, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you for those comments. It is an irony, isn't it, that the UK Government is a proponent of the free market, but the free market only when it comes to maximising the profits and directors' pay. When the free market dictates that we are actually not…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you for those comments. They're comments that I agree with, and I can say, certainly, that as we look at the Bill, as we explore and consider its detail far more carefully, we will look at every opportunity to ensure that it does not impact on the…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you for the question. Your interpretation of the ILO references to minimum service levels is taken completely out of context, as it refers to voluntary arrangements with trade unions, and those have always existed within the United Kingdom, and indeed…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you for that supplementary question. The Bill is indeed misnamed. It is really a 'sack the nurses Bill', it's a 'sack the ambulance worker Bill', or an 'abolition of the right to strike Bill'. It removes the sacrosanct protections to workers and trade…
, Plenary
Topical Questions
Thank you for the question. The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill is an unjustified attack on workers' rights and trade unions. The way to resolve industrial disputes is by negotiation and agreement. It is not through ill-conceived legislation that will…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I do agree with you. The Thomas commission recommended the devolution of justice. I've made many comments in the past about the failures over many decades of the approach to legal aid and its importance in the empowerment of people. And, of course, the recent…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
The cost-of-living crisis means that it is vital that legal advice is accessible to safeguard everyone’s rights, yet the UK Government has eroded justice to such an extent that the accessibility and the affordability of civil justice in the United Kingdom is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for that. Of course, this is something I've commented on on a very regular basis before the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and in questions in this Senedd, because the effective engagement by UK Government, Welsh Government and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much for the question. Primary legislation that can be made in Wales should be made in Wales. There may be occasions when it is sensible and advantageous for provision within the Senedd’s legislative competence to be made in UK parliamentary…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question, and it is a really important area, and I'm as pleased as you are about the very specific focus on youth justice, because that is the most glaring area where there is such a jagged edge. Youth justice, whilst it remains…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you. I have regular meetings with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Bellamy. I have made, and will continue to make, the case for the devolution of youth justice to Wales during these discussions.
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Firstly, thank you. There is obviously work that is under way in respect of the policy work and the legislative work with regard to the recommendations of the Law Commission in respect of tribunals. With regard to the point you raise on jurisdiction, I think…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much for the question. 'Delivering Justice for Wales' sets out our intention to take forward reform to create a modernised tribunal system for Wales. We are shaping detailed proposals for reform, drawing on the evidence base for change and our…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I believe we are attending to the issues that affect the people of Wales. And you're absolutely right, in terms of your interpretation of what the Supreme Court judgment means with regard to the carrying out of a referendum under the referendums…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you. You do raise an important constitutional point. And it's very interesting, in Gordon Brown's report, that he very specifically describes the United Kingdom as an association of nations, so in recognition of the make-up of that. That is certainly my…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. The judgment was specific to the situation in Scotland. I do not consider that it will have any implications for the interpretation of the Welsh settlement. The Supreme Court was very clear that it was not departing from its…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, thank you again for a number of important questions that are there. Can I just say, firstly, in terms of the general principle of self-determination? I think that's one that the First Minister and I and others have made clear in the past, that nations…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for raising that. You raise some very specific matters that relate to, obviously, planning matters and the powers of Welsh Government. And of course, there are issues that have been raised, for example, in respect of another coal extraction area…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for that. In respect of the particular circumstances that you raise, I think those are ones that could and probably should be referred to the Minister, who I'm sure would respond. There is of course another course of action, in terms of reference to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, obviously, we do want the maximum of co-operation between Members of the Senedd and any public bodies, and, indeed, private bodies as well, where they reflect upon Senedd matters and Senedd duties and constituency duties. I think the only way I can…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question and you covered some very interesting points within there. And I'm very pleased, and I think we commonly recognise, don't we, the importance of changes that have occurred: the fact that we are a primary law legislature and the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I thank you very much for that and for raising that. I don't know whether you're aware; I was of course one of the lawyers in the Orgreave trial and riot cases, in which we actually obtained an absolute non-committal, a 'not guilty', in respect of all 90 of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I wrote to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Lord Bellamy, in August of this year, to call for full disclosure from public bodies during public inquiries or criminal proceedings. I believe that a Hillsborough…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, thank you for those comments, and I don't disagree with the points that you've made. Many of them are points that we've made very much within our 'Delivering Justice for Wales' paper, and of course the recent research by Cardiff University, the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, what I can say is that the position of the Welsh Government remains the same. We support the recommendations of the Thomas commission, and we also support, specifically within that, the devolution of justice and the devolution, in particular, of…
