Alistair in Cardiff

Alistair Cook, 28, was born in Cardiff and brought up in Brynsadler, Rhondda Cynon Taff.  He's very interested in current affairs and politics having just finished a PHD in the International Relations of Southeast Asia. Alistair has also been teaching Political Science, including European politics, in Melbourne and is very aware of politics at home and abroad.

A firm believer in devolution and full law-making powers for Wales, one area within Welsh politics which concerns Alistair is the LCO or Welsh law process which he sees as undemocratic:

One of my biggest concerns is the current process of making Legislative Competence Orders - LCO or Welsh law - and the way a bid for powers for the Assembly to legislate on the policy areas can be vetoed by the Welsh secretary. I don't see this as democratic. In effect, the people making decisions about Wales aren't necessarily directly accountable to the people of Wales on devolved matters. It's like giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

It appears that while the Assembly is ready for the LCO process, the UK parliament is not. The UK parliament hasn't set aside the time or resources for the process to operate in an efficient way, so either the process needs to be reformed to become more efficient or further devolution needs to happen.

The LCO process might work in making incremental steps for the Assembly to gain more decision-making power over particular areas, but it makes it more confusing for the electorate over where responsibility lies, especially when there are so many nuances in Measures splitting decision-making power of particular policy areas between Cardiff and Westminster. For example, who has responsibility for housing policy now? Is it Cardiff or Westminster? The answer is, 'it depends'. This is too ambiguous for the voters and, as a result, people will disengage.

Another thing concerning Alistair since devolution is the way the media hasn't been devolved. He thinks that coverage of devolved politics has been poor in general in Wales:

Welsh politics within UK politics is not well covered. If you look at the UK news, rarely is there mention about politics in Wales. If the voters are to better connect with politics in the Assembly then what the Assembly does needs better coverage, and at peak viewing time.

Above all, Alistair has enjoyed watching devolution in action and is looking forward to seeing what happens after the All Wales Convention public consultation ends:

I like the Assembly and especially the Petitions Committee which is re-engaging people in the decision making process. It allows the electorate an avenue to have their voices heard between elections. The All Wales Convention gives the people of Wales a chance to have their say. I'm glad to see that there are various public events being held by the All Wales Convention and hope these events give as many people as possible the chance and time to have their say on the devolution debate.