Bill of Rights

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 3:06 pm on 6 July 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:06, 6 July 2022

The answer is that we certainly will. In fact, myself and the Minister for Social Justice attended a number of meetings with civic organisations that were very, very concerned about the implications of the bill of rights and the direction it was taking. We attended a meeting more recently on that, and there are further meetings that are due to take place. 

In terms of the consultation itself, well, of course, we put in a very detailed consultation response and we shared that with civic organisations and the third sector. I think that was very welcomed and appreciated. There have been approximately 13,000 responses to the consultation. What is very clear from that is that those are overwhelmingly opposed to what is being proposed, and it's not unexpected because the Bill that's being introduced goes contrary to the UK Government's own independent assessment of the need for reform, the Gross report. 

Whereas there is nothing wrong at all with the idea that, periodically, legislation is looked at, this is being ideologically and politically driven, and it is being driven in a direction that undermines democracy and undermines the rule of law. I don't believe it has any significant and credible support for it. It certainly has no evidential base, and the consultation shows that. So, we will continue to develop our contacts and our work, and I'll continue to liaise with the Minister for Social Justice over all these issues, because these things will have a significant impact across Welsh society and across the UK.

I'm sure in the imminently changed Government that we're likely to have, there will be a far more progressive approach to the issue of human rights, and I hope that, in actual fact, this Bill will be completely dropped.