Questions Without Notice from the Party Leaders

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:51 pm on 8 May 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 1:51, 8 May 2018

I disagree with the way that it's been put, because I think we've come a long way from where the UK Government were; they have given a lot of ground. It's not ideal from our perspective, of course not, but the nature of an agreement is that you come to ground that you believe to be common ground. What the agreement says is that the UK Government will not normally legislate in devolved areas. That simply reflects what's already said in the devolved settlements across the UK. It is something, I think, that will need to be addressed in the future, but I believe we have an agreement that shows that a lot of ground has been given by the UK Government, particularly the introduction, in effect, of the Sewel convention into secondary legislation, something that didn't exist in the same way before, and I believe it gives us the protection that we need. We will, of course, be very vigilant in making sure that the UK Government keeps to the terms of the agreement.