3. 3. Statement: Supreme Court Ruling on Article 50

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:20 pm on 24 January 2017.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:20, 24 January 2017

Thank you for those comments, and I’ll try and deal with them as best I can. With regard to the last point, the issue of the continuity Bill and so on, we now have the judgment. We have to analyse that judgment very carefully. We will have to analyse very carefully what happens in respect of the trigger Bill, what processes are then set in place, what happens then with regard to potentially a great repeal Bill, and he’s certainly correct that we are on a constitutional rollercoaster in some ways. The calls by this Assembly for a constitutional convention have never been more important. There are all sorts of erratic issues and dysfunctional issues with regard to the constitutional structure of the UK as a whole, so those do have to be dealt with, and I’m sure many of them will be emerging over the course of the coming months.

In respect of the issue of a legislative consent motion, I will leave that to the First Minister to respond to in due course. But, in terms of the points that you raise with regard to prerogatives and Sewel and so on, perhaps the best way to summarise it is that I think we share a lot of common views in terms of the importance of this particular decision. Perhaps, taking his earlier analogy, I suppose what I would say is: roundheads 8, cavaliers 3. [Laughter.]