"My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on securing this debate, which enables us, as she suggested, to have an input into the Silk commission’s deliberations.
My comments today will be very preliminary and tentative, because I hope that we shall have a further chance to debate the Silk report …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"My Lords, first, I will compliment the Secretary of State, my noble and learned friend, and those who drafted the Green Paper. It is a model of clarity in its presentation of the choices before us and the arguments for and against them. As noble Lords said, the choices were …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"Yes, of course there is a case to be made along those lines. At the same time, I urge the noble Lord to consider the low turnout at Assembly elections. The fact that there is a higher turnout for parliamentary elections could be combined and taken advantage of in order …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"The Opposition, as always, put forward their own independent case and I would have to consider what the noble Lord, Lord Elystan-Morgan, has just said. The main drive towards separation has come from the National Assembly. I do not think it has been particularly beneficial to Parliament, the Assembly or …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"I agree. Even this tome, which I can barely lift, is available on the web but even the website reference is complex enough. Also, I really do not think that you can read 660 pages easily on the web.
"My Lords, bearing in mind that it was this Government who set up the Silk commission to review the case for devolving fiscal powers to the National Assembly for Wales and further constitutional changes—with high expectations, I might say, of positive outcomes—is not the devolution process now becoming an open …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"My Lords, one of the remaining issues after more than a decade of devolution is the dire state of the Welsh economy after the Welsh Labour Government have ruled the country. They have got rid of the Welsh Development Agency, which has cost us a great deal, and one Welsh …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
"I was intervening simply because my noble and learned friend referred to the small number of people affected, and indeed the Explanatory Memorandum to the order refers to the first report dealing with Brecon and Radnorshire, and Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, as affecting only 18 electors. Could he say how …..." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that funds allocated to the Welsh Government to enable them to freeze council tax rates are used solely for that purpose...." Lord Roberts of Conwy - View Speech