On this Thursday 3rd March Wales will be asked ‘Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?’
Let’s be clear, this vote is not about extending the realm of the Welsh Assembly government, it is about giving the Assembly a general power to legislate in the 20 ‘fields’ of policy – such as health and education – that it already has responsibility for. These are the kinds of arrangements normal in devolved systems throughout the world, including in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As things stand at the moment, time and money is wasted as the Assembly has to get permission from London before it can make laws in certain areas. For example, it has taken three years for the Assembly to get powers transferred from Westminster to reform the organ donation system to give a lifeline to people waiting for a new kidney. Even though the policy is widely supported in Wales the Assembly is still waiting for permission to act. Such delays are only set to get worse with a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition in control at Westminster.
At a time when the Welsh Assembly is being forced to function with drastically cut funding by the Conservative-led Westminster government – much more so than either Scotland or Northern Ireland – a yes vote would actually save money as well as time. Importantly, a yes vote is not simply about cutting bureaucracy but about ensuring that the Welsh Assembly can continue to more effectively do its job standing up and delivering for its people.
A Yes vote would mean being able to concentrate solely on policy rather than power. Since its creation, the Labour-led Welsh Assembly has been a standard bearer in bringing in change and improving the lives of its citizens through innovative policies and priorities. Welsh Labour has not made these progressive policy decisions just to be different to England but because they are right and fair. Policies such as free prescriptions; free parking at hospitals; free bus travel for pensioners and disabled people and their carers; free school breakfasts and milk for the under sevens; and protecting frontline services like the NHS and schools from privatisation.
Such changes make clear that we should all be in no doubt on the success and benefits of devolution for Wales. Wales now needs to build on that success for its people and must be given further freedom to do so. The people that need a Yes vote most are not the political elite in the corridors of Cardiff Bay and Whitehall but the ordinary people of Wales – the trade union members, workers, children, pensioners and students. Unlike the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in Westminster, Labour in the Assembly will continue with support for Welsh students, so they will not have to pay higher tuition fees of up to £9,000 and by keeping the educational maintenance allowance.
There are half a million trade unionists in Wales. Welsh Labour in the Assembly is a government that has shown it is on the side of the workers, working in partnership with trade unions and business to create initiatives like the ProAct and ReAct schemes and now the new programme for the public sector called Adapt.
At a time when all the talk is about cuts to public services, it’s good to know that a Labour-led Assembly is not only protecting the most vulnerable but also demonstrating there is a choice and an alternative to deep and drastic cuts. Indeed, in their manifesto for the May election, Welsh Labour will pledge that a Welsh Labour government will create a new young people’s jobs and training fund – to ensure opportunity not unemployment to the next generation. When all is said and done, the case for trade unionists to vote Yes on the 3rd March is compelling, clear and simply common sense.
There is another way. There is another referendum. Trade unionists need to vote Labour on 5th May to ensure that the most vulnerable continue to be protected and Welsh Labour can continue to lead the way with innovative policies that may a real difference to the lives of ordinary citizens. Critically, before that we must say ‘Yes for Wales/Ie dros Gymru’ on Thursday 3rd March to ensure that a Welsh Labour Assembly government can do their job more effectively and efficiently in the face of a cutting and uncaring Conservative-led government in Westminster.
See also our Wales column by Nick Smith MP