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  1. Adrian Masters

New Wales Act needed - Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru has called for a new Government of Wales Act to avoid 'wasteful' arguments in the Supreme Court over what powers the Assembly has. It follows decisions by the Attorney General to refer to the court the first two Welsh bills since last year's referendum.

Former leader Ieuan Wyn Jones says a new Act should set out what the Assembly is NOT responsible for, rather than what powers it has. And he pointed to last week's ITV Wales poll as proof that most people here want the Welsh Government and Assembly to have a greater say over the way Wales is run.

When the referendum was won in March 2011, we were told that this was Wales being given the tools it needed to get the job done. But ten months on and the two pieces of Assembly legislation are being challenged. This is a great source of concern and confusion, and is not reflective of the respect agenda that we hear so much about.

“That is why the Party of Wales is proposing decisive action to set out clearly what the Welsh Government’s powers are. A new Government of Wales Act which enshrines the reserved powers model into law is the best way forward. We will be looking at this more closely over the coming weeks and will offer a detailed proposal in our evidence to the Silk Commission when it looks at powers later this year.**

Mr Jones said