Welsh Secretary David Jones criticised for 'devolution disrespect'
SHADOW Secretary of State for Wales Owen Smith MP has accused Welsh Secretary David Jones of "disrespecting devolution."
Mr Smith criticised Mr Jones ahead of their first meeting across the Despatch Box on Wednesday following three new legislative decisions made by the new Cabinet Minister. Mr Smith has claimed that the Welsh Secretary has chosen to intervene on legal matters "very selectively" and "only when it suits his anti-devolution mindset."
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David Jones
The Shadow Welsh Secretary has hit out following the decision by the Wales Office to refer the Official Languages Bill, passed recently by the National Assembly for Wales, to the UK Attorney General.
Mr Jones said: "In this instance, David Jones was more than ready to intervene but, on other matters, such as ensuring ballot papers for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections are printed bilingually and on changing the way Assembly Members are elected, there's been a deafening silence."
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Mr Smith also pointed out the Welsh Secretary's refusal to scrap proposed changes to the electoral arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales.
He said: "The Wales Office had no mandate to introduce in the first place and which should have long been rendered obsolete."
He also described Mr Jones's handling of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections as "cavalier" and claimed he had shown a "complacent and indifferent" response when asked why the necessary legislation still hasn't been laid.
Mr Smith said after the Welsh Secretary was questioned on the need for legislation to be passed so that the elections could be conducted on a fully bilingual basis, Mr Jones said: "The reasons why the Welsh Forms Order is yet to be laid is a matter for the Home Office."
Mr Smith said he was looking forward to challenging the new Cabinet Minister on issues that are important to Wales.
He said: "David Jones has had three big decisions to make since being promoted to the Cabinet and, on each occasion, he's acted counter to Welsh interests.
"Twice he could have intervened to stand up for Wales — by scrapping proposals to gerrymander Assembly elections and by instructing the Home Office to pass the law needed for bilingual ballot papers. Instead he chose to disrespect devolution with the former and add to the long, and growing, list of Tory incompetence with the latter.
"By bypassing his duty on these two occasions and selectively intervening to refer Assembly legislation to the Attorney General, David Jones has done nothing to dispel the widely-held view of him as an out-of-touch anti- devolutionist."
Swansea Council's Conservative leader Paxton Hood-Williams said he believed Mr Jones was working in the interest of Wales.
He added: "I have already heard him say he wants to work closely with the Welsh Government and in particular with (First Minister) Carwyn Jones.
"Obviously, if the economy is going to improve in Wales, the Welsh Government needs the support of the Westminster Government to do that with the resources available — essentially they need to work together."
Comments
by Neathboy234
Monday, October 15 2012, 3:05PM
“disrespecting is quite a common word. It's often used by black men, before they hit U, lol”
by maxmin
Monday, October 15 2012, 3:00PM
“Can anyone explain to me this silly made up word 'disrespecting' ? If you mean insulting - say so. It's almost as bad as that computer term 'uninstall'. What the heck is that? If you mean remove then say so.”
by Gwyddno
Monday, October 15 2012, 2:25PM
“Neathboy234
Despite what the tabloid newspapers print, laws passed in respect of England and Wales are passed by Westminster.
The Shadow Minister for Wales is highlighting the fact that the Tory Secretary for Wales is blocking/delaying Bills from the Senedd by referring them to the Attorney General and the Supreme Court. I presume the Welsh Secretary hopes that the Bills will be declared Ultra Vires.
Your proposal to reduce the number of MPs in Wales to less than 10 is something that Cameron & Co would love to see happen.”
by Neathboy234
Monday, October 15 2012, 1:20PM
“brochadav I would agree with u to a certain extent. Currently we have 40 MP's at Westminster, since devolution with many powers being transferred to Cardiff leaving our MP's with little to do. I think the number of MP's should be cut to less than 10. In addition with the EU now providing most of our laws, the total number of MP's should be reduced as a whole. I sure 200 would be an ample amount.”
by Kaiser_Macsen
Monday, October 15 2012, 1:07PM
“From the article:-
Mr Jones said: "In this instance, David Jones was more than ready to intervene but, on other matters, such as ensuring ballot papers for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections are printed bilingually and on changing the way Assembly Members are elected, there's been a deafening silence."
Smith, Jones. Alas EP.”
by brochadav
Monday, October 15 2012, 12:54PM
“Arguing again about things that will only cost the taxpayer more than needs be. Devolution has only added another tier of politicians for us all to pay for. There's more posturing, more flag waving, more costly legislation and for what?
I love Wales, I love Swansea and I'm proud to be Welsh but I'm entirely ambivalent towards self serving, egotistic career politicians who aren't in it to serve the public, just to carve out careers and make loads of money for themselves.”
by Neathboy234
Monday, October 15 2012, 9:24AM
“The Westminster government is playing a dangerous game, but at the end of the day confrontation is a good thing at this stage. That's the difference between the unionists and nationalists. The unionists are playing the short game and nationalists are playing the long game. The great Mr Evans saw this back in the 1930's, and only through his hard work and dedication have we reached this point today”