Call for devolution to evolve organically

Oct 2 2007 by Tomos Livingstone, Western Mail

WALES’ constitutional settlement is “untenable” and greater powers need to be devolved to Cardiff Bay, the Conservatives’ leader in the Assembly Nick Bourne said last night.

At a fringe meeting at the party’s conference in Blackpool, Mr Bourne said devolution should now “evolve organically” towards a Scottish-style parliament.

His remarks come after Conservative MP for Monmouthshire David Davies re-iterated his opposition to the devolution project.

Mr Bourne, who in 1997 chaired the No campaign against the Assembly but has since changed his stance, said there could be “no turning back the clock”.

He also stressed the scale of the party’s achievement in winning 12 seats in May’s Assembly elections, making the party the official opposition to the Labour-Plaid Assembly Government as a marked contrast to the Conservatives’ position in Wales in the first Assembly elections in 1999 when it was “unelectable”.

Mr Bourne told the Tory Reform Group, “On reflection, the arguments the No campaign set out about the threat to the Union were, at the very least, over-done, possibly even wrong.

“As the Assembly has developed, the Welsh Conservative party has adapted and applied itself to the new political landscape extremely well.”

He said giving more powers to the Assembly would “bring improvement to the Union”, echoing an argument put forward by some pro-Parliament figures in Welsh Labour.

“What is happening in Wales and in the Assembly is work in progress,” Mr Bourne said.

“My own position on this is clear – the current situation is untenable and I would support further legislative powers. We have to look at the experience of Scotland and learn from each other.”

Public opinion was now in favour of a Scottish-style parliament for Wales, Mr Bourne said.

He added, “Devolution has to be allowed to evolve organically. It cannot be a process that is rushed or forced.

“That does not provide stability or confidence.

“Being afraid to discuss the future of the Home Nations and of the Union is equally harmful – we have to look at the development of the Union in a calm, considered manner.”

Earlier in the day Mr Bourne defended his reforms of the Welsh party into a pro-devolution force, citing its steadily improving performance at the ballot box since the Assembly was created.

“In 1999, let’s face it, we were unelectable,” he told an audience of Welsh delegates.

“Wales has changed and so have we.

“We have taken some tough decisions over the last eight years and they have paid dividends.”

Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan told the same meeting, “Cast your mind back 10 years. As a party in Wales, we reached rock bottom. Why? Labour had sought to poison Wales against us. It suited Labour to portray us, quite unfairly, as anti-Wales.”

But she said Labour had underestimated the Tories’ “resilience and determination”.

Mr Bourne said he was pleased to see himself rated at 51 in a list of the 100 most influential right-wingers, published yesterday.

The list, compiled by the Telegraph media group, said, of Mr Bourne, “His pro-devolution stance does not go down well with every Welsh Conservative, but he has successfully steered them through some turbulent times and to a good election result in May.”

Among those rated as less influential than Mr Bourne – whose revamp of the Welsh party has impressed David Cameron and his allies – are Lord Tebbit (54), John Redwood (60) and shadow business secretary Alan Duncan (62).

Lib-Dem David Laws appears at 66 – the Yeovil MP admitted last month the Conservatives had tried to persuade him to defect.

A similar list of left-wing figures compiled last week placed First Minister Rhodri Morgan at number 28.