Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Wednesday 17th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

Of course, I could make the point that Professor Laura McAllister has stood twice as a Plaid Cymru candidate, so I am not surprised that her comments in the Senedd were very different from those of the First Minister, who said that this would not be a consideration of the commission. While we are, of course, interested in its work, it would not be right for us to pre-empt any possible recommendations. I remind the noble Lord that, in a St David’s Day poll this year, 80% of respondents expressed their support for the union.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, surely we should acknowledge that the bold experiment of establishing a devolved system in a unitary state is not final. Therefore, what is the vision of the Government as they set about giving evidence to the commission? Will they go beyond the status quo?

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

That is a question for later on in the process. I am delighted to take the question back to the department for a steer on what its response will be, but I reiterate that we are keen on pointing out all the advantages that Wales has had through the union, particularly during the Covid pandemic, with help for the Nightingale courts and the help of the Army for the ambulancemen. Wales has had a lot of tangible benefits, not least a huge increase in the amount of money given to it in the spending review—£18 billion, as opposed to £16.9 billion.