Bethan Jenkins (Neath, Plaid AM): It is somwhat timely for me to be writing about the Conservatives and their attitudes towards Welsh devolution in the week that Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Director of the Institute of Welsh Politics at Aberystwyth University, has written an open letter to David Cameron emphasising the fact that Cameron "cannot afford to avoid" Welsh devolution and its future progression -
especially as he will, more than likely, be the next Prime Minister of the UK.
The letter is humorous in tone, but its underlying theme is to warn David Cameron that devolution is here to stay. He asks that the Conservatives work to strengthen the Union while embracing devolution, as opposed to viewing it as a threat to British constitutional stability:
Like it or not, the Welsh are now devolutionists. On top of which, every bit of evidence I have concerning public opinion in Wales demonstrates that the people of this country trust more in Cardiff than in London. If it becomes a squabble between the two sides then the majority of the Welsh will support Cardiff. So, although obstructing the Assembly from taking steps you consider to be unwise or foolish will give short term satisfaction to the Conservatives - as well as Welsh Conservatives - in the long term it will be sure of damaging your party's prospects in Wales
Any negative actions with regards the future of devolution by a Conservative Government at Westminster could alienate the growing percentage of Welsh people that support a full legislative Parliament for Wales, and David Cameron must be mindful of this. If he is serious about continuing the agenda of reform within his party, and of presiding over the development of the ‘Welsh' Conservative strategy, then support a referendum on a Parliament for Wales he must. Anything less will undoubtedly be viewed by Nick Bourne AM, and (most of) his Tory team at the Assembly, as an assault on their hard work in seeking to portray themselves as a unique Welsh party.
They are not branching out to traditional Plaid Cymru policy territory for the sake of it. There is clear momentum on Nick Bourne's behalf to capture the hearts of right wing Nationalists who may be disillusioned with the One Wales government deal between Plaid and Labour in Wales - a deal which was largely pursued as a way to ensure that the Tories did not and do not gain a foothold in Wales in the near future.
Nevertheless, the reality is that the majority of Unionist MPs - those on the Conservative benches and in the Labour party - are threatened by the possibility of the transfer of additional power to the National Assembly. It is a threat to their grandiose London lifestyles, to their power base, and to the retention of their presence
in an old fashioned Institution, which is in denial about the fact that devolution is a reality in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The shoddy compromise of the 2006 Government of Wales Act was a desperate attempt to accommodate rifts in the Labour party. We have been left to pick up the pieces of this legacy, and of striving to make the system work - keeping one eye on the referendum at all times.
Plaid Cymru and Labour at the Assembly are committed to holding a referendum on a Parliament for Wales. It is there in our agreement in black and white. The challenge ahead is for the MPs at Westminster to endorse the referendum and to realise its importance for the future enhancement of our Nation. It is a challenge for the Tories in that they must be united in the goal of winning more seats at the National Assembly, and to grow alongside the new Institution in the Bay that they so vehemently opposed at the outset.
Yet the biggest challenge of all is for the Labour party - if the Tories win the next General election they will be faced with losing a vital power base. Labour are in tatters in Scotland due to the success of the SNP - leaving Wales their only hope in terms of shaping the political agenda.
Those who oppose further devolution in the Labour Party - some of whom paradoxically take great pride in their work of pushing forward devolution in Northern Ireland, must seriously consider their negative attitudes in relation to Welsh devolution and any said referendum. What viable reason have they for potentially denying Wales, and their own political party in governing Wales in the future, when there will be a Tory Government in London, and an SNP Government in Scotland?
Resigning to the fact that they will be in opposition in Wales should not be an option. It will be for the future leader of the Labour party in Wales, or Rhodri Morgan's lasting legacy, to ensure that the referendum takes place and that Wales has the power it deserves as a Nation. If not, the Conservatives may well take the credit for implementing a referendum if they take power in London, and their foothold in Wales will be well and truly grounded.
