6. What assessment has the First Minister made of the impact of the UK Government’s legislative programme on Wales? OQ59005

Well, Llywydd, the UK Government continues to deploy its legislative programme in ways that disregard the Sewel convention and undermine the devolution settlement by stealth. Of current Bills, the arbitrary and ideologically driven Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill poses really significant risks to the Welsh Government and to this Senedd.

First Minister, thanks for that answer. If the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill proceeds as it is now, and on the arbitrary timescale set by the UK Government, then by December next year, we will see thousands upon thousands of regulations covering essential environmental and employment protections and much more, many of which fall directly within devolved competence, being stripped away unilaterally and without any meaningful engagement with the Welsh Government, and which, from this summer onwards, could seriously risk overwhelming the capacity of Welsh Government and of this Senedd. And, indeed, because of the unseemly haste and the lack of detailed analysis by the UK, it could effectively bypass scrutiny and lead to a legislative logjam here in Wales.

So, what hope does the First Minister have that the UK Government may see sense in the face of opposition in the House of Lords, from a growing number of Conservative backbenchers in the Commons, as well as right across the opposition benches, and from the public and concerned organisations right across the UK? And if the Government do not see sense, would he work with this Senedd to find legislative ways within our competence to give our Government and our committees time to do the job properly for the people of Wales, even if the UK Government want to take England headlong over a cliff of their own making?

Well, Llywydd, those are very important points indeed that Huw Irranca-Davies has made this afternoon. The best hope that we have of the UK Government stepping back from the precipice of its own making is that it will listen, not simply to voices here in Wales or in Scotland, by those many voices in academic life, environmental groups, and particularly in the field of business. And Huw Irranca-Davies is right to say that there are clearly growing concerns on Conservative Party back benches in the House of Commons. I see that the former Secretary of State for Wales, Sir Robert Buckland, was leading attempts by Conservative Members to put this whole business in a better position than it is at the moment. Can we be optimistic about that? I think it's difficult to be optimistic when we have a Prime Minister who is captured by a small number of Brexit extremists in his own ranks. Nevertheless, there was a meeting earlier today between the Counsel General and Minister Felicity Buchan, from the department of levelling-up, and she did offer to convey our concerns in a constructive way to the UK Government, and we will continue to pursue those arguments with them.

One of the really big differences between the powers that are being offered to Wales in this Bill and powers that UK Ministers are retaining for themselves is the power to extend the sunset deadline. So, at the moment, UK Ministers, seeing the cliff edge coming, are able, themselves, to extend the deadline. Those powers are not available to this Senedd or to Welsh Ministers. They ought to be, because the same difficulties will face us as well. And when I said in my original answer, Llywydd, that there are significant risks not just to the Welsh Government but also to the Senedd, it is in the way in which the time that we have available to pass the necessary legislation could simply be overtaken by the sheer volume of amendments that will be needed if we're not to have a statute book that will simply be inoperable after the end of this calendar year. And, of course, I'm absolutely happy to give an assurance to the Chair of the legislative committee that we will work with the Senedd to mitigate those risks to the maximum extent that we can.