11. Legislative Consent Motion on the Shark Fins Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:48 pm on 17 January 2023.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 5:48, 17 January 2023

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I want to thank Members for their contributions today.

Just to address a couple of the very specific points—and I thank the committe, Huw, for its rapid work on this, as always—I'm afraid I do not accept the recommendation or conclusion that clause 3 of the Bill would amount to a relevant provision for the purposes of Standing Order 29. Aside from clause 3(5), clause 3 contains technical provisions that are concerned with how the Bill works, rather than substantive provisions. And, as a matter of practice, Welsh Government do not generally include non-operative clauses within the LCM, which you acknowledged in your response, I think. 

On the MOU, I absolutely do accept that recommendation and, as soon as the MOU has been agreed, it will be shared with the Senedd. And I completely agree with your rationale for that. 

In terms of why the Bill, why not a Welsh Bill, this is a private Member's Bill. If we had decided to take the path that Plaid Cymru were outlining, then we would have had a regulatory gap and what Janet Finch-Saunders mentioned would have come to pass: we would have had landings here in Wales, which we would not have been able to stop while we had a regulatory gap. So, as this was a private Member's Bill, it makes a great deal of sense to line up the regulatory process to make sure there isn't a gap. I completely agree that that's the right thing to do and I'm very much asking Members to support this today. However, I will say that it would be much better if the UK Government did consult us properly in the process of this. We would be able to reach much better conclusions together than we do when we find things out the day before. So, whilst I absolutely agree with the import of this Bill, the way that we found out about it from the UK Government is not optimal. So, if you want to send that message back, Janet, that would be very helpful indeed.

But in summation, Deputy Llywydd, the Bill sent a clear message to the rest of the world that we do not support this fishing practice, which is so damaging to the global shark populations. I therefore move the motion and ask that all Members support it. Diolch.