Blair Calls on Welsh to Say "Yes" to Devolution
Tony Blair has given his personal backing to Labour's devolution campaign for Wales. During a visit to South Wales, the Prime Minister predicted that the Welsh people would decisively say "yes" to a Welsh Assembly at the referendum on September 18.
At Mr Blair's first visit to Wales as Prime Minister, he argued the case for devolution before an invited, but non-political audience of more than 200 people.
The venue was a packed conference room in the 17th century Llancaiach Fawr Manor House, near Nelson, Mid-Glamorgan.
Mr Blair told the audience that the Assembly would handle the Welsh Office's £7 billion budget, which would improve public services and boost jobs in the principality. He said it would be "absurd" to think that everything had to be done by central government.
The Prime Minister urged the Welsh people to vote "yes" because "it gives you the best chance of a far more accountable government", and promised that Welsh quangos would be thrown open to public scrutiny.
The Government will publish its White Paper on devolution next Tuesday,and the Prime Minister wanted to build up momentum towards a 'yes' vote in the referendum in September.
The Opposition Leader William Hague - who was Welsh Secretary before the General Election - attacked Labour's plans for Wales when he visited Uxbridge for
the by-election campaign. "What he (Mr Blair) is offering to people in Wales is a useless talking shop. He is offering them the most expensive roomful of hot air that we have ever seen
in history. The people of Wales would have to spend millions of pounds on having a whole
new tier of government that would do no favours to Wales at all. It would be a great mistake for Wales," he said.
The Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, meanwhile campaigned for devolution in Scotland. He told the Convention of the Highlands and Islands that a Scottish parliament would help rural Scotland.
Government Names Day for Scottish and Welsh Referendums
The Scottish and Welsh devolution referendums will be held one week apart, on September 11 and 18, the Government has announced.
The Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, and the Welsh Secretary, Ron Davies, revealed the dates in written replies to House of Commons questions.
The Scottish referendum on a Scottish Parliament will be held on September 11 and the Welsh referendum on a Welsh Assembly on September 18.
The Scottish referendum date coincides with the anniversary of the victory of the Scottish hero William Wallace over Edward I's English army at Stirling Bridge. In the 1297 battle, which was dramatised in Mel Gibson's recent epic film Braveheart, Wallace routed the English with only half the forces.
"We now hope there can be a full and open debate on the proposals so the Scottish people can come to a considered conclusion in September," said a spokesman for the Scottish National Party.
"The September referendum will give the people of Wales the opportunity to deliver their verdict on the quango-dominated system of government in Wales," said the Plaid Cymru Leader, Dafydd Wigley.
"We believe however, that the referendum should allow Wales the right to vote on an assembly to have the same law-making powers as Scotland," he added.
The Scottish people will be asked two questions: whether or not they endorse the Government's plans for a Scottish Parliament and whether or not they want it to have tax-raising powers.
The Welsh will be asked just one question: whether or not they endorse the Government's plans for a non-tax-raising Assembly.
The Government White Paper on Welsh devolution will be published next Tuesday, July 22, and the White Paper on Scottish devolution will be published 48 hours later on Thursday July 24.
This leaves seven weeks for campaigning in Scotland between the publication of the White Paper and the referendum and a little over eight weeks in Wales.
The referendum dates are subject to the Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Bill receiving Royal Assent, which should be a formality.
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