Senior Labour MS Mick Antoniw attacks UK Labour for making Welsh devolution grind to a halt

Martin Shipton

Former Counsel General Mick Antoniw has criticised the UK Labour government’s lack of progress on further Welsh devolution since winning the general election nearly a year ago.

Mr Antoniw, who will stand down as Labour MS for Pontypridd at next year’s Senedd election, has written an article for the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ Agenda journal in which he analyses constitutional developments in Wales.

His intervention comes less than a week after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that the Welsh Government would again be bypassed in the administration of post-Brexit regional aid funding for Wales. Instead it will be handled by the UK Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, in conjunction with the Wales Office, headed by Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens.

‘Lethargic’

In his article, Mr Antoniw states: “Since the general election, progress on further Welsh devolution has been non-existent. At the moment it is difficult to see that anything of consequence has changed. If anything, it has deteriorated. A lot of talk and superficial good will but little substance and lethargic commitment to reform.

“Gordon Brown recommended that there was no reason why Wales should not have the same powers as Scotland. It has been a great political irony that the asymmetrical devolution model has found so much favour with some MPs. The defence of the England and Wales justice system, an outdated, post-Victorian model that is failing in just about every respect due to lack of funding and outdated concepts of the operation and administration of justice is bizarre and almost reflects a colonial mentality.

“The Welsh Government published a detailed set of proposals for justice reform, highlighting how it was not only needed but essential to building a 21st century justice system. A move towards dispute resolution, drug and alcohol courts, family reform, youth justice and probation devolution all had at their core the recognition that justice is about resolving disputes and resolving many of the issues which are rooted in social and economic inequality and poverty. The last UK Government largely ignored the report.

“To date, I have still seen no comprehensive response or analysis. The lack of response sadly reflects a retrospective and introverted constitutional conservatism that permeates across Westminster politics.

Nye Bevan asked in his book In Place of Fear: “Where does power lie and how can it be attained by the workers….

“It was no abstract question for us. The circumstances of our lives made it a burning, luminous mark of interrogation. Where was power and which the road to it?”

“The Brown report embraces these principles: ‘The UK is at a constitutional moment and needs change comparable to the important shifts in power in the 19th and 20th centuries that widened the franchise, reformed Parliament or, more recently, introduced devolution. Our economy is faltering. Our democracy has lost the trust of its people, who have repeatedly voted for change. 17.4m people voted for Brexit in 2016 and 1.6m in Scotland voted to leave the UK in 2014. … But if we are to transform our country, we must change not just who governs us but how we are governed. … Constitutions establish the framework of government in a country, but they also serve social and economic objectives setting out the purpose and direction of a country and the values and principles recognised by the people and the institutions of government.’

“Yet, I have heard it said many times by many politicians, that there are too many other important issues and that because the Constitution is not regularly raised on doorsteps it isn’t important!

“This quite frankly is nonsense. The Constitution is the agreement, the compact between Government and the People. It is about the exercise of power within the Rule of Law and we ignore it at our peril. It is the very essence of government.

‘Overwhelmed’

He continued: “Throughout the last 14 years, we have been overwhelmed by constitutional issues, Brexit, Human Rights, Civil Rights, EU and other trade agreements and many others, and we continue to be so.

“What they really mean is it is not important if it involves devolving power to the people of Wales. The resistance to constitutional reform often seems to be more about fear of change and loss of status.

“Some will argue that constitutional reform for Wales is an argument about sovereignty and this is wholly a matter that lies with Westminster. This is an outdated “colonial” and “conservative” response. For me, sovereignty can only come from the people. A power that belongs to the people but is exercised by parliament with their consent. If we really believe that sovereignty comes from the people, then within a devolved structure, where we have four legislatures with substantial legislative and administrative powers, with their own electoral mandates, elected by the people, then sovereignty can only be shared. This is a concept that some seem reluctant to concede, to the detriment of parliamentary democracy across the UK.

“So, with an asymmetric devolution system, a dysfunctional UK constitutional structure, there is a paralysis of reform; yet, the disintegration and fragmentation of politics across the UK is clear to see.

“In Wales, after 14 years of painful Tory austerity, there is a real need to make the changes that have been recommended in so many commissions and reports.

“We cannot afford to delay reform.

“This is what I believe is essential if we are to get back onto a stable, workable and efficient democratic parliamentary structure:

1 Abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected Council of the Nations and Regions. Its function would be to be a Constitutional chamber, and a scrutineer of legislation.

2 End first-past-the-post as the electoral system for Westminster Parliament. It no longer works.

3 Introduce a new Constitutional Reform Act to put the Inter–Parliamentary Governance Framework on a statutory basis. This will protect the Constitutional structure. This should also include the Sewell Convention. Sewell can no longer depend on goodwill and trust. It needs to be justiciable. There is no longer a need for a Welsh and Scottish office. These are expensive pre-devolution creations which have become outdated, irrelevant and undermine the operational development of the Inter-Parliamentary Framework. It is time for them to be phased out.

4 Develop a new, needs-based financial settlement for the nations and regions of the UK, which has a clear constitutional framework.

5 Devolve the justice system incrementally over the next 10 years, starting with the devolution of youth justice, probation and policing, all of which are so intrinsically intertwined already with devolved functions.

6 Recognise a Welsh legal jurisdiction. This is essentially an administrative step but is long overdue.

7 Wales should have a designated judge in the Supreme Court.

8 Devolve the Crown Estate to Wales. This can be achieved without disrupting existing plans. Wales’ recent history is one of being exploited for its national resources of coal and water. We should learn the lesson of history and ensure this isn’t repeated with the Crown Estate and the resource of offshore wind and tidal energy.

9 Extend full and equal parliamentary privilege to all the Parliaments of the nations of the UK.

10 The UK Government should formally recognise responsibility for the cost of pre-devolution coal tip safety and engage with the Welsh Government over the funding of a 10-year plan for tip removal and land restoration.

11 Repeal the Tory UK Internal Market Act. This was introduced to undermine devolution and centralise UK Governmental power post–Brexit. It is not necessary and undermines the excellent common frameworks which were established to ensure hegemony across the UK internal market.

“These are short to medium term measures. In the longer term, the UK needs a new constitutional settlement which can be achieved by a UK wide constitutional convention to settle the democratic framework for the UK for the next 50 to 100 years.”