is even longer than mine—made the point that there was an extensive debate on the term ““Senedd”” in the Committee on the Government of Wales Act 1998 and it was decided then that the title ““Assembly”” was appropriate. Although I understand the position taken by the hon. Members for Montgomeryshire and for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd), the Government and the Assembly are happy with the title ““National Assembly for Wales””. Several hon. Members referred to the risk of causing further confusion and the possibility that people would start to refer to the body as ““parliament””, which could cause it to be confused with this place. All hon. Members agree on the proposals in the Bill for the separation of the legislature and the Executive. One of the reasons why we need that separation is to give clarity to the devolution settlement in Wales—the public need to understand who is responsible for decisions. In putting that separation into effect, we are sticking with the terms that have gained common currency in the past four years: ““the Assembly”” and ““the Wales Assembly Government””. It has been argued that a new name for the Assembly would bring home to people the difference between the Government and the legislative body, but I do not believe that that argument is justified. The fact is that people have got used to calling the Assembly ““the Assembly”” and changing its name to ““the Senedd”” would only cause confusion. Given that the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire has said that he will press the amendment to a Division, I urge the Committee to reject it.