Madam,

This week I voted to support the Wales Bill in the Welsh Assembly. This is a new law introduced by the UK Government to establish a different relationship between Wales and the UK Government.

Since 1997 when the people of Wales voted to establish the Assembly, there have been no fewer than four new laws to reset the relationship. This latest Bill is more contentious than the previous laws, as with all the others there has been a significant transfer of power to Wales from the UK Government. This Bill is different, as it gives with one hand and takes with another.

For the first time the Welsh Assembly will have control over its own rules and election systems. There will be more powers over energy, transport and the environment, over equality and, significantly, over tax-raising powers. But in the move to a more stable settlement, which would be consistent with the Scottish model, there is a danger that powers could be clawed back from Wales to the UK

I was asked by the First Minister in Wales to return temporarily to the House of Lords to try and knock the Bill into a better shape. We made significant advances, achieving concessions across a whole range of areas. It was these changes, along with the fact that we need to batten down the constitutional hatches before we embark on the journey of leaving the EU, which led us to vote for this new law. It is far from perfect, but it will give us a firmer financial and constitutional footing for the future.

Yours etc,

Eluned Morgan, AM for Mid and West Wales.

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