6. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Interim Report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:49 pm on 31 January 2023.

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Photo of Peredur Owen Griffiths Peredur Owen Griffiths Plaid Cymru 4:49, 31 January 2023

I welcome the interim report and echo some, not all, of the comments that we've heard in this Chamber this afternoon. I'd like to concentrate my contribution on a small aspect of what you've said this afternoon, Minister.

Can we ban the use of the words 'progressive' and 'radical' when referring to the Gordon Brown proposals? They are anything but radical or progressive. Giving us control of youth justice and the probation service on their own is simply not good enough. It will not alter what Dr Rob Jones and Professor Richard Wyn Jones of the Wales Governance Centre have termed ‘the jagged edge’. Only full devolution of the criminal justice system will allow us to make the substantial changes that are desperately needed.

This retrograde position from Brown and Labour is a far cry from the stated ambition of the co-operation agreement for the full devolution of justice and policing in Wales. You may remember this not only follows the recommendations of the Welsh Government-established Thomas commission, but also featured in the Labour Party’s manifestos of 2017 and 2019 in the general elections. What has changed? Does Gordon Brown take Wales seriously, or are we just an afterthought?