6. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition: The UK Internal Market Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:15 pm on 15 September 2020.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 6:15, 15 September 2020

(Translated)

Thank you very much to Dai Lloyd for those questions. The powers that we currently hold, as a result of the changes proposed by this Bill, aren't powers that we will be able to enforce in the future, and as Dai Lloyd himself said, it's not simply a constitutional question; it impacts on the daily lives of the people of Wales. So, plastics, building standards, the minimum alcohol price, hormone-injected beef, all sorts of things that will have an impact on people's daily lives, be they goods and foodstuffs, then there is a risk for all of those in different ways.

There is a reference in the Bill, in one of the parts of the Bill, that the health service is not within its scope, but that could be changed by a Minister in Westminster without any consent from this Senedd. So, there is a risk there, too, in terms of our health services and other public services. There are powers that we can continue to use but can't enforce, and there are powers that we can continue to use but the UK Government can circumvent those. There are examples of all of those things in the Bill, and that is why we are opposing it so strongly.

I disagree with the end point that Dai Lloyd described at the end of his speech, but it's clear that we need fundamental reform of the relationship between the Welsh Government and the UK Government, and the constitutional settlement more generally, in order to ensure that we maintain the standards the people of Wales have expected and enjoyed over the past two decades.