A Welsh Government minister has attacked the UK Government for trying to undermine devolution.
Mick Antoniw, the Welsh Government’s Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution, has criticised the UK Government’s "unilateral and destructive approach" to devolution. The people of Wales first voted for Wales to have more control of its own affairs in 1999 and have since backed further powers in a follow-up referendum.
Mr Antoniw's criticism comes ahead of a speech to the Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association’s annual conference, which is taking place 24 years to the day since the National Assembly for Wales – now the Welsh Parliament – came into existence. You can get more politics story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Mr Antoniw said that during this period the devolution settlement had never been under as much strain as it was now, pointing to the UK Government’s regular breaches of the Sewel Convention – which sets out that the UK’s Parliament will not normally legislate on devolved matters without the consent of the devolved parliaments.
Mick Antoniw said: “Despite our efforts to work collaboratively, the UK Government has chosen a centralised, unilateral and destructive approach to the devolution settlement.
“It has repeatedly pushed ahead with legislation in devolved areas without the consent of the Senedd. In doing so it disrespects a democratically elected body and denies the people who elected its members of accountability. We have never seen this level of strain in the devolution settlement during the entire 24 years of its existence.
“And these attacks on the devolution settlement are not the only way the constitution is under strain. The UK Government is actively undermining parliaments and the courts, institutions that provide vital scrutiny as well as checks and balances. Civil liberties are under attack, including through the Public Order Bill which risks weakening fundamental freedoms around the right to protest. And the introduction of Voter ID saw around 14,000 turned away from polling stations in English local elections, raising real concerns over the integrity of the electoral system.”
Recent years have seen the UK Internal Market Act, the Professional Qualifications Act and the Subsidy Control Act come into force without consent from the Senedd. In recent months the Senedd has also voted to refuse consent for the Retained EU Law Bill and the Illegal Migration Bill, which are currently going through the legislative process.
A former UK Government minister has previously admitted that they deliberately deceived the Welsh public when it came to where former EU funds would be going after Brexit.
Mick Antoniw added: “Carrying on with the status quo is not an option, and the foundations for reform are in place. The Commission on the UK’s Future, chaired by Gordon Brown, set out a series of radical proposals for constitutional reform at the end of last year – including a new legally binding formulation of the Sewel convention. And by the end of this year the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales is due to publish its final report, building on its interim report after extending its conversation with the people of Wales.
“It is incumbent on all politicians to build on these foundations, listen to the views of the people we serve, respect the constitution and deliver reformed structures that can improve outcomes and strengthen communities.”
Even if there is a Labour majority at the next General Election there is likely to remain some tensions between the UK Government and the devolved administrations with Labour leader Keir Starmer indicating that he could not guarantee Wales would receive its fair share of HS2 funding.
