Friday 11 July 2008

Equal Status for Wales and Scotland a Prerequisite of Total Devolution

AMs want same powers as Scotland
Jul 11 2008 WalesOnline

THE vast majority of Assembly Members want Wales to have the same powers as the Scottish Parliament.

Approximately 80% of AMs who took part in an Ipsos MORI poll said they wanted the Assembly to have law-making and tax-varying powers.
All Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru AMs wanted Scottish-style powers, as did 75% of Labour AMs and two out of three Conservatives.
It was also revealed that nine out of 10 read the Western Mail.

Health minister Edwina Hart was considered the most impressive AM, but only gained support from 17% of those questioned. Around six out of 10 could not think of a colleague who stood out. Thirty-six of the Senedd’s 60 AMs were interviewed last autumn for the poll. When asked how the economy would perform over the next 12 months, only the Conservatives though it would get worse. Two-thirds of Labour AMs predicted an improvement.

The research further states: “Our survey suggests that the general public have a fairly good grasp on which issues are devolved to the National Assembly, at least in terms of the correspondence that AMs receive. Their postbags tend to be dominated with letters and approaches on issues such as health, housing, transport, care of the elderly, education and so on (all of which are devolved issues), with very few indicating that they are approached about non-devolved issues such as crime and law and order.”

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