Christmas comes early for Welsh Labour trio
SO, what did you make of today’s Westminster Cabinet reshuffle?
I imagine glasses will be chinking in the homes of Kevin Brennan, Huw Irranca-Davies and Ian Lucas. In a move that has surprised even seasoned political watchers, the trio of Welsh Labour MPs have all been promoted to the Cabinet.
Or they have if this Plaid Cymru press release is to be believed, at any rate.
The move has raised eyebrows even more, given that both Irranca-Davies and Lucas were until today Parliamentary Secretaries of State, two rungs below Cabinet level.
Reaction from Westminster to the shock move has been surprisingly muted. Nor is it clear whether key Brown allies Lord Mandelson and Ed Balls, together with Deputy Leadership contender Hilary Benn, are to play any further part in Gordon Brown’s administration. Their sudden departure from the tops jobs at BIS, DCSF and DEFRA marks one of the most ruthless and surprising collective sackings since Harold Macmillan’s Night of the Long Knives in 1962.
None of the the individuals concerned were available for comment tonight. It is unclear whether anyone contacted them.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Flickr
Adam
I think that it is beam me up Scottie time. If you follow the logic of this argument then there should be fewer Welsh MPs for a start. Perhaps we could start by chopping some of the smaller rural constituencies in the north west of Wales. Welsh and presumably Scottish MPs should also not be allowed to vote on any issue that effects England . This will automatically give the Tories a majority on a number of issues which because of Barnett consequentials could effect Wales.
On the undemocratic issue Plaid should always remember that the person under whose name the press release was issued has a mandate from no one except the small group of Plaid members who decided to place her top of a closed regional list. In the interests of openness and transparency perhaps we could be told how many people actually took part in this internal selection process.
I also don’t see the logic of this type of attack when Plaid in the New Year will expect the Labour Party to do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to any future referendum on more powers. Plaid should release that there is only one not two Labour Parties in Wales. You can’t cuddle up to the Cardiff Bay faction and then attack those Labour politicians who have decided to serve the people by sitting in the Westminster Parliament. It isn’t good politics and it certainly isn’t the right approach for anyone who wants a ‘yes’ vote in any future referendum. Some of us were there in 1979 as well as 1997. If Plaid alienate enough of Labour core activists they will not know what has hit them in any future referendum. Perhaps as a party they should concentrate on ensuring that they all sing from the same hymn sheet. It takes some doing for a Nationalist party any where in the world to select a candidate who doesn’t believe in independence as a basic principle. Plaid achieved this first in 2007. Perhaps they could also explain the logic of Dafydd Ellis Thomas’s letter in yesterday’s Western Mail. My reading of it was that he seems quite happy with the present LCO arrangement and this would therefore suggest that he doesn’t fully support the headlong rush for a referendum in the autumn of 2010.
This is a strange angle of attack. Are they suggesting Welsh MPs should have their influence reduced? What good would that do anybody? I know they don’t believe in the Union, but I do, and either way, diminishing Wales’ voice in it as a proxy argument for independence just doesn’t wash. Someone is bored in Plaid HQ this week I think.
It isn’t a particularly well structured press release but there is an interesting argument here. In simple terms, there does seem to be something unfair about politicians elected from constituencies where responsibilities have been devolved then running such functions in England. Think of when John Reid – a Scottish MP (and a damn fine one, to boot) – became Secretary of State for Health. The irony and political complexity of the situation was the subject of much media and political commentary at the time.
It is a theme worth returning to as there is a degree of unfairness here – but unfairness to English voters rather than Welsh ones.
Having said that, it is worth remembering the way that devolution functions from a legal perspective. The Welsh Assembly Government gains its powers to act in two ways. One is through the passage of Assembly Measures (primary law) which confer legal powers on Welsh Ministers – but of course this route has been relatively limited and only began to function in 2007. The other route is through functions delegated from UK Acts of Parliament. Prior to devolution these were conferred on a Wales-only basis (if conferred at all) through the Ministers in the Welsh Office. Following 1997, these powers (and others which have been added since) have been handed to Welsh Ministers. They enable WAG ministers to make secondary legislation, allocate funds or introduce strategy. Such powers are essentially the building blocks of devolution or of any form of government administration.
If you asked people to think which policy area was most fully devolved to Wales they would probably say health. It is surprising therefore that, in the first two Assemblies post devolution, my understanding is that more secondary legislation on health in Wales was made by UK Health Ministers over aspects of that policy area not devolved than there was by Health Ministers in Wales.
When I found this out it made me rethink my position on two things. The first was that I realised that far less was devolved than I had imagined, and it was therefore too simplistic to say Welsh or Scottish MPs should not serve as Ministers in UK departments predominantly dealing with policy areas presumed devolved. The second was that I became even more convinced that fuller powers needed to be conferred not just on the Assembly (by adopting Part 4 powers under the Government of Wales Act) but also on the Welsh Assembly Government through the transferring of more functions under existing UK Acts of Parliament to Welsh Ministers.
The headline in this press release may be easy – but winning further powers for Welsh Ministers to make a difference is more than just a matter of winning a referendum next year. I may return to this theme in a fuller article next year.
“It isn’t a particularly well structured press release but there is an interesting argument here. In simple terms, there does seem to be something unfair about politicians elected from constituencies where responsibilities have been devolved then running such functions in England”
The argument set out in the press release is totally flawed. It’s very poorly researched. Had the Plaid press officer made a bit more effort, then they’d probably realise their argument could be torn to pieces, pretty much like this:
Ian Lucas is a junior minister in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. His responsibilities, by and large, are not devolved (see portfolio here – http://www.bis.gov.uk/ministers/ian-lucas), as he is responsible for policies such as general Business policy, Companies House, the Insolvency Service (including companies investigations), and export control. He’s also the Minister responsible for regulatory reform.
Kevin Brennan – his portfolio is a little more complex. He’s a Minister in DCSF (Ed Balls’ department) and Lord Mandelson’s DBIS. His main responsibility is Skills policy, but he’s also the Minister for Consumer Affairs – responsible for competition policy, and consumer affairs issues. These policy areas are not devolved either.
Huw Irranca Davies, the Minister for Marine and Natural Environment at DEFRA, was the Minister responsible for taking the Marine environment and Marine Bill through Parliament. That bill was, from what I remember, a UK-wide bill, or at the very least an England and Wales bill. A lot of his work, on Fisheries for instance, involves negotiating at an EU level for the UK as a whole.
The press release goes on to say “Since the formation of the Welsh Assembly in 1999 many decisions regarding policy areas such as health, education and rural affairs in Wales have been made by Ministers of the Welsh Assembly Government. Any decisions on these areas made in Westminster affect England only.”
“The Plaid AM for Mid and West Wales was referring to Welsh Labour MPs Kevin Brennan, Huw Irranca-Davies and Ian Lucas who collectively have cabinet responsibility over education, rural affairs and skills all of which are areas that have been devolved to Wales, meaning that any decisions made on these in Westminster will affect only those living in England.”
That’s not actually strictly correct.
Firstly, they are not Cabinet Ministers, so they do not have ” cabinet responsibility over education, rural affairs and skills”. That is a shocking and very basic error.
Secondly, there are areas within Health, Education and Rural Affairs policy that are not devolved to the Assembly. For instance, The pay and conditions of teachers in Wales is an example of a policy in Education not devolved to the Assembly. The ban on hunting with Dogs is a policy in Rural Affairs that is not devolved to the Assembly.
Try again, Plaid!