Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:41 pm on 24 November 2020.
The Member is, of course, right to say that the purpose behind the Bill—the intent of the Bill, certainly—is to limit the capacity of the Senedd and Welsh Ministers to act in accordance with the devolution settlement. It didn't have to be this way, and it still doesn't have to be this way. We've proposed an alternative to the Bill that respects the devolution settlement, but also delivers the high standards across a range of areas, which I know that she feels very passionately about and is a very ardent campaigner for. As I say, we've pursued a strategy of putting forward constructive alternatives, and have had significant support in the House of Lords, as I know that she is aware, for many of those positions, from a range of political voices and non-political voices, and from a range of different walks of life. And there has been a very, very strong theme that the devolution settlement needs to be respected and that if the UK Government is proceeding on the basis that this Bill is intended to strengthen the union, it will find that it is mistaken, because the best way of doing that is by defending and extending devolution, rather than trying to ride roughshod over it.