Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, we have indeed had an interesting debate, and a number of assumptions have been made. I particularly thank the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, for sympathising with our amendment. I am sure that he heard what the Minister said about it; the noble Lord said that he was going to wait for that. I thank my noble friends Lord Roberts of Llandudno and Lord Thomas of Gresford for their personal appeal on the issue and for underlining its importance in Wales. I reiterate that, in spite of what the Minister said about executive functions, if the Assembly expressed a substantial opinion about water it is unlikely that the Executive would disagree. We do not understand the approach to the issue of equality. All that we ask for is equality. The Minister rightly quoted other comments that the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, made during our recent debate. However, it looks to me as though we cannot even get equality; that is basically what we have been told. Of course the geological reality is that water flows into England, but the Bill protects England while Wales is ignored. I wish to test the opinion of the House on the issue, which is vital to those of us in Wales. On Question, Whether the said amendment(No. 14) shall be agreed to? Their Lordships divided: Contents, 41; Not-Contents, 115. Clause 156 [English and Welsh text of legislation]: