Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:51 pm on 21 June 2023.
Joyce Watson
Labour
5:51,
21 June 2023
I do want to support the principle that powers on justice and policing should be devolved to Wales. The Welsh Government is committed to pursuing that case and preparing for the devolution of police and justice.
We have all here seen the results of 13 long years of Tory failure—even on that bench, they can't be blind to that. They've seen neglect, austerity, inequality, unfairness, and a broken legal system as a consequence of their policies. A failed system, where only 1.3 per cent of rape cases are now being prosecuted; a broken system that has created scandals like Hillsborough, with a 27-year fight for justice, because of an absence of legal aid to support the families and the victims of that tragedy in trying to secure a voice for themselves in the justice system, and now a call for, quite rightly, a Hillsborough law.
In the 11 years since the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, we've seen a two-tier legal system develop, with legal aid cut, denying justice to many Welsh people. Access to justice and the right to advice, representation and support is a fundamental human right. The link between justice, access to justice and our core public services is a key to tackling poverty, social disadvantage and inequality, and that was mentioned just now. The Thomas commission—sorry about calling it the Thomas commission—found that spending per head on criminal legal aid is £11.50 in Wales, compared to £15 a head in England. So, if it were devolved and we received our fair share of funding, I absolutely agree that we could fund legal aid better. We would create our own Welsh legal aid and advice service, to serve the people of Wales and provide the access to justice that we all believe in.
Individuals facing criminal prosecution and imprisonment fear that the financial cost of defending themselves could bankrupt them, even if they are successful. This can lead to people—and it has led to people—pleading guilty to offences they haven't committed, to protect their homes and their assets for the rest of their family. In the case of rape, the median time between offence and completion is now over two and a half years, with only, as I said earlier, 1.3 per cent of cases now being prosecuted. The huge delays result in emboldened criminals endangering prosecutions, and they have devastating consequences for those victims—a shameful situation that, in all honesty, is more suited to the nineteenth century than the twenty-first.
Despite justice not being devolved, and despite not being resourced to help those struggling to access legal aid, the Welsh Government has taken action to support people, and, last year, made more than £10 million funding available to single advice services in Wales. I agree with the Minister that powers over justice should be devolved, and a Welsh legal jurisdiction should be established. I also have to discredit what the Tories are arguing—that, somehow, an English police force wouldn't know where the lines were drawn, or a Welsh police force wouldn't know where the borders are between England and Wales. I'm sure they manage perfectly well to know where Scotland ends and England begins, or where England ends and Scotland begins. And quite frankly, if anybody couldn't draw a line on a map or understand it, I wonder whether they should be in the police force at all.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
