#4 ------------------ D633.M.250.G.C ------------------ Wales is following Scotland, and moving towards a call for an elected assembly with devolved powers, as advocated by the Labour Party. Labour has committed to the creation of a Welsh assembly, and party leader Tony Blair set out proposals for devolution, setting off a constitutional battle with the Tories. Conservatives oppose any form of devolution, and want to maintain a strong Welsh Office with a cabinet minister, believing that would produce the best results for Wales. Prime Minister John Major and the Tories are against the establishment of a Welsh parliament, which has eroded the usual support conservative legislators had received in Wales. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, stepped up its campaign for equal rights to Welsh self-determination, demanding equal constitutional treatment with Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The British government is pressing ahead with plans to reform the structure of local government in Wales. It will establish an elected Welsh assembly, with law-making and financial powers, to replace the current two-tier system of county and district councils with single-purpose, unitary authorities. The government intends to set up 21 new authorities to replace the eight counties and 37 districts in Wales. Shadow elections to the new unitary authorities will be held as early as next year. Implementation of the local government reform will take place in April 1995. ------------------ D633.M.250.G.D ------------------ Proposals for the governing of Wales split more along party lines than national divisions. Proposed changes in the governance of Wales and Scotland became a major political issue in the 1994 British elections. In Britain the Tories are in favor of keeping the existing relationship with Wales, perhaps with some internal restructuring of Welsh local government into districts. The Labour Party, responding to Welsh nationalist protests, favors a Welsh elected assembly giving more autonomy to that country. In Wales, countrymen are also divided on issues of separation and self-determination. These divisions fall mainly along language lines with Welsh speakers favoring separation and English speakers preferring to keep the economic benefits of being part of Great Britain. The most outspoken group for separation is the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, led by Dafydd Wigley. With only three members in parliament, they seek support from Labour who has promised an independent Welsh Assembly. Many say that formation of assemblies would only create an expensive restructuring of current local services, (eight counties would be changed into 37 district councils,) and actually threaten local democracy. Plaid Cymru wants full independence with a Welsh parliament. Mr. Wigley's vision for the Welsh parliament is equal representation wit half the members being women. It is predicted that as of 1994, a referendum on independence in Wales would probably receive less than 50% support from its people. Because of the complexity of the issues, the Welsh government has delayed any legislation regarding proposed changes. ------------------ D633.M.250.G.E ------------------ The Conservative led government in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s argued that the people of Wales "realized" that the best interest of their country and of the UK was to sustain the present arrangements. They argue that national assemblies lead to unnecessary, unwanted and costly bureaucracy. The government does plan to restructure local government in Wales in which eight county and 37 district councils would be replaced by 21 unitary authorities. Welsh associations stated opposition to these proposals and said that reorganization should not be considered until the government agreed to create a directly elected Welsh assembly. A Labor led government, however, wants devolution for Wales and the establishment of a Welsh Assembly. Within the first year of a Labor government devolution would be expected and a Welsh assembly granted. Wales has been characterized as a country divided by language. Those who speak the language support Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party whose policy is to bypass an assembly and go for an independent Wales within the European community. The nationalists, however, are a minority in their own country. The conservatives in Wales are opposed to devolution and believe that a strong Welsh Office with a cabinet minister is best. Popular support, though, is for Welsh devolution. ------------------ D633.M.250.G.H ------------------ From before 1992 through 1994 the UK's Tory Prime Minister adamantly resisted calls by MPs of the miniscule Wales Nationalist Party (Plaid Cymru) for devolution of British rule to a fully self-governing Wales within the European Community. The PM argued forcefully to preserve the union of England, Scotland and Wales. The Plaid MPs, as buoyed as most Scotts by North Ireland's prospective self-rule, said self-government was urgent so Wales could participate directly in forthcoming EC meetings to get funds. Plaid had only four MPs from 38 Welsh districts, who opposed self-rule in a 1979 referendum four-to-one. The opposition Labour Party, long strong in South Wales, campaigned in 1992 parliamentary elections by nurturing popularity throughout the UK for devolution. Labour MP candidates committed to create a Welsh "assembly", not self-government, with representation to the EC's soon-to-be-formed Committee of the Regions, "within the life-time" of a prospective Labour-formed UK government, as well as assemblies for the English regions, and a Scottish Parliament with taxing powers. Plaid MPs demanded Labour treat Wales as favorably as Scotland on devolution with taxing powers, and give financial aid to Wales. Remembering 1979, Labour MPs rejected Tory MPs demands for a referendum on Welsh devolution, deferring instead to their parliamentary election mandate. Concurrently, a white paper restructuring Welsh government into unitary districts, written by the British appointed Secretary of Wales, an English constituency Tory opposed to Welsh self-rule, was rejected by the Welsh Counties but supported by the underlying Districts. Implementation was postponed until at least 1995.