A 'No' vote will signal that the people want better devolution Wales doesn't need more laws but more accountable politicians and investment, argues Rachel Banner of True Wales

• Published in: Western mail (Cardiff, Wales : 1956)
• Main Author: Banner, Rachel
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cardiff (UK) MGN Ltd 23.12.2010
• Subjects: Lewis, Roger

Presumably, that wall will come down on March 4 when we will no doubt be bombarded with cries of "unfair" that Wales - by which, rather unpatriotically, they simply mean the Welsh Assembly - has been denied the fiscal "tools". How can it be right for British citizens in one part of the UK to be put at such a disadvantage by their own government? What sort of devolution dividend is that? After 11 years of "distinctive" Assembly policies, we are faced with the humiliation of the OECD PISA report on international educational standards: how can we in Wales build a "knowledge economy" when the very basics of reading, mathematics and science are in free fall? We would do well to beware the hands that have the tools to finish the job: let us not be distracted by the soft siren voices of nationalism asking for greater law-making power to rule us. Politicians claim that a "Yes" vote will "accelerate" law-making decisions, but as Peter Hain has said, "Being over-hasty makes for bad legislation and bad government".