Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:58 pm on 16 September 2020.
Llywydd, when I listen to the movers of the main motion, I actually do wonder how many of them have actually read the Bill and the supporting documentation. I've gone through it, and these are my views as to what are the key points, the key things that are wrong.
The first thing is it legislates to legalise illegality. That's unacceptable. It specifically restricts and undermines the judiciary. That is unacceptable. It gives powers to Ministers with no proper scrutiny, either for Parliament or the Welsh Government. That is unacceptable. It undermines devolution. It doesn't take away specific powers, but what it does do is give Government Ministers, without any significant scrutiny, the powers to take over devolved functions. In my view, that undermines devolution. It opens the door for lower food standards—chlorinated chicken has been mentioned, but there are many, many other examples that there could be. It opens the door to reduced environmental standards. The Tories have opposed non-regression of clauses. It restricts the ability of the Senedd to legislate in devolved areas in accordance with election manifesto commitments in respect of devolved powers. It clearly undermines democracy; it undermines the outcome of two referenda. It opens the door to the privatisation of the NHS—that is indisputable. And more than anything, this Bill is completely unnecessary, because it was always agreed and intended that there would be common frameworks and that there would be a common framework for the internal market and state aid. The Government has chosen unilaterally to breach that understanding and to impose unilateral legislation to override all those agreements and understandings. This Bill, not only is it unnecessary, it is, as was described yesterday in the Senedd discussion, repugnant, and that is why we on the Labour side are opposed to it.