Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

What we have here is an echo of the old ““England knows best””. It is going back to colonial rule. I do not withdraw that remark. We are going back to a time when it was said, ““We know best what Cardiff should be doing. Why have they not done it in the past?”” A lot of things have not been done here that have been done in Wales, such as the Children's Commissioner and so forth. Why do we not trust the people of Wales? I do not think this matter has ever been discussed by the Assembly as a whole in Cardiff. I am not sure how far the consultations have gone or how the vote would have gone, if it had been put before a full sitting of the Welsh Assembly. Doubtless we will make mistakes, but we should be allowed to make them and allowed to plough our own furrow. We must forget that echo from the past. Welsh culture is different. We speak about the Welsh language and what we should do piecemeal instead of placing it in the whole context of a Welsh language Act. We have to do that: it is not a case of putting in an amendment here or another word there. It is part of a whole cultural approach. Bearing that in mind, and there is a lot more one could say, I suggest that we should not forget this in its entirety. We will come to discuss things later on such as the way that we elect local councils. We have already discussed that in the Assembly. Scotland has already taken its own decision and implemented it. We in Wales would like to have the authority. In 2011, there will be a referendum on the powers of the Welsh Assembly. We are looking forward to that in a very positive way. Today, we will ask the Government to think again about this. Let us make the mistakes that we will make and take the positive steps that we have taken. Perhaps we can agree this amendment when we discuss it further. Regretfully, this afternoon, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 12A withdrawn. Amendment 13 not moved.