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A response to the Richard Commission from Lord Livsey of
Talgarth
| Contents |
| 1. INTRODUCTION |
| The Government of Wales Act 1998 is very much a product
of its time. Prior to the 1997 General Election,
the way had been. paved for Constitutional Reform to be
enacted, and was predicted should the situation arise
where a combination of opposition parties managed to secure
a majority. Discussions between Labour's Robin Cook
MP and Bob Maclennan. MP for the Liberal Democrats,
culminated in the Cook Maclennan Agreement between the
two parties. This proposed a Parliament for
Scotland, and an Assembly each for Wales and Northern
Ireland. |
| Scotland secured a legislative Parliament, while Wales,
through the Government of Wales Act, received Executive
Devolution through a Welsh Assembly. |
| The lack of a Constitutional Convention in Wales, prior
to legislation, severely handicapped the process. Both
Alex Carlile (now Lord Carlile of Berriew) and I called
for a Constitutional Convention for Wales on four separate
occasions between 1989 and 1995, during each of our periods
of Leadership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. There
was no positive response to this, however, from other
opposition parties at that time. Prior to legislation,
public opinion in Wales was less well-informed
on devolution than its counterpart in Scotland, where
a Constitutional Convention had already been in place
for some years. |
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