• About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contribute
  • Contact
Saturday, June 21, 2025
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Health
  • Science
  • Tech
    IMGP4O and the New AI Paradigm: From Innovation to Impact

    IMGP4O and the New AI Paradigm: From Innovation to Impact

    How a pill used by millions every day could help prevent cancer spreading

    How a pill used by millions every day could help prevent cancer spreading

    Private company makes ‘fully successful’ Moon landing for first time ever

    Private company makes ‘fully successful’ Moon landing for first time ever

    Slack is down for thousands of people and nobody can do any work

    Slack is down for thousands of people and nobody can do any work

    Apple pulls iPhone security tool after UK government ‘demands access to user data’

    Apple pulls iPhone security tool after UK government ‘demands access to user data’

    Odds of ‘city killer’ asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 increase yet again

    Odds of ‘city killer’ asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 increase yet again

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Travel
    Finding the Perfect Pod What to Know Before You Buy

    Finding the Perfect Pod: What to Know Before You Buy

    10 unmissable Time Out London deals – including champagne brunch at The Shard for £55

    10 unmissable Time Out London deals – including champagne brunch at The Shard for £55

    People are just realising there’s a meaning behind the patterns on the Greggs pastries & say their minds are blown

    People are just realising there’s a meaning behind the patterns on the Greggs pastries & say their minds are blown

    English seaside hamlet with pub right on the beach often overlooked by Brits

    English seaside hamlet with pub right on the beach often overlooked by Brits

  • Entertainment
    You can now get hold of a PS5 for only £22 – but there’s a catch

    You can now get hold of a PS5 for only £22 – but there’s a catch

    Why I think Warner Bros. should sell up and leave the games industry – Reader’s Feature

    Why I think Warner Bros. should sell up and leave the games industry – Reader’s Feature

    Check your drawers for prized Pokémon games ‘worth £3,900’ – Nintendo fans might have titles worth thousands at home

    Check your drawers for prized Pokémon games ‘worth £3,900’ – Nintendo fans might have titles worth thousands at home

    Nintendo needs to bring back Zelda: Twilight Princess’ best character – Reader’s Feature

    Nintendo needs to bring back Zelda: Twilight Princess’ best character – Reader’s Feature

    Iconic Xbox game worth up to £650 if you still have it – and you don’t even need the box to cash in

    Iconic Xbox game worth up to £650 if you still have it – and you don’t even need the box to cash in

    GTA 6 PC release date revealed by peripheral manufacturer

    GTA 6 PC release date revealed by peripheral manufacturer

    Gamers slam Sony for ‘terrible’ PSN outage compensation as they suddenly realise certain users are excluded from offer

    Gamers slam Sony for ‘terrible’ PSN outage compensation as they suddenly realise certain users are excluded from offer

    E3 organisers are back with a new games convention called iicon

    E3 organisers are back with a new games convention called iicon

    Fortnite update v33.30 brings OG Chapter 1 Season 2 – and Godzilla is gone from Battle Royale

    Fortnite update v33.30 brings OG Chapter 1 Season 2 – and Godzilla is gone from Battle Royale

  • Covid-19*
  • Real Estate
  • More
    • Crypto
    • Press Release
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Health
  • Science
  • Tech
    IMGP4O and the New AI Paradigm: From Innovation to Impact

    IMGP4O and the New AI Paradigm: From Innovation to Impact

    How a pill used by millions every day could help prevent cancer spreading

    How a pill used by millions every day could help prevent cancer spreading

    Private company makes ‘fully successful’ Moon landing for first time ever

    Private company makes ‘fully successful’ Moon landing for first time ever

    Slack is down for thousands of people and nobody can do any work

    Slack is down for thousands of people and nobody can do any work

    Apple pulls iPhone security tool after UK government ‘demands access to user data’

    Apple pulls iPhone security tool after UK government ‘demands access to user data’

    Odds of ‘city killer’ asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 increase yet again

    Odds of ‘city killer’ asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 increase yet again

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Travel
    Finding the Perfect Pod What to Know Before You Buy

    Finding the Perfect Pod: What to Know Before You Buy

    10 unmissable Time Out London deals – including champagne brunch at The Shard for £55

    10 unmissable Time Out London deals – including champagne brunch at The Shard for £55

    People are just realising there’s a meaning behind the patterns on the Greggs pastries & say their minds are blown

    People are just realising there’s a meaning behind the patterns on the Greggs pastries & say their minds are blown

    English seaside hamlet with pub right on the beach often overlooked by Brits

    English seaside hamlet with pub right on the beach often overlooked by Brits

  • Entertainment
    You can now get hold of a PS5 for only £22 – but there’s a catch

    You can now get hold of a PS5 for only £22 – but there’s a catch

    Why I think Warner Bros. should sell up and leave the games industry – Reader’s Feature

    Why I think Warner Bros. should sell up and leave the games industry – Reader’s Feature

    Check your drawers for prized Pokémon games ‘worth £3,900’ – Nintendo fans might have titles worth thousands at home

    Check your drawers for prized Pokémon games ‘worth £3,900’ – Nintendo fans might have titles worth thousands at home

    Nintendo needs to bring back Zelda: Twilight Princess’ best character – Reader’s Feature

    Nintendo needs to bring back Zelda: Twilight Princess’ best character – Reader’s Feature

    Iconic Xbox game worth up to £650 if you still have it – and you don’t even need the box to cash in

    Iconic Xbox game worth up to £650 if you still have it – and you don’t even need the box to cash in

    GTA 6 PC release date revealed by peripheral manufacturer

    GTA 6 PC release date revealed by peripheral manufacturer

    Gamers slam Sony for ‘terrible’ PSN outage compensation as they suddenly realise certain users are excluded from offer

    Gamers slam Sony for ‘terrible’ PSN outage compensation as they suddenly realise certain users are excluded from offer

    E3 organisers are back with a new games convention called iicon

    E3 organisers are back with a new games convention called iicon

    Fortnite update v33.30 brings OG Chapter 1 Season 2 – and Godzilla is gone from Battle Royale

    Fortnite update v33.30 brings OG Chapter 1 Season 2 – and Godzilla is gone from Battle Royale

  • Covid-19*
  • Real Estate
  • More
    • Crypto
    • Press Release
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Hywel Williams: ‘Westminster must now consider Wales’ constitutional future — including independence’

by Morris
January 28, 2024
in Politics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

[ad_1]

Are we ever going to have a serious discussion in Parliament about Wales’s constitutional future, including independence?

Last week, the report of the Commission on the future of our constitution was published. The Commission was set up by the Welsh Government but is fully independent. It is chaired by the former Archbishop of Wales and then of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and Professor Laura McAllister of Cardiff University. It has members from the political parties in our Senedd, including a member from the Conservative party, and others with no political links. So, as you would expect, they produced a substantial document reporting on a large scale and serious body of work undertaken over two years.

The report highlights that the current setup in Cardiff is not a viable option. However, it provides various choices for the future. A federal UK with each part having an equal status is a possibility, but this would require changes in all four parts of the UK – a difficult thing to achieve. Substantial changes to devolution, with more powers and funding being devolved to our parliament, are also suggested. The response to this from both Conservatives and Labour at Westminster has been lukewarm at best. Significantly, they note that independence is a real option but would need long-term work. There is a great deal to be discussed.

During Business Questions last week, I requested a debate on the Report from the Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, perhaps at the end of the month when we usually have the annual St David’s Day debate. We are aware of the multitude of ongoing issues, from deportations to Rwanda, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the crisis in the cost of living, to an election on the horizon. The governance of our country has never been high on the list of Westminster priorities.

But even so, the Minister’s reply was deeply inadequate. She said that if we had a debate, her side “will always turn up to defend the Union” – a statement not surprising at all. Devolved services were being run badly by Labour, she said, with no hint of recognition of the abysmal state of services in England too.

She concluded with the peculiar claim that, ‘It is a sad and sorry state that the most vibrant separatist party in the UK now is not the Scottish National Party, but the Labour party.’ If only that were true. Labour’s response to this landmark report has been just as dismissive as the Tories’.

Despite the 2022 Gordon Brown report committing a Labour Government to engage with the Welsh Constitutional Commission’s recommendations, Jo Stevens, UK Labour’s spokesperson in Wales, had already outright rejected one of its key recommendations before the report’s ink had dried.

On justice and policing, Ms. Stevens’ response was particularly disappointing. Speaking to BBC One’s Politics Wales programme, Ms Stevens said: “We have said that we will explore the devolution of youth justice and probation. “But we will not be looking at devolution of policing and justice.”

The Welsh Labour Government has long agreed with Plaid Cymru’s view that policing and justice would be fairer, more efficient and more accountable if run from the Senedd. Several reports, including the 2011 Silk Commission and the 2022 Thomas Commission, both commissioned by a Welsh Labour Government, have highlighted the urgent need to devolve policing and justice. But Starmer’s Labour, arrogantly, think they know better than all.

The justice sub-group of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales found evidence strongly supporting the case for full devolution, citing benefits such as better outcomes, improved value for money, increased transparency, and enhanced accountability. Why would any party that claims to want what’s best for Wales, ignore such evidence?

I will apply to the Business Committee for a debate on the future constitution of Wales. As Plaid’s Chief Whip at Westminster, I have already taken the matter up with the other side ‘through the usual channels.’ However, given both Penny Mordaunt’s reply in the chamber, and Jo Stevens’ reply in the media, I have no great hopes for early serious consideration of the report or any real action on its recommendations – at least not from Westminster.

It highlights a more urgent need than ever for the people of Wales to force Westminster to care about Wales by electing a strong group of Plaid Cymru MPs in the general election.

Politics.co.uk is the UK’s leading digital-only political website, providing comprehensive coverage of UK politics. Subscribe to our daily newsletter here.

The post Hywel Williams: ‘Westminster must now consider Wales’ constitutional future — including independence’ appeared first on Politics.co.uk.

[ad_2]

Source link

Related Posts

Reform UK’s Rupert Lowe: not clear whether Nigel Farage can ‘deliver the goods’

Reform UK’s Rupert Lowe: not clear whether Nigel Farage can ‘deliver the goods’
by Morris
March 6, 2025
0
ShareTweetPin

Senior Kemi Badenoch ally hails Trump and Musk’s ‘refreshing dynamism’

Senior Kemi Badenoch ally hails Trump and Musk’s ‘refreshing dynamism’
by Morris
March 5, 2025
0
ShareTweetPin

JD Vance accused of ‘erasing’ British history after ‘random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 years’ jibe

JD Vance accused of ‘erasing’ British history after ‘random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 years’ jibe
by Morris
March 4, 2025
0
ShareTweetPin

John Lamont: ‘Pupils, parents and the public purse will pay for Labour’s ideological VAT plan’

John Lamont: ‘Pupils, parents and the public purse will pay for Labour’s ideological VAT plan’
by Morris
March 3, 2025
0
ShareTweetPin
Next Post
My healthier pasta alfredo has lots of protein and hidden veggies – you can even make it gluten-free

My healthier pasta alfredo has lots of protein and hidden veggies – you can even make it gluten-free

  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Contribute
  • Contact

All Rights Reserved© 2021 Manchester Times

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Science
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Fashion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Tech
  • Health
  • Food

All Rights Reserved© 2021 Manchester Times