9. Debate seeking the Assembly's agreement to introduce a Commission-proposed Bill — The Welsh Parliament and Elections (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:21 pm on 10 October 2018.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 4:21, 10 October 2018

I just want to speak briefly to welcome the Bill's being introduced. It's been now seven years since we overwhelmingly agreed in a referendum that this place should have the powers of a parliament, and it's only right that we change the name to reflect that reality.

I'm pleased also that the McAllister report is being decoupled, so we can focus on the elements that we can all agree on while we still work on developing a consensus for the other elements. And I hope very much that we can proceed before too long in developing the other parts of that report too.

I think it's excellent that we're introducing votes for 16-year-olds, and many of us will have had a conversation with first-time voters who tell us that often they're reluctant to vote the first time because they don't always feel equipped to be able to make an informed decision—they don't always feel they know enough—and I think it's essential that there is a thorough political education campaign that goes forward in parallel with this change in the law, and I was pleased to hear the Llywydd say that that will be the case. But, of course, it needs to go beyond just what the Commission can provide; this needs to be embraced by schools and colleges and organisations right across Wales, and families too.

On the issue of the name of the Assembly, I noted what the Presiding Officer said about this will be debated in detail in during the next stages, and that, of course, is correct. But I agree with Siân Gwenllian that the simple Welsh-only name of 'Senedd' would be preferable. I, along with many others, campaigned in 1997, and the years before, to create this place. I did not want to recreate, in Wales, Parliament. I wanted to create something different: a different culture, a different way of doing things, a different sense of purpose. And I think there's a temptation to cleave to these old French terms to give us some sense of authority. And, actually, that's not what we should be trying to do; we should be trying to do something different.

And I think using the Welsh term 'Senedd', which I already use to describe this institution—clearly, it's only the name of the building, but I always refer to my work in the Senedd, and, certainly, the people of Llanelli I've spoken to are very clear about what that means. And I think that would be a much more appropriate way of proceeding—sending a signal of what we want to achieve here and also a signal of the place of language in our national life. And I hope that there's a chance for us to reflect on that as we go through.

I think there's a slight contradiction in saying we want powers to decide things for ourselves and then saying we're going to delegate this decision out to a result of a public consultation, which, as Siân Gwenllian has said, was far from clear cut. So, I hope that's considered further as we go through.

I will give way.