The Assembly ‘has established itself as the effective Parliament of Wales’, says former key aide to Margaret Thatcher, Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach.

In a speech to the Cardiff Business Club on Monday evening, Lord Griffiths highlighted devolution as one of the major issues facing Wales in the future.  

As well as arguing for a renegotiation of the Barnett formula as a matter of priority and for the granting of greater fiscal powers to Wales in the longer term, Lord Griffiths outlined how his experiences of discussing Welsh issues such as education in London have convinced him of the benefits of the Assembly, which has, he said, brought decision making closer to the people of Wales and led the way in the UK in responding to the recession. 

Lord Griffiths said:  

“Since 1997 the Assembly has been enthusiastically supported by all political parties and established itself as the effective Parliament of Wales. It is the symbol of the emerging political culture of the nation, is much closer to the electorate than Westminster could ever be, and has changed its structure.  

“Instead of being a beefed up version of a local authority as originally it started it has evolved into a competent legislature and to a separate executive supporting cabinet government. 

“The Assembly has improved significantly the quality of the debate over potential policy changes in areas such as education and health. “In some areas such as the speedy response to the recession it has led the way in the UK. Under the £48million Pro Act scheme companies on short term working can receive up to £4000 per employee, half as a wage subsidy and half as training subsidy in order to keep them employed. So far more than £24million had been extended to over 200 companies across Wales supporting 9200 jobs.

“(Public opinion has undergone) a remarkable turnaround in little over a generation. It is now unthinkable that we could return to the previous system of government in which a Secretary of State and two Ministers, not one of which need be Welsh, had complete control of policy in Wales.” 

Lord Griffiths also described how the All-Wales Convention’s report, which recommends that the National Assembly for Wales be given primary lawmaking powers, is backed by the five criteria set out in Tomorrow’s Wales’ Declaration for Welsh Democracy.

Six weeks, eight meetings, dozens of supporters, hundreds of miles, thousands of leaflets. All resulting in a network of supporters with people in all parts of Wales ready to get to work and spread the word about why we need to secure a Yes vote in the referendum on the Assembly’s powers. Meetings were held in Caernarfon, Cwmbran, Swansea, Cardiff, Wrexham, Aberystwyth, Pontypridd and Carmarthen, and it is obvious that there is a strong desire to get a successful campaign going and to make sure that Wales is better governed.

We must thank everyone who came to the meetings and especially those speakers who shared their experiences of the current system with us, and explained why it needs to be changed.

Amongst the politicians were Dafydd Iwan, Mike German and Peter Black. We also had valuable contributions from All Wales Convention members Nick Bennett, Marc Phillips, Alex Aldridge, Paul O’Shea and Aled Edwards. It was striking to hear every one of this group describe the total unanimity amongst the Convention’s members that it was time to give the National Assembly primary lawmaking powers in the areas in which it has devolved responsibility. Even if there was some doubt at the beginning of the process, by the end it was plainly obvious to everyone that there was a need to change the current system for the benefit of democracy in Wales.

In Cardiff and Cwmbran we had speeches from people who experience the dysfunction of the current system in their professional lives. Mark Hinge from Bay Communications and Lee Waters from Sustrans Cymru were completely convinced that the current system is confusing, complicated, and frustrates exciting developments in Wales. Lee described his frustration in trying to introduce an LCO intending to provide a better walking and cycling network in Wales. With proper lawmaking powers, it would have been easier for Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity, to ensure that Welsh councils are obliged to consider the need to maintain such a network in a similar manner to the way in which highways are maintained.

The purpose of these meetings was to prepare the ground for the official Yes campaign when it is established after the General Election. The political parties are very busy at the moment with their election campaigns, but it’s important that networks are created now, in advance of the establishment of the official Yes campaign.

Some of these groups have started to campaign already. The Swansea group, under the chairmanship of Tyrone O’Sullivan, has had considerable attention in the local press. They’ve also set up a street stall to distribute leaflets and collect signatures on the Declaration for Welsh Democracy. Supporters in Arfon are also busy distributing leaflets and the Cardiff group were out leafletting before the final Six Nations match in Cardiff over the weekend. The Swansea, Wrexham and Aberystwyth Student groups have all got their own Facebook groups, which are going from strength to strength.

We will be holding more meetings in the future – after the General Election – in areas such as Pembrokeshire, Powys, Anglesey and the South Wales Valleys. Remember to get in touch if you’d like to see a meeting in your area or if you want to set up a local group.

It’s encouraging to see such enthusiasm and readiness to work on a cross-party basis. Let’s hope that by mid-May, hundreds more will have joined with us to help make sure that there is a positive and decisive vote in favour of primary lawmaking powers when the referendum comes.

The Cymru Yfory stand at the National Eisteddfod was busy all week, as hundreds of people called by during the week. We were also able to collect nearly 2,000 new signatories to the Declaration for Welsh Democracy.

Pictured below signing the Declaration are Eleanor Burnham AM, Brynle Williams AM and former AM Owen John Thomas.

Tomorrow’s Wales’ Declaration for Welsh Democracy was launched today with one hundred initial signatories which included prominent Welsh writers, actors, sportsmen, poets, churchmen and politicians.

The aim of the Declaration for Welsh Democracy is to highlight the issues at stake in the debate on Wales’ constitutional future and to win public support for law-making powers for the Assembly and a referendum to bring that into effect.

It does this by drawing attention to the principles that we believe any system of governance should adhere to, and how holding a referendum on primary law-making powers for the Assembly can move us nearer to such a system in Wales. We would urge everyone who believes that Wales needs a system of governance that would allow the Assembly to get to grips with changing the lives of the people of Wales for the better, and which will be stable, accountable and democratic, to support this Declaration.

You can sign up to the Declaration by completing the form on our website. Alternatively, you can download a printable form here and return it by post to the address provided.

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A DECLARATION FOR WELSH DEMOCRACY

We the undersigned believe that the creation of a system of effective democratic governance for Wales is a matter of major importance. Such a system should: 

* Be efficient in its use of time and resources;
* Be comprehensible and transparent;
* Promote wide participation by the public and civil society;
* Respect the autonomy of the National Assembly as the elected body which represents the people of Wales;
* Offer constitutional stability and thus a means of concentrating on the implementation of a policy programme that can get to grips with the problems and release the potential of Wales.

We believe that this would best be achieved by the granting of primary law-making powers to the National Assembly, and we call for the holding of a referendum to that end.