Dafydd El on the White Paper

Dafydd El, the Assembly's Presiding Officer, has a pop at the proposal to give the power to write Standing Orders to the Secretary of State for the next (2007-2011) Assembly. This is in fact what happened the first time round.

However, more important is his recognition of what the primary powers proposals in the White Paper actually mean in practice. He said, apparently, Labour "now believes, as set out in the white paper, that the National Assembly should be established as a proper parliamentary body". Putting primary powers in the new Government of Wales Bill is a fundamental step-change. I have already set out my views on the White Paper.