Labour hail 'Good Old Nick' as minister reflects

'I should like to look at this matter again, to reflect on the points made by noble Lords....' - Wales Office Minister Lord Bourne

By their recent standards, it was an early night. Their lordships finished proceedings on the committee stage (third day) of the Wales Bill at 10:59 pm on Tuesday.

It was a debate that featured contributions from four former secretaries of state for Wales (Lords Hunt, Murphy, Hain and Crickhowell), watched from the steps of the throne by the current incumbent.

It even included the poetry of R.S. Thomas, Cynan and Dafydd Nanmor. The Lords may be unelected but they seem to have taken Mario Cuomo's advice literally.

During the debate, Lord Bourne confirmed Monday's report that the UK government intends to scrap its right to intervene in water issues in Wales, but there was also room for a mild surprise.

The government signalled it is prepared to concede the devolution of those high stakes gaming machines known as fixed-odds betting terminals.

'Reflect'

Wales Office Minister Lord Bourne told peers: "Due to the strength of feeling that I have picked up in the House, I should like to look at this matter again, to reflect on the points made by noble Lords and to bring it back on Report [stage]."

Ministers sometimes agree to reflect on the points made without committing themselves to amend the legislation. So was Lord Bourne just being polite? Apparently not.

Labour spokeswoman Lady Morgan of Ely tweeted: "Looks like govt will allow us to control fixed odd betting terminals in Wales! Yippee another win!"

Lord Bourne, as a past member of the Silk commission, occasionally found himself arguing against the commission's findings, most notably on Welsh language broadcasting and on airport taxes. He rejected the devolution of both.

'U-turn'

High-stakes gaming machines may not have been the only ministerial U-turn of the night. Lady Morgan tweeted later: "Looks like we may notch up a few more concessions on community infrastructure levy, compulsory purchase order and buildings. Good old Nick!"

Good old Nick? Whether it's the Bourne supremacy or the Bourne legacy, it sounded to me like Lady Morgan is one AM who won't be opposing a legislative consent motion on the Wales Bill when she returns to her day job in the National Assembly.

But despite confidence in ministerial circles, the former MEP is keen to point out that the UK government should not assume it will get its bill. She told the Western Mail: "We have to see a lot more movement from the government so nobody should take things for granted here.

"And there are a lot of people who are suggesting there's not enough in it and the push back in terms of current powers is too great and actually starting again wouldn't be a bad thing."

You can read the Lords exchanges here and here. They resume on November 23.