26. Legislative Consent Motion on the Domestic Abuse Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:56 pm on 16 March 2021.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 5:56, 16 March 2021

Thank you very much, Dirprwy Lywydd, and I'd like to thank you all for the contributions. First of all, the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee—I think you answered the point, Mick Antoniw, that we did see, as you did see, that the Welsh Government considered that consent would be required in relation to the provisions for Wales in this Bill, and I think this debate has enhanced that case quite clearly. But I'm grateful not only for your consideration, but also the consideration of the LJC committee, which also saw no objection to the agreement of the motion. 

I would like to thank Laura Anne Jones and Leanne Wood for their contributions today, and their thoughts and views and words, recognising that this is something where I hope we will get cross-party support to ensure that we protect our women and girls in Wales, and take all necessary steps to end violence against women and all forms of abuse in Wales. I'm grateful to Leanne Wood for mentioning Wenjing Lin—our thoughts are with her and her family—and to recall that only last week it was International Women's Day, when I issued a statement about this and about the progress we're making with tackling violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and Jess Phillips, the Labour MP in Westminster, was once again reading out the names of those women who've been killed as a result of male violence. So, it has been a very important debate for us today.

I hope also in terms of supporting this motion you will see that, in my statement today, I'm calling on the UK Government to strengthen the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to ensure that the criminal justice system fully protects women and girls. Diolch yn fawr.