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Labour urged to accept Richard Commission recommendations 6/7/2004
Listen to the people of Wales, was the plea from Plaid Cymru's parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd today in a meeting of the Welsh Grand Committee held to debate the recommendations of the Richard Commission.
During his speech, Mr Llwyd referred to the overwhelming support in Wales in favour of further devolution and listed more than 30 Welsh organisations committed to extending the Assembly's powers. He also referred to a NOP poll conducted last month which showed that 60 per cent of the people of Wales support further devolution.
Following the Welsh Grand Committee, Elfyn Llwyd MP said: "As the Richard Commission unanimously concluded, the status quo is clearly not an option. Let's make one point clear; accepting the recommendations of the Richard Commission in its entirety would release the current logjam and simplify a complex and burdensome governance and move Wales forward.
"Why hamper this progress by putting the interests of a few anti-devolutionist Welsh Labour MPs before the good of the people of Wales? Why should Wales suffer once more because of the institutionalised inferiority complex of Welsh Labour?
"I hope that that in the coming months, Welsh Members of Parliament will listen to the true voice of the people of Wales and dismiss anything less than the Richard Commission's recommendations in its entirety."
Simon Thomas MP who concluded the debate on behalf of the opposition parties, added: "The Secretary of State for Wales today walked away from entering into any real debate on the Richard Commission's recommendations and showed a tremendous lack of leadership on the issue. He was happy to rule out a reduction of the number of Welsh MPs, but refused to give his views on the key question of power and this was extremely disappointing. He needs to start setting out his vision and engage the people of Wales in an open debate over extending the powers of the Assembly.
"The wide ranging views among Labour MPs today have shown, as a party, they are all over the place on devolution. Plaid Cymru's position is clear; let's make the Assembly work properly and in order to do that, we need proper powers in place."
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