´óÏó´«Ã½

I'm not sure what the Welsh word for "tosh" is.

The Culture Minister probably knows if anyone does but since Alun Ffred Jones was answering a question in English in plenary a few moments ago, he could stick with "tosh".

What is tosh? In his view, the

He said it with some gusto, adding the Mail "probably has some virtues". "Name one" shouted someone. He chose not to. Instead, he carried on putting away the full-tosses being dealt by all parties, enjoying what Conservative David Melding called the "precious" level of consensus in the chamber. They must all have read the Mail this morning. Unity is strength.

Mr Melding's boss, Nick Bourne, tried out some Welsh as if to prove had been worth every penny.

But as "that" language LCO started on its journey, I wonder whether AMs had also read over breakfast. If they did, what do they make of it? It's the Government Response to the Welsh Affairs Committee's Seventh Report of Session 2007-08. Perfect with tea and toast if ever so slightly drier than the Mail but it'll be of interest to anyone who still cares about that other LCO, the one that dealt with the transfer of powers over .

A quick recap: the Assembly Government asked for the power to end tenants' right to buy council homes in areas of extreme housing pressure. The Welsh Affairs Committee weren't convinced that's what they really wanted at all. After all what they'd said they wanted originally was the power to suspend the right to buy, not abolish it. Did they really want the power to abolish it? Yes, said the committee scrutinising the LCO, yes, we do.

Shum mishtake shurely said the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. That bit about 'ending' the right to buy was an unintentional consequence of the way you'd drafted it. Bad advice guys. Not your fault. It can be put right though.

The result? The powers will be devolved but the Welsh Secretary will have a veto on the matter. Ministers will only acknowledge that word "veto" in private by the way. In public it's all about 'agreement' and 'a sensible way forward'. In his letter to the Chairman of the Committee, published this morning, Paul Murphy calls it a "significant change".

But if AMs did read on, I wonder whether they noticed a later paragraph, one that refers to other changes recommended by the committee. Mr Murphy writes "I agree with these conclusions, but consider that they relate more closely to the detail of any legislation brought forward as a result of the Order being made than to the drafting of the Order itself. In think it more appropriate therefore for the Welsh Assembly Government to consider these conclusions in the context of drafting a proposed Assembly Measure. I have drawn the Committee's conclusions, and my support for them, to the First Minister's attention".

In other words - the Committee can only recommend alterations to your bid for extra powers. How you use those powers is up to you. But in this instance I agree with the Committee so when you come to drawing up actual laws, I expect you'll bear that in mind, won't you Rhodri?

So what?

So it's just worth noting what looks like the Welsh Affairs Committee's influence on future measures and so another little chapter is added to the convoluted story of the process of transferring powers from Westminster to the Assembly.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?