Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his law officer responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:31 pm on 2 April 2019.
Well, I thank the Member for that question. And the point brings to mind the petition that the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West, Kevin Brennan, presented in Parliament in 2006, which called for a law change to give Welsh Assembly Members the opportunity of pledging allegiance to the people of Wales, rather than to the Queen. The Welsh Government has no policy intention to seek to change that position. The legislation in Wales is mirrored, in a sense, with legislation in Scotland in terms of the restriction prohibiting the Parliament—the Assembly here—from amending the relevant legislation. [Interruption.] It is of course—as she mentions from a sedentary position—different in Northern Ireland, for reasons that are perhaps specific to Northern Ireland, and that is, I think, a rationale for a different approach. I happen to share her view that we would be better off with an elected head of state, but I would also say that, if you were to ask me to list perhaps the 10 main barriers to a better constitutional settlement here in Wales, I would easily be able to identify 10 that perhaps are more pressing and far-reaching than that particular point.