Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:43 pm on 24 November 2020.
I'm grateful to the Counsel General for his reply. Can I ask how confident he is that we will have a functioning, workable legal framework in important fields, like the environment and agriculture, that were previously derived from European law? He speaks, in his response to Delyth Jewell, about a constructive alternative to the internal market Bill, and, of course, that's the right approach to take, but what considerations are being given by the Welsh Government as to what steps might be taken to protect the devolution settlement if this legislation is passed unamended? Does he share my concern, and a concern that was expressed recently by Professor Emyr Lewis at Swansea University, that we may, if this Bill is passed unamended, be faced with a UK Government that is developing a taste for legislating in a way that puts itself beyond the usual reach of law? Has the Counsel General had any discussions with law officers in the other devolved administrations about what legal steps, if any, might be taken should this Bill be passed unamended? I hope that he would agree with me that it would be very dangerous indeed for the UK Government to get a taste for passing legislation that puts itself beyond the reach of the law.