Clause 9 - The Registrar
Hunting Bill
9:15 am
Mr Edward Garnier (Harborough, Conservative)
I do not deny that for a moment, but that does not gainsay any of the arguments of the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams). I know that it is difficult for the Labour party to see the Welsh National party gaining ground on them in local government elections and in the Welsh European parliamentary elections. In the south Wales valleys—[Interruption.] I will not waste my time replying to everything that is said.
The simple point is that a domestic Welsh political agenda is creating controversy between the Welsh National party and the Labour party. That is a matter for them to sort out. The Minister was one of the victims of the internal spats—this has got absolutely nothing whatever to do with the Bill and I am amazed that it has been brought up—and was ejected from his office in Cardiff. That is by the bye.
I shall concentrate on the amendments, which are worthy of discussion and consideration. Whether the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen) thinks that they are worth accepting is another matter. It is important that the hon. Member for Caernarfon has the opportunity to comment on his amendments and that the Committee has the opportunity to respond.
One of the underlying messages that I received from the hon. Gentleman's remarks is that the Bill may well fail to tackle the question of effective devolution. Labour Members are obviously fascinated by Welsh devolution and its implications for the Bill and it is right that they should be. The question of Welsh separateness and the Welsh identity is something that the registration system should take into account, not least because Wales is a geographically, culturally and linguistically separate part of the United Kingdom. There are also many differences within Wales. The constituency of the hon. Member for Caernarfon, who moved the amendment, could not be more different from, for example, the constituency of the Minister—the former Secretary of State for Wales and First Minister for Wales.