Pride in Parliament could benefit Wales
WHEN our National Assembly was set up in 1999 it had significantly fewer powers than the Scottish Parliament, or indeed, the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Both of the other bodies could make laws of their own while the Welsh Assembly was initially only allowed to make secondary legislation – essentially putting through regulations arising out of laws passed at Westminster.
Later the Assembly was allowed to seek permission from Westminster to pass laws in clearly defined areas – the only example in the world of one legislature having to seek permission from another to create new laws of its own.
Six years ago a referendum took place that allowed the Assembly to initiate laws of its own without the need to crave permission from elsewhere. There was a substantial Yes vote and the Assembly is now an equal partner with the other devolved administrations in the sense that it can make its own laws.
This enhanced status led to calls for the body’s name to be changed from an Assembly to a Parliament and it has now been recommended that this should happen, with the body referred to bilingually as both the Welsh Parliament and Senedd.
Unsurprisingly, such a proposal has its critics. Language activists say the body should simply be known by the Welsh name, Senedd, while others less enthusiastic about devolution say changing the name would be a waste of money.
It’s certainly arguable that the term “National Assembly” need not be seen as conferring lower status than “Parliament”. It works well enough in France, for example, where no-one would dream of suggesting that its status was inferior to the UK Parliament because of its name.
But Wales has had a different history from France, and unfortunately the term “National Assembly for Wales” is associated with a body that not long ago was given the name to emphasise its inferiority as a body to both the UK and Scottish parliaments.
It is right, therefore, that the name should change to reflect our national institution’s enhanced powers. Democracy has a cost, and of course some money will have to be spent in the course of changing the name. But the right-wing thinktank which argues against the change undermines its own case by suggesting an expensive referendum on the issue.
If the change goes through, perhaps greater interest will be shown in what happens at the Assembly by both people within Wales and those outside. We also hope it spurs on those who have the honour of being elected to it to make sure that good work is done that will improve tangibly the lives of the people of Wales. There has sometimes been a tendency for AMs – or some of them – to be introspective rather than reaching out to communities. If the name change is approved – and it’s difficult to imagine it won’t be – everyone associated with the institution will have a duty to raise their game and create a Parliament of which we can all be proud.