Wales says Yes in Referendum Vote

[Sarah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-12648649

Wales has said an emphatic Yes in the referendum on direct law-making powers for the assembly.

Almost all the 22 Welsh counties have declared, and all have backed change. Turnout is provisionally put at 35% across the nation.

A Yes vote will give the assembly direct law-making power in 20 devolved areas, such as health and education.

With only a couple of counties left to declare, the final result is now a formality.

Myself personally as a supporter of the welsh assembly government, I am happy with the outcome.
However the turnout is worrying!

[Conservative,]

Might as well just be an independent country now and learn to pay for yourselves instead of sponging off the British Government. And Scotland and Ireland can do that too and then the British Government can be the English Government and we'll all be happy.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I follow the line Enoch Powell took; if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are to have their own parliaments they may aswell be independent. I'm a unionist myself, but if the union is to break up then the union is to break up and it is time to make that choice. All of us at Westminister, or the end of the United Kingdom.

[Sarah]

Might as well just be an independent country now and learn to pay for yourselves instead of sponging off the British Government. And Scotland and Ireland can do that too and then the British Government can be the English Government and we'll all be happy.

It's not about independence, most people in Wales don't want independence. It's about streamlining what the Assembly can do and cutting costs waiting around for Westminster to give the "OK" on laws they want to pass. I personally do not want the break up of the United Kingdom.

[Conservative,]

I follow the line Enoch Powell took; if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are to have their own parliaments they may aswell be independent. I'm a unionist myself, but if the union is to break up then the union is to break up and it is time to make that choice. All of us at Westminister, or the end of the United Kingdom.

Agreed. It's completely pointless to have 3 Governments for separate countries sponging off 1 Government. All or nothing imo. I think it's ridiculous how the Scots, Welsh and Irish can vote for who runs England, but the English can't vote for who runs Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Either we all vote for 1 central parliament (rather than these stupid, pointless extra parliaments wasting money) or we all vote for separate parliaments with separate laws, separate MPs etc.

---------- Post added 04-03-2011 at 02:44 PM ----------

It's not about independence, most people in Wales don't want independence. It's about streamlining what the Assembly can do and cutting costs waiting around for Westminster to give the "OK" on laws they want to pass. I personally do not want the break up of the United Kingdom.

But it's so pointless. The idea of evening having a Welsh Parliament is stupid imo. We can save money by only having 1 central parliament. As Dan said, all or nothing. We're all together in one central parliament, or separated into 4 separate parliaments.

[Sarah]

Agreed. It's completely pointless to have 3 Governments for separate countries sponging off 1 Government. All or nothing imo. I think it's ridiculous how the Scots, Welsh and Irish can vote for who runs England, but the English can't vote for who runs Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Either we all vote for 1 central parliament (rather than these stupid, pointless extra parliaments wasting money) or we all vote for separate parliaments with separate laws, separate MPs etc.

I agree that its silly that Welsh/Scottish MPs can vote for issues that happen in England, but I feel without the Welsh Assembly wales would be overshadowed by the UK Parliament.

[Conservative,]

I agree that its silly that Welsh/Scottish MPs can vote for issues that happen in England, but I feel without the Welsh Assembly wales would be overshadowed by the UK Parliament.

By why is that a bad thing? It saves money, you still get your local MPs and votes and what not.

[Sarah]

By why is that a bad thing? It saves money, you still get your local MPs and votes and what not.

It's ok to be overshadowed? what.. Wales deserves as much as a voice as England - without the Welsh Assembly government I feel that wouldn't happen. Wales currently does not have powers to make laws on all matters, so it's not as if WestMinster aren't not involved in Wales?

[Conservative,]

It's ok to be overshadowed? what.. Wales deserves as much as a voice as England - without the Welsh Assembly government I feel that wouldn't happen. Wales currently does not have powers to make laws on all matters, so it's not as if WestMinster aren't not involved in Wales?

How do you not get a voice? All these extra assemblies are just another level of bureaucratic nonsense so failed politicians can get elected, paid too much and waste English money. Yes, English - because we're the only ones without an independent parliament. If we had one we could control our money.

The fact is Scotland, Wales and Ireland rely on the "British Parliament" for 1 reason - money. The "British" Government pays for the separate assemblies and therefore English people are spending taxes on something that doesn't have anything to do with them.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I can understand what Sarah means, the way in which Welsh MPs could be outvoted in Westminister - but thats part of being in the Union. I do think however that we should generally bring back localism (local referendums across the Kingdom) rather than basically undoing the union by giving each country its own parliament/assembly. That would mean the Kingdom would stay a United Kingdom, and local areas are more devolved.

In a way it is similar to the issue of the European Union, the fact we [UK] can be outvoted (on issues they allow the vote) is one reason I want out.