Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 9 November 2022.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:42, 9 November 2022

Well, firstly, you are absolutely right in terms of the bill of rights, and, of course, 10 December is Human Rights Day, and I hope there will be a substantial debate in this Chamber. At one stage, it looked as though there might be a debate on Human Rights Day that didn't need to have reference to the bill of rights. We were told it was shelved. Unfortunately, one of the main instigators of it has returned, and it appears it is back on the agenda again. 

It is within the portfolio of Lord Bellamy, who I will be meeting with in Cardiff in December. So, there'll be an opportunity to discuss there. What we don't know is precisely what the format of this Bill might be, whether it's going to be a complete return of the existing Bill. Now, that seems to me to be something that's very difficult, since once it was shelved, there were so many UK Government Ministers and Members of Parliament who basically were saying, 'Well, it's been shelved, the thing is an absolute mess, so it can't go on as it is; that's why we've shelved it.' Well, it's now coming back and they've obviously got to do something to resolve the fact that it is, in its current form, an absolute mess.

But it is something that is essentially an undermining of human rights. It actually takes away the rights from individuals. So much for the Brexit argument of taking back control; it actually disempowers individual citizens within the UK. 

In terms of a Welsh Bill, and what we can do within Wales, that is something that we're looking at very, very closely. What the options might be as to how we might further strengthen the commitment to human rights that we have, either within our legislation, within our policy, and whether that means by means of a legislative format or whatever, I don't know. But it is a matter that's being discussed at the human rights advisory group that has been set up, in conjunction with the Minister for Social Justice, which I chaired the other day. So, this is very much on the radar and I hope this debate continues and we keep monitoring what is happening.