Mr Rhodri Glyn Thomas, the Welsh Assembly member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, has launched what the Western Mail calls a “blistering attack” (attacks are always “blistering”, just as defences are always “spirited”) on the Welsh select committee over its report on the proposed Welsh language Legislative Competence Order (LCO).
Mr Thomas has clearly attended the Dafydd Elis-Thomas school of anger management, if the following is anything to go by:
“Who do these people think they are?
“Nobody seriously doubts that decisions about the Welsh language should be taken in Wales, yet this group of MPs is desperately trying to cling on to a right of veto.
“The Assembly Government has spent two years looking at this and consulting widely, only to have the Welsh Affairs Committee say that the LCO (Legislative Competence Order) should be fundamentally rewritten…
“For some reason it seems that the Westminster committee has decided to delay the LCO’s progress…”
And so, apoplectically, he goes on. And on.
When he has calmed down a little, Mr Thomas might like to consider the following:
- The select committee was requested to carry out the scrutiny of the draft LCO by the Secretary of State; it didn’t simply wade in uninvited, as Mr Thomas seems to think;
- The committee has no “right of veto”, as Mr Thomas could have found out for himself if he had spent more time studying the process; that right resides with the Secretary of State for Wales. The committee merely scrutinises and reports;
- The select committee, which is comprised of MPs of all parties, including Mr Thomas’s own Plaid Cymru, was unanimously of the view that the draft LCO was deficient in many respects and needed redrafting. It is up to the Secretary of State to decide whether he accepts that advice;
- The difficulties identified by the committee could have been avoided if more attention had been paid to the draftsmanship of the Order at the Assembly. The fact that it was so poorly drawn is no fault of the committee.
Mr Thomas should bear in mind that he is talking about a legislative process, which has to be got right. The public expect, and deserve, nothing less.
Mr Thomas observes in the Western Mail that he was the Welsh Minister responsible for the draft LCO in its early stages of development.
Perhaps, therefore, rather than blaming the select committee for pointing out the Order’s deficiencies, he should instead be accepting his own share of responsibility for the fact that it was so poorly prepared and presented.
