6. 4. Legislative Consent Motion on the Wales Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:59 pm on 17 January 2017.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 4:59, 17 January 2017

I welcome the opportunity to contribute in this debate today on the legislative consent motion, and especially the tone in which the debate has been conducted so far, as someone who as was there, shall I say, at the start, when, in 2011, I became leader of the Conservative group here and speaking with the then Secretary of State, Cheryl Gillan, in the setting up of the Silk process, and the process that she engaged in by taking all parties with her and having nominations on that Silk commission. It is important to reflect on the way that the Westminster Government has undertaken these discussions over a considerable period of time, not just with this particular Bill but its predecessor Bill, and obviously that referendum that has been alluded to many times here this afternoon on primary law-making powers. David and others and the First Minister have touched on the point about being here in 1999 and some of the debates and discussions that were undertaken in those very early years. For my part, I and many of my colleagues who sit in this group came into this Assembly in 2007, and have only ever sat in that Chamber once, and that was last April—in the other building—when the steel crisis was discussed and debated. Just by standing in this very building, we can see how devolution has moved on and has been embraced by the people of Wales. There is an acceptance in every part of Wales, as the referendum of March 2011 indicated, and a willingness and acceptance that there are more decisions and more responsibilities transferred to this institution and the politicians who sit within this institution. That is why I, through my position, have engaged fully and wholeheartedly in this process, unlike some of the characters that have been drawn about me, who most probably have thought of myself as a roadblock to some of this devolution and some of the processes that have flowed through the Silk commission. I do welcome—[Interruption.] I can hear the Member for the Rhondda chuntering away from a sedentary position. I’ll gladly—