A Separation of Responsibility

An op-ed by the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives

In 1748, Baron de Montesquieu published his book The Spirit of the Laws, in this book he set out various forms of distribution of political powers: a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. This meant that no one institution can have two powers, the system that Baron de Montesquieu invented became known as the separation of powers.

In our current political landscape, there’s a situation where a certain system of separation of powers is under attack, the one between the Governments of the United Kingdom and the one in Wales. Yesterday it was announced that the Leader of Plaid Cymru has been announced to become the new Minister for Justice in the Welsh Government. This was needed after the last one took another hiatus in Tibet.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the appointment of the Leader of Plaid Cymru to become the Minister for Justice in the Welsh Government, where it not that he’s also the Secretary of State for Wales in the UK Government. I believe that those two roles cannot be performed by the same person, for various reasons. In my opinion, someone can hold a role in both governments at the same time, I did as well in the past, but during my time as First Minister of Wales, I didn’t involve myself in any conversation that had anything to do with Wales, since it is not the proper way to do politics.

The role of the Secretary of State for Wales has always been to be Westminster’s voice in Wales and Wales’ voice in Westminster. It’s been an important role in the past and with the current discussions regarding the devolution of certain powers to the Senedd Cymru, from the Westminster Parliament it is regaining its former importance. The Wales Secretary should be able to act in the interest of all the people of Wales, across different parties and my opinion is that this cannot be done when the Wales Secretary is also in the Welsh Government.

Two of the four parties in the UK Government and all parties that are currently in the Welsh Government tabled a motion of no confidence in a former Secretary of State for Wales, the former First Minister for Wales, u/Greejatus. This motion was tabled because those parties felt like he was meddling in the internal affairs of the Welsh Government. This seems very much like the situation that is occurring today, though in a much more severe case.

Yes, the current Wales Secretary hasn’t asked for resignations, yet, but the fact that he is involved in meetings of the Welsh Government as Wales Secretary creates a whole new set of issues in my opinion. How can Labour and Solidarity put forward a Wales Secretary that is directly involved in the internal working of the Welsh Government, after trying to get rid of a Wales Secretary in the past that in their eyes did just that? How are we supposed to trust the independence of the Welsh Government from Westminster if the Wales Secretary is also one of the few Ministers in the Welsh Government?

The action to appoint the Leader of Plaid Cymru, who is the Wales Secretary, to be the new Minister for Justice in Wales defies the separation of responsibility that we all should adhere to.

Former Wales Secretary, u/NeatSaucer, resigned from the Welsh Office to become a Minister in the Welsh Government, a noble act that the current Wales Secretary should follow. He should choose, either to be Wales Secretary or Minister for Justice in Wales. Wales should be able to act independent from Westminster, but in this current situation, where the Wales Secretary is in the Welsh Government, this cannot be done.