The incumbent Conservative government has failed the United Kingdom on devolution. They have failed to learn their mistakes from the failed royal commission which led to nowhere, indeed I would argue that they refuse to learn. The Tory Party doesn’t want a lasting devolution settlement, what they want is to stop devolution at all costs. First they wanted to wait for the Senedd to speak when they thought it would rule in their favour. When it appeared the Senedd opposed the Tories anti democratic sentiment and anti-devolution agenda they stopped caring and decided to ignore the Senedd.
For the tories the Senedd is only worth listening to when it suits the political aims of the bullingdon boys. The Foreign Secretary tried to impose a ⅔ requirement to pass a referendum through parliament and was rightly laughed at by parliament and condemned from parties ranging from mine to the TPM.
The fact is the tories have done everything they possibly can to stop a justice devolution referendum. It’s been excuse after excuse with no regard for the Welsh people, the Senedd or democracy, with anti democratic amendments that would make it impossible to enact change even with a higher than average turnout and a substantial majority of Wales in favour. The Welsh Conservative Party leader RhysDallen puts party before country, even as Wales was underfunded by billions in the last budget, he acts as more of a front man for Conservative Central Office wales rather than a Welsh Conservative. The fact for the tories is that Wales, like the other devolved nations comes second to their polling in England.
The recent Welsh election showed that the welsh people have an appetite for further devolution returning pro devolution parties to the Senedd defeating the Welsh Conservatives regressive agenda, and outright opposition to Wales gaining powers. I embrace conciliatory unionism which means that I believe in the union but I passionately believe all four corners of the United Kingdom should be happy and content in the union. And each polity should be able to exercise by its democratic processes choice in determining the level of autonomy available to it. It is unacceptable to ignore the democratically elected Welsh government as the Prime Minister is doing, indeed this will only risk splitting the Union still further. I call on the Prime Minister to show real leadership and engage constructively with the Welsh government to find a long lasting devolution settlement.
I am sympathetic to the idea of more devolution as this is clearly what the Welsh people are longing for however we can not afford to take the gung ho approach of the Labour Party who would devolve too much too fast. We need to ensure the Welsh government can cope and utilise their new powers with a gradual transition as well as ensuring the Welsh people are able to have an informed debate on all these powers before deciding to do so. We have to strike the balance right and if the Prime Minister and his colleagues abdicate their duty of uniting the union I and other opposition leaders will have to step up to the plate.
In order for the LPUK to support further devolution I want to see the justice devolution referendum completed so we can deal with one issue at a time as well as being able to review how Wales copes with its new powers should the Welsh people vote that way. Reports in the press said I warned Salami to halt his devolution demands, this is a gross misrepresentation of what I said. The First Minister should absolutely push for what he believes. We will take into account the will of the Welsh parliament in all of this and will not support devolution for devolution’s sake. We need to review all measures carefully and take time over this to ensure that the powers that are being devolved will be in the interests of Wales and the rest of the UK.
Let me be absolutely clear that no Tory threat will impact my decision on this. Threats are immature and goes to show the extent the tories will go to stop devolution. I will make my mind up based on the facts and the Senedd, not what any Tory Minister in CCHQ has to say.
We have a huge opportunity to come to a lasting devolution settlement and I wish Secretary_Salami all the best in doing this. We must however reject calls to devolve as much as possible as fast as possible from some in Labour and calls to stop devolution at all costs. The LPUK will provide the sensible middle ground in this and will help break the deadlock on this issue and unite the country.
This article was written by /u/Friedmanite19, Former Chancellor Of The Exchequer and Leader Of The Libertarian Party
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