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Introduction: Devolution in WalesPeople who live to the west of Offa's Dyke could be forgiven for believing they inhabit a country called "And Wales". They have been familiar for years with hearing themselves referred to as resident in Englandandwales....they find themselves in the devolution debate inhabiting the new country of Scotlandandwales. In fact the government's proposals for the two countries are profoundly different, as are the Welsh and Scottish political cultures and histories.To understand the current debate one needs to understand how the present settlement between the countries of Britain came into being. While Scotland (albeit to the accompaniment of rioting) voluntarily entered the union - a new country with a new name - Wales, centuries earlier, had been "forever and henceforth annexed into this Kingdom of England". While Scotland maintained its own institutions, Wales in any constitutional sense ceased to exist in the centuries following the death of the last prince in 1282. It wasn't until the days of the young Lloyd George that the Wales began to be treated as separate entity within the UK. It is sometimes difficult today to appreciate how recent many developments in the government of Wales are. In the last 100 years the following milestones are worth noting:
Despite the abject failure of the proposals for a Welsh assembly in the 1970s the process of devolution has continued unabated for the last forty years under all governments. In a sense for the first time in eight centuries a "Welsh State" has been constructed. The Devolution argument in Wales is about the accountability of that "state" rather than about nationalism. Opponents of the governments proposals support the devolution that has taken place thus far but believe existing mechanisms are adequate for its control. Proponents of further devolution claim that there is a democratic deficit waiting to be filled. While the political histories of Wales and Scotland are hugely different so are their badges of national identify. Wales is, and always has been, a divided country with jealousies and disputes between different areas, groups and language communities. Yet, deprived of national institutions, it is undoubtedly the survival of a separate Welsh Culture that has kept the "question of Wales" alive. After all it's difficult to believe yourself "forever annexed" while you maintain your own language, culture and social values. The purpose of the following pages is not to analyse the contents of the White Paper. It is rather to put the present proposals in context - particularly by comparing them to those of 1979 and by examining the political forces likely to decide the referendum result.
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