Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:59 pm on 28 March 2023.
In closing, Llywydd, I’d first of all like to thank the four Senedd committees who took such an interest in the Bill and have written to me and other Welsh Ministers. I’m particularly grateful to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for its scrutiny in respect of the LCM and the supplementary LCMs and their detailed report, much of which I agree with, as has already been noted in my response of 9 March.
As I tried to explain, we are in a very undesirable situation not of our own making. As the Welsh Government, we continue to explain to the UK Government what is wrong with the Bill and to seek the most effective changes that we can, and we are still fighting to secure mitigation of some of the worst impacts. I'll update the Senedd if and when there is any progress. Also, as a responsible Government, our priority is to deal with the Bill in order to minimise the damage it will cause to Wales. That point has been made, and I confirm we will do all that we can, as the Bill proceeds through the House of Lords, in terms of representations with regard to the sort of changes that need to be made. Again, I'll continue to share detailed thinking with the Senedd.
I'll just comment very briefly on a few of the points that were made. To Darren Millar's points: Darren, this is about parliamentary democracy. It's about the bypassing of Parliament, it's about the undermining of Parliament, and it's about putting powers into hands of Ministers with no accountability or scrutiny. I'm sure you all agree deep down that you know that that is undemocratic.