UK Parliament / Open data

Government of Wales Bill

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, for that intervention, and the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, and the Minister for their remarks. A great deal of understanding all around is required on this very sensitive subject. The noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, is quite right that the Secretary of State can be any Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State for the Environment could in certain circumstances be in a very difficult situation in negotiations, as could the Assembly. I do not think, with all due respect to the Minister, that the words that he used suggested that that there was only a remote possibility that the powers could be used. I think that it is quite possible in the current climate that they will be used. Indeed, one has only to look back to the summer of 1976, for those of us who can, to realise that there was a crisis at that time. There are big issues, such as the compensatory flows from reservoirs to sustain the ecology of the river systems. I will not go into that, but it is a huge question. There are a lot of issues here, and we will undoubtedly pursue this later. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 151 agreed to. Clauses 152 to 159 agreed to. Schedule 10 [Minor and consequential amendments]:
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
682 c1245-6 
Session
2005-06
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
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