Wales Bill

Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lefarydd. Nineteen years have passed since the 1997 referendum to establi...

Like the hon. Lady, I am a member of the Select Committee on Welsh Affairs, and I can back up, to...

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. The sheer weight of that evidence underlines the fact t...

Amendment 5 is very well worded, if I may say so, because it was drafted, word for word, by the L...

I agree with my hon. Friend. I would expect there to be some concordance between both points of v...

What the hon. Lady has said is entirely fair, but we must come to a practical conclusion. It is c...

It is unfortunate to hear that argument in relation to standing up for Wales. On the one hand we ...

There is a conciliatory note in what the hon. Lady says. In this great new world of conciliation,...

I am sure we will work together when it is for the best for Wales, but I understand that that is ...

I begin by genuinely welcoming the two new members of the Opposition Front-Bench team. One, the h...

I am delighted to hear my hon. Friend’s comments, and one always listens to every word he says. D...

There was no mechanism but there was a second referendum a few years later. I forget the percenta...

I will speak in favour of amendments 9, 7 and 10. It is always a pleasure to follow my constituen...

In his research, has the hon. Gentleman come across figures for how many cases are held in Wales ...

At the moment, anyone who issues a claim would have a choice about where to issue it. For example...

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate legal...

I am not disagreeing with those on my Front Bench—I have made it clear that we are looking for a ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the current situation, whereby issues or disagreements about t...

Of course we would all like the Supreme Court to be used far less to resolve conflict between the...

I rise to support amendment 7, to reaffirm my support for the Bill, and to thank the Secretary of...

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Laing. I reiterate my support for the ame...

rose—

I will stand corrected if that is actually the case. I am seeking clarification and it looks like...

I can absolutely confirm that an invitation was sent to the Welsh Government some weeks ago. We h...

I am grateful to the Minister for that update. That should create some food for thought at the ot...

The hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mr Williams) ended on a sombre note. Wales Bills are not just for...

I honestly mean it when I say that I warmly welcome the hon. Gentleman to his post. He is a man o...

We will not be supporting amendment 5, because we think it gesture politics; unless the Governmen...

I also recommend my hon. Friend’s book, “Dragons led by Poodles”, and thank him for what he said ...

I agree entirely with my hon. Friend. In my book, which begins with a dramatis personae, I awarde...

I join hon. Members in welcoming the hon. Members for Newport West (Paul Flynn) and for Swansea E...

There has, of course, been a material change in conditions, following the events of the last few ...

The hon. Gentleman is a passionate speaker and a strong advocate for his position. In a debate in...

Does the Minister also accept that Hywel Dda was very well known for the importance he placed on ...

I appreciate that there are quite a few experts on Hywel Dda in this place. It is certainly the c...

Will the Minister clarify—I am sure that he is on the verge of doing so—the time frame for the jo...

It is currently envisaged that the group will report in the autumn, and, as things stand, that is...

So that the public can understand the divergence that has, to a limited degree, taken place so fa...

That is a good question, because it highlights the importance of ensuring that people in Wales un...

I am very grateful for the opportunity to close this debate, Sir Alan. I will restrict my comment...

It was not so much speculation as experience that I was drawing upon. My point was not about lawy...

That very question is dealt with across the land border between Scotland and England. There is al...

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Amendment 28, in clause 6, page 7...

Clauses 5 to 7 deal with elections to the Assembly and local government elections in Wales. Claus...

To clarify, if Assembly Ministers have the ability to change the provisions about the registratio...

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, we already run two very heavily overlapping but subtly diffe...

It helps to clarify things in one respect, but does the Minister not accept that there could end ...

There has been a difference for many years between local election registers and parliamentary ele...

The Minister seems to be saying that the Welsh Government should have the right to displace coinc...

I fear that I was not clear enough. I am saying that there are explicit provisions in the Bill to...

On the second point, one question would be whether a month is long enough. It would seem to me th...

I am not saying what the hon. Gentleman fears I am saying. I can reassure him on that. The power ...

I apologise to the Committee for my voice today. My daughter Enlli came back from nursery the oth...

Can the hon. Gentleman expand on his thinking about why those changes would be helpful? There are...

I have considered that, and it is my opinion and that of the Presiding Officer that it would not ...

Is it not the case that under the Bill as drafted, the Welsh Government could act unilaterally if...

I take my hon. Friend’s point entirely. The four Assembly elections held so far have not produced...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for laying out his case so clearly and so helpfully. He is right to po...

I am grateful to the Minister for the tone of his reply and for his clarification. Having read up...

If the hon. Gentleman is not already in his party’s Whips Office, he probably should be, because ...

I beg to move amendment 32, in clause 8, page 10, line 3, leave out subsections (5) and (6).

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

Clause 8 stand part.

Clause...

I rise to speak to amendments 32, 33 and 38 to 45. My hon. Friends will seek to catch your eye la...

Thank you, Sir Alan, for calling me to speak on this hugely important Bill. The work leading up t...

I speak in support of amendment 11 on income tax powers. I am interested in much of the Bill, but...

Let me clarify my view on that. We should not be in a position where we never have a Labour Gover...

It does not much matter what I or the hon. Gentleman think—it has far more to do with what the el...

I rise to speak against clause 10 and the imposition of an obligation on the Assembly to undertak...

I share the hon. Lady’s concerns over clause 10. In many ways the Bill includes a welcome approac...

It is also being imposed on the Assembly through its own Standing Orders. In that same spirit, su...

I wish to speak on clause 16 and the referendum on income tax powers. I preface my remarks by say...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the citizens of Switzerland and Norway are Europeans and may b...

I am not going to be taken down that rabbit hole. I want to concentrate on the details of the Bil...

I rise primarily to speak to new clauses 2 and 3 in the name of my hon. Friends the Members for A...

The hon. Gentleman and I disagree on many issues, but on this we are in firm agreement. I have he...

I am grateful for that intervention. I think that we can move swiftly on this in Wales and build ...

Did the hon. Gentleman also detect from polls in the last fortnight a healthy appetite among 16 a...

That is another valid dimension. It was clear that the younger generations were very much in favo...

A consensus seems to be growing here on 16 and 17-year-olds having the vote. Rather than Wales mi...

I am grateful for that intervention, and what the hon. Gentleman says will be part of the debate ...

Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that civic responsibility is a good thing per se? Rather like j...

I appreciate that intervention, and the National Assembly has, of course, legislated on that basi...

Does the hon. Gentleman not accept that, in the interests of democracy and effective representati...

I fear that we are getting into a debate about PR, and my party is strongly of the view that we n...

Speaking as someone who was involved in the first referendum, I know that this was a big issue. I...

I am grateful for that intervention. The people of Wales will listen to what politicians have sai...

The hon. Gentleman is in full flight, but would he continue to support all those moves if the net...

In what sense would it make Wales poorer? I am more confused by the Labour position the more Labo...

Will the hon. Gentleman not accept the fundamental and basic point that unfortunately Wales is a ...

That is a damning indictment of the current situation. I have faith in my own people and my own c...

I have great faith in the Welsh people as well, and I have a lot of faith in the Welsh Labour Gov...

The powers as envisaged do not involve the complete block grant. The block grant—the total money ...

I shall speak to several amendments, in particular amendment 11, which provides that income tax p...

I wholeheartedly agree with the point about the potential trap for Wales. Does my hon. Friend sha...

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. It is even more serious than that because many jobs depend...

I regret to inform my hon. Friend that the situation is worse than she describes, because when sp...

My hon. Friend confirms my very worst fears. Instead of having needs-based funding, the average c...

Thank you, Mr Gray, for giving me the opportunity to speak about the Bill today. I am delighted t...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Mr Gray. Many points that I was goi...

With regret, I stand to oppose clause 16, which relates to the removal of the requirement for a r...

Last week, I had the great pleasure of congratulating the hon. Member for Newport West (Paul Flyn...

I heard the hon. Gentleman speak on Second Reading and I am sure he is going to repeat a lot of w...

I may consider it, but at the moment I am thinking about going further, with deep regret, and loo...

I apologise for the fact that I was not here at the beginning of the consideration of this group ...

The opening words of the splendid book I referenced earlier are:

“Only the future is certai...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship in this important debate, Mr Gray.

In ope...

Does the Secretary of State agree that it is outrageous for those organisations supporting the We...

My hon. Friend makes an extremely important point. A broad consensus has developed on the Welsh l...

Does that mean we will have a fully bilingual Welsh Grand Committee? I am just hoping.

The hon. Lady knows that the Welsh Grand Committee is fully bilingual when it sits in Wales, but ...

rose—

I am not going to give way, because there are many technical amendments I need to cover and I wan...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that response and will listen to the rest of his spee...

The hon. Gentleman makes an extremely important point that demonstrates the maturity of the debat...

Will my right hon. Friend explain what extraordinary event has happened in the past 14 months to ...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for his intervention. I was about to go on to say that two ...

Does my right hon. Friend not accept that the significant difference is that very many more peopl...

I remind my right hon. Friend that a similar number of people who pay income tax also pay council...

We have had a wide-ranging debate, including on issues not really to do with the lead amendment. ...

We have had a wide-ranging debate, including on issues not really to do with the lead amendment. ...