Forum on the Changing Union: Wales 'must not be sidelined'

The forum will consider the implications of changes affecting chambers such as the Welsh assembly

A warning has been given that Wales must not be sidelined in debates about the UK's constitution.

A new Welsh body, the Forum on the Changing Union, will look at the consequences of Scotland backing independence or further devolution.

Geraint Talfan Davies of participants the Institute of Welsh Affairs said there was a risk Scotland and England could dominate the issue.

The forum aims to be a platform for constitutional experts and politicians.

'Capacity and interest'

Politicians and experts will be invited to respond to the Silk Commission into Welsh devolution and the relationship between the nations of the British isles.

It will also look at international evidence from other countries.

The Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, the Institute of Welsh Affairs think tank, and Tomorrow's Wales, which has campaigned in favour of more devolution, have teamed up as part of a three-year project.

Mr Talfan Davies said: "There is a danger that in the next few years the debate will be framed as a bilateral exchange between elites in Edinburgh and London.

"However, Wales has both the capacity and the interest to orchestrate the breadth of conversations that are needed."

A £50,000 grant has been awarded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Foundation and further funding is being sought.

On Tuesday, Sir Emyr Jones Parry, who chaired an inquiry into the Welsh assembly's powers, was named as a member of a UK-wide commission looking at the so-called West Lothian question.

Sir Emyr will be part of a six-person commission into whether Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish MPs can vote on English-only matters, which is due to report in the next parliamentary session.