Browse content similar to 06/11/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Tonight, a special edition of The Wales Report. For a leading | :00:07. | :00:13. | |
politicians debate the latest step on the evolution journey. Powers to | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
borrow, powers were some taxes. Does Wales have the appetite for a | :00:20. | :00:30. | |
significant change? Stay with us. Good evening, welcome to The Wales | :00:31. | :00:35. | |
Report. It is just five days since David Cameron and Nick Clegg visited | :00:36. | :00:41. | |
Cardiff Bay and unveiled their proposals were putting the Welsh | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
people in the driving seat on jobs, transport, infrastructure and | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
housing. They were talking about new financial powers for the Welsh | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
government. Control of stamp duty, landfill taxation, powers to borrow | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
money and even powers to set income tax if the people of Wales are | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
proved that in a referendum. It was the long-awaited response to the | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
silk commission, which caused -- Coleford evolving powers. To what | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
extent do the four main parties agree on the way ahead? First, some | :01:15. | :01:20. | |
food for thought on with the journey of the past 16 years has brought us. | :01:21. | :01:22. | |
Here is Professor Wynne Jones. No .3% nationwide in Wales... | :01:23. | :01:41. | |
The people of Wales have given their support to a strong Welsh boys. | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
Voters want the Assembly to have the powers to make its own laws without | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
Parliament having any say. We have the same powers as Northern Ireland | :01:53. | :02:01. | |
and Scotland. We are announcing more power for the Welsh people and the | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
Welsh government. Power that is about building this country up, | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
power that is about making sure we have real accountable government | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
here in Wales. The powers they are talking about are important powers. | :02:16. | :02:18. | |
Borrowing powers, tax varying powers. Local government can do it, | :02:19. | :02:27. | |
the parish council can do it. It has always been an anomaly that this is | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
not possible at a devolved level. This is now changing. It is | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
important. We cannot have properly accountable governments unless the | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
devolved level has some responsibility for raising the money | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
it spends. Otherwise you will not be seriously responsible in terms of | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
how you use that money. All of the parties have accepted that in | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
principle. The fact of the matter is the minor taxes they are talking | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
about are peanuts. The amount of money they raise is very small. | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
Income tax is the only thing that gives you any real financial cloud, | :03:07. | :03:14. | |
raises any real money. People will begin on the basis of believing in a | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
referendum. Let's be honest with ourselves in this regard. That any | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
referendum on the devolution of income tax would be to them a way of | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
paying more tax. Whether it is true or not is a different issue. That is | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
what their default position will be. It may be possible at some point to | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
make an argument that overcomes that. I don't believe that point is | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
reached. The Welsh government is running away from a referendum on | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
that particular issue. They are talking the language of | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
accountability, but they are resigning from embracing it. The UK | :03:50. | :03:56. | |
Government is saying we're living in the best of both possible worlds and | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
that nothing much needs to change. The Welsh government has asked for | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
radical changes, moving to a reserved powers model, devolving | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
police, justice etc. These are incommensurate positions. There is | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
no compromise possible. They have to jump one way or the other. | :04:16. | :04:23. | |
Some thoughts from Professor Richard Wyn Jones. With me, the leader of | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies, Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
and Kirsty Williams of the Liberal Democrats. And we have the finance | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
minister for Wales, Jane Hutt. We did ask the First Minister, Carwyn | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
Jones, to take part but he was unavailable. Thankfully, Jane is | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
representing the Government. Andrew, your colleague, David Cameron, | :04:48. | :04:50. | |
making this announcement with Nick Clegg last week. The principle was, | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
no government should be in a position where it is spending money | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
when it is not responsible for raising some of that money. Is that | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
an argument that holds water? I think it does. On the front page of | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
the silk report, empowerment and responsibility. That is what these | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
proposals are about. It is about giving empowerment so the Welsh | :05:16. | :05:17. | |
comment can do the things it wants to do, but having the responsibility | :05:18. | :05:25. | |
to raise the money it needs. -- Welsh government. We all have a | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
responsibility. If we spend more money than we earn, we are in | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
difficulty. David Jones, the Secretary of State for Wales, has | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
been pretty lukewarm about this. Your party colleague. Are you very | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
enthusiastic about it? Are you saying that varying powers for | :05:46. | :05:47. | |
income tax for the Welsh government would be a good thing? I disagree | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
what you said about the Secretary of State. I was with him on Monday. | :05:54. | :05:59. | |
Lots of people will smile at that. David was very enthuse about the | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
announcements made on Friday. I believe passionately that | :06:05. | :06:07. | |
politicians need to have responsibility and accountability. | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
At the moment we have through the Welsh Assembly and the Government | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
that flows from it is a spending agency. The money comes down the M4. | :06:15. | :06:24. | |
You cannot run a democracy on those principles. You have to have an | :06:25. | :06:27. | |
element of accountability and responsibility, and I think | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
everybody understands that. You have got to have that ability to spend | :06:34. | :06:40. | |
and raise. Kirsty, what was the Liberal Democrat role in this? I | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
don't think the commission would have happened if the Liberal | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
Democrats have not been part of the Coalition Government. We insisted | :06:50. | :06:51. | |
that was written into the agreement, that the process will be | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
set up. There were people in London who did not want the commission | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
established. Working together with party leaders in Wales we were able | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
to establish the commission. I was delighted on Friday to have the | :07:05. | :07:07. | |
announcement. Liberal Democrats have been campaigning for home rule for | :07:08. | :07:14. | |
more than 100 years. This is a very important step towards that | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
announcement -- that, the announcement on Friday. It is powers | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
with a purpose. If devolution is going to be successful, we need the | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
Welsh government and the National Assembly to have the widest range of | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
powers to build a strong economy and fairer society in Wales. These | :07:34. | :07:36. | |
powers will help the Welsh government to that. This condition | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
of a referendum, do you think that is right? And do you think Carwyn | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
Jones is right when he says people may fear the plan is to increase | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
income tax, and for that reason they may not vote for it? Taxes could | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
increase with this change, but taxes could come down as well. The point | :07:59. | :08:05. | |
is that if a government has got the flexibility to use taxation as a | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
tool, then that has to be helpful for the Government. A future | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
government may want to say, for example, put the creation of jobs at | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
the top of its agenda. At the moment there is no incentive on the part of | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
the Welsh government to create jobs because the money raised by the | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
taxation from these jobs doesn't come into a Welsh Treasury. If you | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
had income tax raising powers, there is a direct reason, a direct | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
incentives, to create jobs. A future Plaid Cymru government would relish | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
the opportunity to use these powers. It unlocks other powers as well. | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
More borrowing, for example, would be available. It makes the | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
Government more solvent. It makes other organisations outside look at | :08:55. | :08:56. | |
the Government and say, OK, that is a fair bet for us to put our trust | :08:57. | :09:03. | |
in if it has got the income stream it does not have at the moment. With | :09:04. | :09:11. | |
those possibilities, Jane, how keen are you to try to access these | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
powers? I have two say, the vibe from the First Minister has not been | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
overwhelmingly enthusiastic. It has all been about caution and concern. | :09:22. | :09:29. | |
Are you keen to get these powers? I would disagree entirely, Hugh. On | :09:30. | :09:36. | |
Friday the First Minister was delighted. We went to the press | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
conference together. It was a real endorsement about consensus politics | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
in Wales. We all came together. The fact we got all the political | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
parties to back this, and I have to say, business played a huge part. | :09:50. | :09:56. | |
The first step, as they see it, as -- are those borrowing powers. That | :09:57. | :10:05. | |
is what the Welsh Labour government has been seeking to do. The First | :10:06. | :10:11. | |
Minister said he was delighted. We are now equal partners in the United | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
Kingdom. That is such a strong response. The whole of the silk | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
commission report we embraced. And very importantly, we recognised this | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
gives us the first step, with these smaller taxes, let's remember, we're | :10:26. | :10:31. | |
going to have stamp duty devolved and we know this can help new | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
house-buyers. There are so many opportunities. Landfill tax. | :10:37. | :10:45. | |
Eventually... This is a huge step. And who would have thought this, | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
that we are in this position? It is momentous. It is an historic day. | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
This is the first step on a very exciting journey in devolution. That | :10:57. | :11:04. | |
is right, it is a first step. That's why I don't understand why the | :11:05. | :11:06. | |
Government is putting a brake on these powers. Other parties have | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
said we should press ahead as soon as possible. With the referendum? | :11:11. | :11:21. | |
Yes, of course. When you have got a government complaining about the | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
cuts from Westminster, how on earth would be First Minister preferred to | :11:26. | :11:28. | |
have the Tories setting the full rate of income tax, when we have an | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
opportunity to avail of that ourselves? What is your sense of a | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
referendum at the moment? The four parties campaigned together as we | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
did in 2007 and 2011, there is a chance we could win the referendum. | :11:47. | :11:56. | |
What do you think, Kirsty? Do you think the Welsh people would back | :11:57. | :12:01. | |
these powers today? I think it would be important to explain why these | :12:02. | :12:04. | |
powers are important and what could be done with them. That is what the | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
watch people want to know about. Whether the politicians in Cardiff | :12:10. | :12:12. | |
Bay can use these powers to create more jobs, to make it easier for | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
people to buy their first home, to be able to invest in schools, | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
hospitals, transport infrastructure that they want in their community. | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
These sound like expensive projects. I am not saying they are | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
not beneficial. The assumption people will make is that you want | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
those powers to increasing tax to pay for them? , -- of course, people | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
will be fearful of that. Taxes could go up, they could go down. What | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
would be really important is that the Welsh government would be | :12:45. | :12:46. | |
responsible for the success of their policies. It doesn't matter to the | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
Welsh government weather and a deployment goes up or down. They | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
just get money from London. They would have to get the economy right. | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
They would have to build a stronger economy and create jobs, otherwise | :13:00. | :13:03. | |
it would directly affect their ability. We need to explain to | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
people why it is important to them and their communities. If | :13:09. | :13:11. | |
politicians just sit in the bubble of Cardiff Bay, no, we will not win | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
it. We have to make a case. Like we made a case for the Assembly in the | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
first place. And why we needed legislative powers. We support the | :13:22. | :14:48. | |
road mark that was set out for a referendum to be held here in Wales. | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
-- road map. The arguments can be held as to what we do with those | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
powers. We would like a low tax economy. Quite clearly, the silk | :14:58. | :15:04. | |
commission recommended they should be a referendum. We have accepted | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
all of the recommendations. Very importantly, they said it is vital | :15:11. | :15:14. | |
that both governments, the Welsh government and the UK Government, if | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
there are to be tax varying powers, that we also need a fair funding | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
base. There is no disagreement here between us all. It is vital that we | :15:26. | :15:32. | |
have that fair funding base. This is fair funding for Wales in a | :15:33. | :15:35. | |
strengthened United Kingdom. The fair funding was a big issue when we | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
invited Jerry Hall fun to come to Wales in 2008 to look at our funding | :15:41. | :15:47. | |
base. He said we need to do something about this. It is not | :15:48. | :15:59. | |
conditional, is it? The referendum and the powers are different. The | :16:00. | :16:09. | |
recommendation says, move to tax varying powers. We all agree that | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
actually, if we do have these tax varying powers, we still have a lot | :16:14. | :16:22. | |
of dependence on our block grants. We want to spend the money wisely | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
for jobs and growth. It is still a block grant. We all agree and we | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
have all supported the fact that Danny Alexander and I worked hard to | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
say that yes, we need to stop that kind of unfairness in our funding, | :16:35. | :16:39. | |
to ensure that when we do move forward, and that is what Carwyn | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
Jones said yesterday, he would be happy to campaign when we were | :16:45. | :16:52. | |
clearer. We need that fair funding base. I want to ask the three of you | :16:53. | :17:00. | |
in opposition to tackle that point. There will be viewers watching who | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
say that if you accept we do not have fair funding, if that is not | :17:06. | :17:14. | |
right now, surely it is right to try to get that changed before you go on | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
to talk about things? Isn't Carwyn Jones right to say, hang on a | :17:20. | :17:26. | |
second, we want it referendum -- we don't want a referendum? We need to | :17:27. | :18:01. | |
reform Barnett. The first priority is to settle the deficit issues. We | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
need to have a proper funding formula for the nations and regions | :18:07. | :18:12. | |
of the whole of the UK. And we need to get it right. What is so | :18:13. | :18:15. | |
depressing about what the First Minister has been saying since | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
Friday is that even if Barnett was reformed, he even then won't say | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
whether he would call a referendum and whether he would campaign for a | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
yes vote. We cannot afford the Welsh nation to be held back by divisions | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
within the Labour Party and eight committee on the part of the First | :18:32. | :18:42. | |
Minister. Is it unfair that the First Minister is taking a | :18:43. | :18:45. | |
common-sense approach? He is saying that we do not have a fair funding | :18:46. | :18:49. | |
bases at the moment. We must fix that before we put anything to | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
people in a referendum. Is that not something people will understand? | :18:55. | :19:01. | |
Plaid Cymru has been banging the fair funding formula for more than a | :19:02. | :19:09. | |
decade now. I would take the First Minister's line of argument much | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
more seriously if Labour had done something about this when they had | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
the opportunity. You still say he is right? Of course, the Barnett | :19:18. | :19:24. | |
formula needs reforming. I think a referendum could take place. What | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
was very frustrating yesterday in questions to the First Minister was | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
that I asked him if the Barnett formula reform was so important, | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
would he commit his party to including that as a commitment in | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
the 2015 election manifesto? He refused to make that commitment. I | :19:43. | :19:50. | |
then went on to ask him if the Barnett formula was reformed, would | :19:51. | :19:54. | |
he then champion the case for income tax powers and a yes vote in the | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
referendum? He refused to commit to that as well. This suggests to me | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
this has been put up as an obstacle. It is an unnecessary and artificial | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
obstacle. Barnett should be reformed but it should not be conditional. I | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
think it is disappointing to have what I would describe as my | :20:17. | :20:23. | |
colleagues in this, not to recognise the achievement that a Labour First | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
Minister has helped to deliver this historic achievement. We have all | :20:29. | :20:35. | |
delivered it. We did as a government ask Jerry to come in and we agreed | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
that his conclusions were right. It is very important, as the First | :20:40. | :20:43. | |
Minister said yesterday, we have secured a referendum. It is going to | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
be for a future assembly in terms of the timescale. Let's get this into | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
legislation. Let's today recognise the achievements and say, let's get | :20:53. | :20:56. | |
on with our borrowing powers, early access, enhancement of the M4 | :20:57. | :21:05. | |
infrastructure. Let's get those smaller taxes devolved. Let's reform | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
stamp duty. Let's unite. Don't let this message go out today that we | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
are not in the Assembly, all of us, determined to make the silk | :21:16. | :21:23. | |
commission. And the important achievement... It is for the people | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
of Wales to decide how we move forward. It is interesting listening | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
to everybody talking about more hand-outs. We understand there is an | :21:33. | :21:38. | |
issue. But if you use taxation levers positively, you can grow your | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
economy. That from the right is what I am all about. It is not... The | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
First Minister is must like the ghost in the room. He didn't bother | :21:50. | :21:59. | |
to turn up. The point I would make is this, ultimately what we need to | :22:00. | :22:08. | |
do if these responsibilities come to the Assembly, income tax powers, all | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
politicians should be thinking about how they grow the economy with those | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
powers. From the Conservative Party point of view we would be a low tax | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
economy. With lower taxation you create more. We have a spending | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
agency at the moment in the guise of the Welsh comment. It receives a | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
lump of money and dispenses it around Wales. Ministers driving | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
their black limousines opening and cutting ribbons will stop if the | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
school is shot, the school is to blame. If it succeeds, the | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
Government takes the credit. That is not sustainable. It does not make | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
for a better government in Wales. I want to talk about the very | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
important issue of accountability. Is the National Assembly in a | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
position to properly scrutinise spending, if we are talking about | :23:03. | :23:09. | |
enhanced powers, varying income tax, is the National Assembly today | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
in a fit state to do that? Are there enough assembly members? What is | :23:16. | :23:25. | |
your view, Kirsty? The Richard commission did recommend more | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
assembly members. I am very aware that going out to the Welsh people | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
and asking for more paid politicians is never going to be a popular thing | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
to do. What we need to look at is how weird is governed. The right | :23:37. | :23:41. | |
number of councillors and assembly members, the right number of MPs. I | :23:42. | :23:45. | |
don't think you can look at one arm of the Government without looking at | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
representation across the piece. As more powers, from Westminster, we | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
are going to have to acknowledge about whether the balance between | :23:54. | :23:55. | |
Welsh MPs and assembly members is right. It is the same point that was | :23:56. | :24:14. | |
just made. Given the austerity, the cats and the squeeze people are | :24:15. | :24:17. | |
feeling at the moment. More money for politicians is not something | :24:18. | :24:21. | |
that will be popular. So I think that argument about taking into | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
account wider governance issues, how many MPs we have, how much we spend | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
on councillors, and if you could increase the number of Assembly | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
Members without spending more money overall on politicians, I think it | :24:37. | :24:38. | |
would be something you could managed to sell to people. If you are | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
arguing for additional expenditure the politicians, given the fuss over | :24:44. | :24:49. | |
energy bills for example over the weekend win many MPs were claiming | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
its Dawson at amount for energy, I think it will be a bitter pill for | :24:54. | :25:02. | |
people to swallow. There was a capable of taking a view on this and | :25:03. | :25:06. | |
making a mature judgement. If you have a governing body and an | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
assembly taking on more powers, clearly that implies more work, it | :25:10. | :25:16. | |
involves more people, scrutinising more thoroughly. So the case could | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
be made for an increase in numbers. In Wales what we need is more | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
entrepreneurs not politicians. Ultimately we can look at the way | :25:29. | :25:37. | |
the assembly works. We only have two plenary sessions a week and the | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
committee deal on Thursday. Constituency work is important but | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
to be relevant what is the point in dealing with events on the Tuesday | :25:45. | :25:48. | |
if they happened on the Thursday of the previous week. It suits the | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
government because they can run wild in their limousines. What we have is | :25:53. | :26:01. | |
a maxed out government and I would like to see a shrinkage in the | :26:02. | :26:03. | |
number of ministers with God in Cardiff Bay. | :26:04. | :26:18. | |
We did win that election and we are in power. We are held to account | :26:19. | :26:28. | |
adequately by our partners but we also work closely together to move | :26:29. | :26:40. | |
towards accountability. The second Silk Commission will look at whether | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
we need to extend our responsibilities and that is the | :26:44. | :26:51. | |
time to think about this. You mentioned the second Silk Commission | :26:52. | :26:54. | |
so let's have a thought on what you hope the second part of the Silk | :26:55. | :27:04. | |
Commission will produce. What are you hoping for? Energy powers are | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
key for Plaid Cymru. The ownership and control of the ability to create | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
and generate energy, we could use those powers to bring money back | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
into the public purse and keep people's energy bills down. Also the | :27:21. | :27:27. | |
Criminal Justice System. In so many areas it is failing people in | :27:28. | :27:31. | |
Wales. There are no facilities for prisoners in the North and if you | :27:32. | :27:37. | |
are young you have to go over the border to prison. There are no | :27:38. | :27:41. | |
facilities for women and we could argue that we want fewer women in | :27:42. | :27:44. | |
prison but it should be the case that women can be incarcerated if | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
they have two the closer to their families. There are a whole lot of | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
ink -- areas we would like to see devolved to Wales. I would like to | :27:55. | :28:01. | |
see criminal just a smart as devolved, police devolved. I would | :28:02. | :28:05. | |
like to see greater clarity of the devolution settlement. There are | :28:06. | :28:13. | |
still too many grey areas. We end up with decisions going to the Supreme | :28:14. | :28:16. | |
Court which is not good for anybody. I would like to see a clear | :28:17. | :28:26. | |
distinction similar to Scotland. We have made a comprehensive solution. | :28:27. | :28:33. | |
We identified we are not going to give a running commentary on the | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
Silk Commission. We're going to allow them space to the evidence | :28:38. | :28:44. | |
forward. I think we've got a first rate Criminal Justice System and | :28:45. | :28:48. | |
policing does not recognise borders. What we have to do is deliver for | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
the people of Wales. We have got the financial package sorted and we now | :28:54. | :28:55. | |
need to focus on getting a better health service, their dedication | :28:56. | :29:03. | |
system and a better economy. It was a very big step last week so when | :29:04. | :29:09. | |
you look at the second Silk Commission, what are you hoping for? | :29:10. | :29:21. | |
There is a measure of consensus. It is going to be tethered to get the | :29:22. | :29:24. | |
kind of consensus with hard in the first silk report. -- Silk | :29:25. | :29:34. | |
Commission. It is important we go for this reserve powers model so we | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
have the powers and we are clear about it like Scotland. Policing is | :29:41. | :29:46. | |
crucial to us and we have to be very careful about taking further steps | :29:47. | :29:50. | |
in terms of criminal justice. That is for the longer term. It is powers | :29:51. | :29:57. | |
for a purpose. Very interesting debate. It is good of you all to | :29:58. | :30:04. | |
come in. That is it for this special edition. If you have any comments, | :30:05. | :30:19. | |
please get in touch. We will be back next Wednesday. Until then, thank | :30:20. | :30:21. | |
you for watching and good night. | :30:22. | :30:28. |