7. Debate on the General Principles of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:20 pm on 10 July 2019.

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Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 5:20, 10 July 2019

We're not in favour of abolishing the Assembly.

Now, on this language point, we had a consultation, and the Llywydd's explanatory memorandum tells us that 53 per cent thought that the name 'Senedd' described well what this institution does. The explanatory memorandum does not tell us that the consultation showed—or not that I have read within it, and I have looked reasonably carefully—that 73 per cent of the consultation said we should be called a 'Welsh Parliament'. And we have in the National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act from 2012—it states the National Assembly for Wales shall have two official languages, English and Welsh, and they should be treated equally. That is not the case in the Bill as it stands. 'Senedd' is given priority over 'Welsh Parliament', and the English version of the Bill says 'Senedd' rather than 'Welsh Parliament'. I believe that is wrong, and I believe it is a real concern that people out there aren't as engaged as we would like with this place. And that, I'm afraid, is more true amongst people who do not speak Welsh than those who do.

I will just cite the leading comment on the consultation we carried out in respect of whether we should have a monolingual Welsh name:

'Great care should be taken to ensure that it reflects all the population of Wales rather than continue to reinforce the perception of the Senedd as being for a Welsh speaking elite.'

I regret that the Bill has come forward in the way that it has.

In terms of other measures that we have, the Llywydd said in her speech that Members generally wanted to build a new relationship with the Electoral Commission. We do not. We consider that the Electoral Commission is not an effective or strong organisation. We are concerned that it does not follow due process and does not act fairly. Indeed, I would associate myself with the Metropolitan Police's remarks about the Electoral Commission, which they have recently made, and I'm not convinced that having a Llywydd's committee here along with the problems other Members have identified would assist with the Electoral Commission and its positioning. We believe it needs to be replaced. We are sorry that the bulk of this Bill—we do not support two of the key elements and a number of the other reforms. Therefore, we'll be voting against the general principles today.