Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, my near neighbour, the noble Lord, Lord Jones, and I, suffered in 1979 from the belief in north Wales that we would be overrun by the Hwntws in the south and the belief in south Wales that they would be overcome by a monoglot of Welsh-speaking Gogs from the north. The noble Lord, Lord Kinnock, is sorely missed tonight. I start by paying my tribute to the noble Lords, Lord Richard and Lord Rowlands, for their immense contiribution through their reports to the devolution debate. Their analysis was wholly correct. Their solutions were practical and principled. The fact that they agreed with Liberal Democrat policy is perhaps coincidental. I also welcome back the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan. I go back further than the noble Lords, Lord Crickhowell and Lord Anderson. Three young solicitors in 1962-63 used to travel around the Wrexham area addressing the Miners’ Institute, and whoever would listen to us, on all sorts of issues, including devolution. The noble Lord was then in favour of independence. I was for a Welsh Parliament, and our third colleague, who later became the Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd, was at that time, as was the Labour Party, wholly opposed to our views. My two colleagues achieved election to the House of Commons very shortly afterwards where they were known as the two likely lads, and I spent many years in total political failure. The noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, refers to the Bill as being in the main track of constitutional development, and so it is. I congratulate the Labour Party on proceeding with devolution in the way that it has and the noble Baroness, Lady Gale, on her work on devolution over the years. The noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, thought that we would swiftly get to Part 4, which he described as the heart and kernel of the Bill with primary legislative powers. He regarded Part 3 as a transitory bridge. The noble Lord, Lord Richard, however, was less optimistic. I gathered from his speech that he thought that Part 3 would be here to stay, and that it was something of an opportunity missed.