Far to many years ago I was working for a Printing and Dyeing Company where there was a Management Shakeup including bringing new people in .
Because one Manager was replaced by an outsider he couldn't be mad redundant so he was given a job of "Energy Conversation" which now may be seen as important and as soon as everybody new he had no real authority even the lowest worker effectively ignored him and he eventually left.
I was reminded of this when reading Dafydd Elis-Thomas in the Wasting Mule saying that the Assembly should decline its consent for the bill and called for the Wales Office to go “back to the drawing board”, suggesting what was on the table couldn’t be improved.
He continued “Of the five attempts to re-write the constitution of Wales in my time in public life, going back to 1978, this is the worst,”
The former leader of Plaid Cymru said he was attracted to the argument that the bill ran “contrary to even what the people of Wales voted for in the last referendum, when they voted for law making powers.”
The draft bill establishes a system of reserved powers – laying out around 260 policy areas that will be withheld to Westminster, with the Assembly handling both what isn’t listed, and what are listed as exceptions to the reservations.
Lord Elis-Thomas suggested that the model of reservations with exceptions would be less clear than the current system of conferred responsibilities, and could result in a “claw-back” in powers.
He said: “The law is less clear than it was before, and not just the law is less clear – what politicians can do (is less clear).”
“Let’s go back to the drawing board, let’s go back to the Northern Ireland Act and see how limited the exceptions were there,” he said.
Lord Elis-Thomas said his main issue with the bill was that “the Secretary of State or somebody on his behalf trawled around all the UK departments and looked for things they didn’t like, and they didn’t like the judgements of the Supreme Court and the Agricultural Bill case and all that stuff.”
The AM for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, asked what could be done to improve the bill, said: “It can’t be improved.”
Bills which change the constitutional set-up of the Assembly are thought to require consent motions to be passed in the Assembly itself.
He added: “There are parts of the draft bill that require the consent of the National Assembly. At the moment I am minded to argue strongly that the Assembly should not allow consent.”
The AM said the parts of the bill that allows the Assembly to handle its own affairs – such as to change its electoral system – were “important to us”.
“But that should be separate from the powers issue,” he said. “The powers issue cannot be decided by the UK Government, it’s got to be decided by an agreement between the two bodies.”
There are those of you read thus Blog who have despaired about the utterings of Dafydd El over the years of the Assemblyn but this time he is Ithink bag on.
Whether the Assembly would have the courage to Bloc consent however sems unlikely especially as it seems Labour may well have collaborate with the Tories to stitch up the Silk Communion.
Just the Manager I referred to above, the Governments proposal seem to be weakening the Assemble to such an extent that we simply give up.
Next May those Parties who want to see the Assembly prosper should let us know what that envisage . I suggest that ant who do not see Wales having the same powers as Scotland in less than five years are not worth our consideration.
Because one Manager was replaced by an outsider he couldn't be mad redundant so he was given a job of "Energy Conversation" which now may be seen as important and as soon as everybody new he had no real authority even the lowest worker effectively ignored him and he eventually left.
I was reminded of this when reading Dafydd Elis-Thomas in the Wasting Mule saying that the Assembly should decline its consent for the bill and called for the Wales Office to go “back to the drawing board”, suggesting what was on the table couldn’t be improved.
He continued “Of the five attempts to re-write the constitution of Wales in my time in public life, going back to 1978, this is the worst,”
The former leader of Plaid Cymru said he was attracted to the argument that the bill ran “contrary to even what the people of Wales voted for in the last referendum, when they voted for law making powers.”
The draft bill establishes a system of reserved powers – laying out around 260 policy areas that will be withheld to Westminster, with the Assembly handling both what isn’t listed, and what are listed as exceptions to the reservations.
Lord Elis-Thomas suggested that the model of reservations with exceptions would be less clear than the current system of conferred responsibilities, and could result in a “claw-back” in powers.
He said: “The law is less clear than it was before, and not just the law is less clear – what politicians can do (is less clear).”
“Let’s go back to the drawing board, let’s go back to the Northern Ireland Act and see how limited the exceptions were there,” he said.
Lord Elis-Thomas said his main issue with the bill was that “the Secretary of State or somebody on his behalf trawled around all the UK departments and looked for things they didn’t like, and they didn’t like the judgements of the Supreme Court and the Agricultural Bill case and all that stuff.”
The AM for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, asked what could be done to improve the bill, said: “It can’t be improved.”
Bills which change the constitutional set-up of the Assembly are thought to require consent motions to be passed in the Assembly itself.
He added: “There are parts of the draft bill that require the consent of the National Assembly. At the moment I am minded to argue strongly that the Assembly should not allow consent.”
The AM said the parts of the bill that allows the Assembly to handle its own affairs – such as to change its electoral system – were “important to us”.
“But that should be separate from the powers issue,” he said. “The powers issue cannot be decided by the UK Government, it’s got to be decided by an agreement between the two bodies.”
There are those of you read thus Blog who have despaired about the utterings of Dafydd El over the years of the Assemblyn but this time he is Ithink bag on.
Whether the Assembly would have the courage to Bloc consent however sems unlikely especially as it seems Labour may well have collaborate with the Tories to stitch up the Silk Communion.
Just the Manager I referred to above, the Governments proposal seem to be weakening the Assemble to such an extent that we simply give up.
Next May those Parties who want to see the Assembly prosper should let us know what that envisage . I suggest that ant who do not see Wales having the same powers as Scotland in less than five years are not worth our consideration.
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