Today is the day that Wales votes in their powers referendum. Â To be clear, this isn’t a referendum to extend devolution or bestow more powers on the National Assembly for Wales. Â They already have the opportunity to get the powers which will be delivered in the event of a Yes vote in today’s referendum – they were bestowed on the NAW by the Government of Wales Act (2006).
This is more about speed of delivery – rather than having to apply to Westminster for individual powers in each of 20 fields specified in the Act using a lengthy process known as Legislative Competence Orders (LCOs), a Yes vote would allow the NAW to take control of all 20 fields in one go, giving them the power to make more primary legislation than they are currently capable of.
Of course, this is kind of confusing. Â How do you run a campaign asking people to vote for something you kind of already have but want a wee bit faster and more efficiently? Â And how do you campaign against the powers by opposing the place becoming more efficient?
It has happened over the last 6 weeks, Â but really since the announcement of the date of the referendum late last year.
Essentially, Yes for Wales has argued that the NAW could do its job better, and have more of an impact on individual people’s lives in Wales if there was a Yes vote. Â It’d mean less hassle in trying to get the powers to pass legislation, more clarity in decision-making and, potentially, more distinctly Welsh policies, passed by the NAW for people in Wales.
True Wales, long opponents of devolution, argue that further powers for the NAW is not what is required, that the NAW itself is a waste of money and that devolution needs to be streamlined, with more focus on all-Wales and not some of Wales. Â Essentially they think the NAW is a white elephant so they’ve been taking a large inflatable animal around the country to emphasise the point. Â Except the animal is a giant pig… but it apparently makes the same point.
Anyway, most of this is part of what I’m studying, so I have a keen eye on what is going on in Wales today.
Just something I’d like to ask though, if I may. Â Below is what will be appearing on ballot papers in Wales today. Â The preamble is pretty long and, I’d argue, slightly confusing (but then, so is the LCO system, so I suppose that makes sense).
Welsh referendum Question 2011:
The National Assembly for Wales – what happens at the moment:
The Assembly has powers to make laws on 20 subject areas, such as agriculture, education, the environment, health, housing, local government.
In each subject area, the Assembly can make laws on some matters, but not others. To make laws on any of these other matters, the assembly must ask the UK Parliament for its agreement. The UK Parliament then decides each time whether or not the assembly can make these laws.
The Assembly cannot make laws on subject areas such as defence, tax or welfare benefits, whatever the result of this vote.
If most voters vote ‘yes’ – the Assembly will be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for, without needing the UK Parliament’s agreement.
If most voters vote ‘no’ – what happens at the moment will continue.
Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?
And I know that the Government of Wales Act (2006) made a referendum prior to the move to full law-making powers mandatory… but doesn’t it seem crazy to consult the public on the minutia and intricacies of law-making? Â To be clear again – this isn’t really consulting them on constitutional change, since the powers have already been granted – its basically about asking whether they support efficient governance or not.
I hope the Welsh public – who in opinion polls, for what they are worth, have been backing a Yes vote by a margin of 2:1 – do go and vote Yes today. Â A No vote would set back devolution in Wales a long way.
#1 by Hendre on March 3, 2011 - 5:09 pm
It’s the 2006 GoW Act and it was designed that way to appease Welsh Labour MPs who feared more powers for the Assembly would lead to a reduction in their numbers. But now the silly beggars are being culled anyway.
#2 by Malc on March 3, 2011 - 5:12 pm
Course it is. And I know that its 2006, why did I write 2008? You’ll honestly have to believe that it was a daft mistake!
And yes – the referendum was designed to get Labour MPs to support the bill itself. But yes – Wales looks set to lose about 1/4 of its MPs…
#3 by theshooglypeg on March 3, 2011 - 7:42 pm
It’s not exactly something you can imagine manning the barricades for, is it? “What do we want?” “The ability to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas the Assembly has powers for, without needing the UK Parliament’s agreement!” Nope: not going to look good on a placard. Referendums (referenda?) should be on major issues of philosophy, conscience or constitution, not the sort of bureaucratic tedium that only sad wonks like me get excited about.
#4 by Malc on March 3, 2011 - 8:17 pm
Technically, referendums is the correct plural (according to Oxford Dictionary anyway). Its something I’ve been grappling with as I word my thesis! Incidentally, if you are speaking Welsh, it’s “Refferendwms”.
But I agree. They should be only about constitutional issues or issues of moral division – which is historically, internationally, what they have been on (secession, EU accession, abortion & divorce in Ireland, to name several examples). You can make a case that this is a constitutional referendum, since technically the change can only take place with the people’s consent… I suppose.
#5 by John Ruddy on March 3, 2011 - 9:45 pm
Its often surprised me that Wales have an assembly, and not a parliament. I suppose someone will come along and tell me its all Labour’s fault.
#6 by Malc on March 3, 2011 - 9:54 pm
Devolution is Labour’s “fault” if you want to call it that, but I’d be more positive.
To be fair to Labour, legislation for devolution in Wales, particularly in 1997 when the referendum was planned, was very much an after-thought to devolution in Scotland. I expect if any Welsh guys are reading this (they won’t be – they’ll be driving the voters out, or at the pub celebrating already!) they’ll whack me for this, but there really wasn’t the same enthusiasm for devolution in Wales than in Scotland – and the referendum vote emphasised that. A majority of just 6,721 on a turnout of just 50%.
Now, you could argue (and some have) that it was BECAUSE it was “just an assembly” that folk didn’t vote for it in great numbers, or you could argue, as I did above, that there wasn’t the depth of feeling. I suspect its a bit of both. Either way – its partly Labour’s fault, given it was their legislation and their commitment.
#7 by Hendre on March 4, 2011 - 10:22 am
“legislation for devolution in Wales, particularly in 1997 when the referendum was planned, was very much an after-thought to devolution in Scotland”
I’m going to disagree. Don’t forget the 1979 and 1997 referendums stem from the Royal Commission on the Constitution instigated by Harold Wilson in 1969 during the Investiture bombing campaign. (Wilson came very close to cancelling Charles’s Investiture at Caernarfon.) There also was a cadre of pro-devolution Labourites in the 1960s led by Jim Griffiths (first Secretary of State for Wales) and Cledwyn Hughes but their efforts were largely thwarted by a centrist Scottish Labourite (I’d have to look up the name). Cledwyn never really forgave the Scots – I bet you didn’t know that!
After the 1979 ‘St David’s Day Massacre’, it’s not suprising that Welsh Labour were much slower to return to the question than in Scotland. They started to do so (in particular the Wales TUC) after the miners’ strike. There was a parallel discussion in Wales –much weaker than in Scotland certainly – but it wasn’t an ‘after-thought’.
#8 by Malc on March 4, 2011 - 5:55 pm
I didn’t say that devolution was an afterthought in Wales – but Welsh devolution legislation in my view, was – in the sense that the main focus in 1997 was Scotland (after the Scottish Constitutional Convention). That’s all I meant by that.
#9 by Chris on March 4, 2011 - 7:20 pm
The reason that the Welsh Assembly had less powers was simply that there was far more hostility to any form of independence in Wales. A referendum on a legaslative assembly with tax varying powers could easily have been lost.
#10 by Hendre on March 5, 2011 - 2:28 pm
” the main focus in 1997 was Scotland”
Not in Wales it wasn’t! And if memory serves me right the 1998 Government of Wales Act received Royal Assent before the 1998 Scotland Act.
It’s certainly true that independence has always had much lower support in Wales but one of the reasons why the devolution proposals were viewed with suspicion by the Welsh electorate was that much of the discussion had been conducted internally, within the Labour Party and the TUC. We had no equivalent of the Scottish Constitutional Convention. When two members of the Labour Party suggested setting up a cross-party convention they were threatened with disciplinary action!