Devolution - the Next Step

Speech by Eleanor Burnham AM/AC delivered to National Eisteddfod on Mon 18th Aug 2008

Annwyl gynulleidfa ac eisteddfodwyr,

Thank you for inviting me to give this lecture here this afternoon on Devolution: the next step. It was a privilege being invited and I gladly took the opportunity to give this lecture. I would also thank Senedd i Gymru for allowing an opportunity for a public discussion about the future of devolution - too little discussion has taken place so far about the longer-term implications of Welsh devolution, especially considering its potential to radically alter our everyday lives.

I think it is an opportune moment to talk about the devolution process in Wales as we stand 12 months on from the introduction of the Government of Wales 2006 Act. We can also look at where we are, what's keeping us here and what we need to do to move on.

It was Megan Lloyd George, a fellow female Liberal North Walian who in 1951 started Ymgyrch Senedd i Gymru. Over half a century later and where are we in this devolution process? 50 years is a lifetime in politics - particularly when it comes to the constitutional arrangements of nations and states. Germany managed to split and reunite within the space of half a century.

We can't be sure what Megan Lloyd George would say if she saw the settlement we have now.

But I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that this North Walian female Liberal isn't impressed with the settlement at all.

Those of you who follow the goings on in the siambr will have heard me use the phrase 'swimming in custard' - in a nutshell, we're going nowhere fast. And that is why I and the Welsh Liberal Democrats will continue to call for a proper parliament for Wales - for Wales and the people of Wales.  

Where we are and what's keeping us here.

So where exactly are we now in the devolution process in Wales?

How would you explain, to someone who knew nothing about Welsh politics, where we stand at the moment? What we have now is a process of gaining powers which is complicated and lengthy -my "swimming in custard" analogy. It does nothing to inspire confidence in the people we serve. The people of Wales. 

The 1998 (and 2006) Government of Wales Act which established the National Assembly for Wales and determined the way it would work was determined by political compromise and tactics rather than constitutional consistence, stability and coherence for a Nation.

In Scotland they held the constitutional Convention before devolution. That seems a better way than 9 years later.

Labour has left us with a half-baked devolution process although they seem to have taken all the credit for bringing powers from London to Wales. Whilst it may be true that they were the ones in power when the referendum came in 1997, Labour are the ones keeping the devolution wagon/car on a low gear. They are the real "conservative" party in Wales.

Let me take a couple of examples of Labour being stuck in this devolution first gear.

My colleague Peter Black AM wanted to introduce a Legislative Competence Order to ask, like some modern Oliver ap Twist - "Please Sir, Westminster, can we have some more powers over local election voting arrangements. A Legislative Competence Order - or LCO - is one of the ways of getting more powers over a certain area, in this case voting arrangement,  transferred form Westminster to Cardiff Bay. It does not in itself change the law - it merely gives the Assembly the powers to do so. You would need a second process, to create an Assembly Measure, to change the law.

When it came to voting time in Plenary there was much talk about Labour AMs supporting the LCO - which would have meant more powers for Wales.

What happened?

All bar two Labour AMs voted to refuse to ask for these powers to come to Wales. And the two who voted for it, later claimed they had pressed the wrong button in confusion. Well done Rhodri. Good job Wales doesn't have a nuclear button!

Even the Tories didn't say no - but their abstention meant the Assembly doesn't get the new powers..

How silly would you feel explaining what happened that day to someone who knows next to nothing about Welsh devolution? The party which credits itself with bringing devolution to Wales, refusing to ask for powers to be devolved.

Let me give another example. Two weeks ago when the Labour-dominated Welsh Affairs Select Committee in Westminster bemoaned that they had too much work because AMs were sending them too many LCOs to scrutinise. They said that they are being sent too many and that we need to slow down. But the fact is that in one year we've only had one LCO sent and approved by the Queen. One LCO in one year. Maybe that's why they call it the One Wales government.

I had the honour of chairing the first Assembly scrutiny committee looking at the LCO on Additional Learning Needs (Education and Training). Even allowing for the fact that we were piloting through uncharted territory, the problems we encountered trying to work with the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, showed clearly just how ill-thought out the whole process was.

Labour is holding Wales back. They have been in government since the outset of the National Assembly of Wales -  happy to puff their CV with "architects of devolution", but refusing to acknowledge that they've built an unstable house that is almost impossible to live in.

In order for devolution to go up a gear or three, we have to significantly reduce Labour's dominance in Wales.

Luckily we have an ally in this: Gordon Brown.

Nobody is working harder to reduce Labour's popularity.

Keep up the good work Gordon, the Campaign for a Welsh Parliament salutes you!

Richard Commission

It's not as if the flaws in the current settlement, and the need for a more stable solution, haven't been set out. In Government during the First Assembly, the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Labour party established a commission to look at the powers and the electoral arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales.

The Richard Commission came back with significant recommendations for a young assembly to mature and evolve into a full law-making institution.

The report recommended that the Assembly should:

Acquire primary powers akin to that of Scotland

increase in membership from 60 to 80 AMs to strengthen its capacity to scrutinise the government, and

use a proportional system of representation in the elections to the Assembly to fairly reflect the diverse political make-up of Wales.

The Richard Commission travelled across Wales holding seminars and evidence gathering meetings, issuing consultation papers and received 300 written submissions. Their work was a comprehensive study of what Wales had at the time and what Wales needed and how it should go forward.

When the final report was published, the Labour party, in government alone in the second Assembly, shelved the hefty document and essentially ignored the view of the thousands of people who contributed to the Commission's report.  

However, the recommendations of the Richard Commission remain as compelling today as they did in the Spring of 2004 and as we see here today the case for implementation is still as strong.

I've been wondering - what is the difference between a Commission and a Convention?

I think I've worked it out.

1 The Commission travelled around Wales speaking to concerned members of the public about the future of Welsh devolution.

However, the Convention will travel around Wales speaking to members of the public about the future of Welsh devolution.

2. The Commission was made up of a cross-section of people from civic society and the political classes.

However, the Convention will be made up of a cross-section of people from civic society and the political classes.

3. The Commission included the Conservative representative Paul Valerio

However, the Conservative representative on the Convention will be…er, Paul Valerio.

We seem to have a Richard's Commission mark II now with the establishment of grandly named All-Wales Convention, repeating the exact same work as the Richard Commission and I'm pretty certain that in 18 months and a million pounds time, that the All-Wales Convention will report back saying pretty similar things - that the current settlement isn't working and we need to move to a proper parliament sooner rather than later.

All polls suggest that the people of Wales are ready, and have been ready for some time, for a full Parliament for Wales. So why are our Nation's elected leaders being so timid?

Irish Referendum

Recent referendums in neighbouring countries - like Ireland - may hold a clue.

I'm keen to ensure that what happened in Ireland - where a badly run yes campaign was soundly beaten - won't be repeated in Wales.

At least the Welsh referendum won't be on anything quite as complilcated as the Lisbon Treaty.

It seems clear to me that you cannot expect people to go out and vote for something if they do not fully understand it. It boiled down to the political classes saying "Trust us". Hardly surprising that people said "no thanks"!

As I've already said, the current system of gaining powers for Wales is lengthy and complicated. And as there is no other country which asks for power from another legislature to enact laws, we cannot use comparison to explain the process better.

This leaves us in a difficult situation given that the majority of Welsh people do not understand the political process of getting more powers to Wales. Bickering down the M4 between AMs and MPs about powers doesn't help the public confidence in or understanding of the system, either.  In order for people to put their x on that YES box at or before 2011, they need to know what's going on now. And what will change if the referendum is successful.

We need to find new ways to reach out and inform people. It's their future. They should go into that polling booth with a clear understanding of what they want for Wales' future. I will come back to this point later.

The second lesson to be learned for the Irish EU referendum experience is that their 'Yes' campaign was -to quote Irish born Welsh Minister Dr. Brian Gibbons - the Irish 'Yes' campaign was 'lacklustre and late getting out of the blocks'

Whilst I'm not directly comparing the Irish EU vote to Welsh devolution, we have seen that unless you prepare for a referendum and campaign strongly, you will not get an automatic 'Yes' vote.

Welsh Liberal Democrats have asked Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn to join us in firing the staring gun for the 'Yes' campaign many times. To no avail. They seem happy to delay and delay. But we need to start the strategic planning for a 'Yes' campaign now. The One Wales government mustn't hold everyone up.

Given that the All Wales Convention will not report until late 2009, this leaves too little time to prepare for a successful 'Yes' campaign. We need to start now.  We cannot jeopardise Wales' opportunity of getting better and more effective powers for Wales.  Brian Gibbons' comments should serve as a warning to the First Minister that he should get his skates on and get the 'Yes' campaign show on the road.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD. A YES CAMPAIGN

In the numerous questionnaires and polls since 1997 concerning devolution and how people feel about it, they all confirm that the there has been a substantial fall in the number of people who oppose devolution. Heck, half the Tories who led the 'No' campaign were happy to become AMs and have since been converted. (Or trotted off to Parliament!)

The figures among young people are even more startling. Research by the Institute of Welsh Politics for the S4C documentary Datganoli showed that half of 18-34 year olds support a Scottish-style Parliament, with some supporting more radical options. Devo-sceptics are in a clear minority among the young. They know that Wales' future, their future, is a devolved future. As my party's spokesperson for young people - I regularly hear how passionate young people are about Wales setting its own future.

People are seeing the benefits of devolution but through a very cloudy/muddy lenses. We need to make sure that people see devolution clearly for what it is and what it can bring them. The process is not important in itself: only where it delivers positive change for people.

But we cannot leave devolution to the politicians - it's too important for that.

As I mentioned earlier, there are two things we need to do convince those who are unsure about where to put their x.

A 'Yes' Campaign must start now not in 2009 and we will have to tell the people of Wales what is happening in Wales at the moment.

History has taught us that if you fail to prepare you will prepare to fail and that would be a disastrous situation for Wales. 

A 'Yes' Campaign must be honest and tell the truth about our present system of devolution and how it is not serving Wales as well as a full parliamentary system could.

We have to tell people about the limitations, the restrictions and duplications of work of the 2006 Act. Politicians - particularly those in government - need to stop sweet talking the people of Wales about how good the system is. Lies are being fed about how smooth and successful the devolution process is going- when in actual fact it is quite the opposite.

A YES campaign must be made up of people who the public listen to and respect. It is true that politicians aren't trusted which is a sad fact and that's is why we need to have a wider range of faces on board, faces the Welsh public respect, faces who the Welsh public trust and faces the Welsh public identify with.

Tell me, who would be a better role model for young expectant mothers and the face of a campaign to provide better care for your new born child, the successful, talented and admired Charlotte Church or the Health Minister, Edwin Hart?

Who would be better at promoting more women and disabled people in sports, the 11 times Olympic gold medallist Tanni Grey Thompson or Rhodri Glyn Thomas………. Sorry, read the wrong name Alun Ffred Jones.?

And tell me, who would be better at promoting healthy living by cycling? Me?, a keen cyclist around Rossett or our successful Nicole Cooke, a Welsh gold hopeful in the Beijing Olympics?

I've picked these names out of the air, I know nothing of their politics. But if the Yes campaign is to succeed, it is this kind of people we want headlining the news in the run up to the election, being on discussion programmes, informing the public.

How do you get the attention of that person who knows nothing about the devolution process? It's not by putting him in front of a boring politician talking about fields, schedules and LCOs. Far better to hear it from someone who that person respects and will actually listen to, without feeling patronised.

I'm sure we politicians will have a role in the campaign - don't you worry about that - I'm just saying it needn't be front and centre.

Conclusion

Condensing the history of Welsh devolution, talking about nooks and crannies of Welsh law and discussing a possible future settlement for Wales in a lecture is not an easy task. We Assembly Members are still getting used to the new terms and procedures - some grey still area exist for many who are directly involved in Welsh politics and many dark areas for a sizeable majority on the Welsh population. I think the voluntary sector have been particularly slow to pick up on the potential benefits of devolution - but that's a topic for another speech.

As I said in my introduction, too little public discussion has taken place so far about the longer-term implications of Welsh devolution. Especially when the next steps will have great repercussions on our everyday lives. Discussions, debates, campaigning for a YES in the promised referendum needs to start now and I give my thanks again to Senedd i Gymru for this opportunity to hopefully trigger that debate.  

Throughout my lecture I've talked about the "average person who knows very little about Welsh devolution". That person exists, and it's not just one person. That person is the many thousands of people who live in Wales and it will be our duty to get everyone aboard the devolution wagon.

Remember we won the referendum in 1997 by only 6,721. Every vote, in every county, will count next time too.

But Welsh devolution is here to stay; as it is in Scotland and Northern Ireland too. And devolution is dynamic. It doesn't stay still. It must advance and the One Wales pledge of a referendum by 2011 on gaining parliamentary powers for Wales will be an opportunity to make this leap to a more effective and clearer system of governing Wales.  

The next step for devolution could be a great leap forward. But as any great long jumper would acknowledge - you have to get the run up right, if you want to travel great distances.

We all have to work together, to get that run up right.

 Diolch.