Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:39 pm on 30 June 2021.
Well, the SNP in Scotland, if we take that first, of course, has its own mandate, and it's a genuine mandate that comes from the people of Scotland as a result of the recent Scottish Parliament election. You will also know that, of course, where there have been common interests between Welsh Governments and Scottish Governments, there has been very close collaboration on a whole variety of constitutional issues. I have met on a number of occasions with my counterparts in the Scottish Government to talk about some of these issues, and, where there is common ground, we will work collectively to achieve the objectives that we have in terms of the benefit of the people of Wales, as they will do within Scotland as well.
I think, in terms of the regional mayors and so on—I think it is very important that there are discussions with those. Those are forms of devolved government; a very different and perhaps a very ad hoc form of devolved government—very different I think to what Kilbrandon, in the 1974 report, actually envisaged, and therein lies perhaps the nub of a much deeper problem as to why we are where we are now. But, as I said in my last answer, I think within Wales what we have to do is to engage and to be clear about where the consensus lies in Wales for change, to build on that consensus and to engage with all those others who would share a common interest in the constitutional reform. As I've said, I think constitutional reform is an inevitability. Unfortunately, there are consequences—there are adverse consequences, if it is not dealt with in a progressive and in a cohesive way. And the most disappointing feature about it at the moment was, in the publication of the reform in the UK Government—is that the UK Government appears to have buried its head in the sand on the issues that really are facing us all at the moment.