We are committed to giving the National Assembly for Wales new law-making powers under the provisions of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Returning to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan), does the Secretary of State not realise that damage will be done to tourism by allowing taxation on all vehicles that enter Wales? That is what will happen if the framework powers go ahead. Why are these actions being taken, given that there has been no proper consultation?
I do not accept anything that the hon. Gentleman has said. As I explained patiently to the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan), the Conservative spokesman for Wales, the truth is that the measures for which the Welsh Assembly Government are asking Westminster to grant will enable them, for example, to impose a toll like the one that has been successfully operated on the M6 from Birmingham towards Manchester, in order to fund the M4 relief road. The hon. Gentleman might know—he might not, of course—that there is severe traffic congestion in the Brynglas tunnel and elsewhere on the M4 on the stretch from the Severn bridge to Cardiff. These measures are not meant to impose nationwide tolls in Wales or anything of the kind that he suggests; they are specifically targeted to help in specific instances, including the M4 relief road.
Does the Secretary of State foresee any circumstance whereby primary legislative power will be transferred to the National Assembly under the Government of Wales Act 2006 in this Parliament?
I have made it clear to this Parliament in taking the 2006 Act through its passage that I think that that is unlikely, and I have said all along that I am in favour of calling a referendum on full law-making powers, which I support and put into the Bill, when we are likely to win it. I do not think that there is any point in calling a premature referendum, which would produce a repeat of 1979, rather than the success, albeit narrow, that we achieved in 1997. We need to build a consensus for a yes vote across all parties, and I want to be part of achieving that.