Principalities and Powers

Wales is not Scotland.

What a world we now inhabit, that that statement is considered news.

And what a useful concept principality is. It accurately describes Liechtenstein's relationship with Switzerland. It accurately describes Monaco's relationship with France. It accurately describes Andorra's relationship both with France and with Spain. Although the term Princely State was preferred, it accurately described the relationship of almost, if almost, all of those to British India.

More and more, moreover, it accurately describes the position of Wales within the United Kingdom, which the BBC has instead to describe as "a national region", whatever one of those might be. In the wildly improbable event of Welsh independence, there can be no doubt that the entity thus constituted would at least initially be a Commonwealth Realm called the Principality of Wales.

There is apparently to be yet further Welsh devolution, despite the persistence of profound ambivalence, with well over a third voting No at the most recent referendum in 2011, as good as certainly including the great majority of those, still a significant minority but obscured by the First Past The Post electoral system, who are supporters of the Prime Minister's own party. Plaid Cymru's share of the vote at the 2011 Assembly Election was only half the size of that which rejected further devolution in the same year.

An opportunity now presents itself.

The status of Wales as a principality within the United Kingdom, the Principality of Wales, ought to be confirmed in Statute, with the monarch as de jure Prince of Wales, and with the title vested honorarily, together with ceremonial duties, in the Heir to the Throne at the monarch's pleasure.

Legislation of the Welsh Assembly would come into effect with the Assent of the monarch as Prince of Wales, and primary legislation could not be submitted for that Royal Assent without the prior approval of a resolution of the House of Commons if it had been referred for such approval by the Prime Minister, or by the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, or by the Secretary of State for Wales, or by any member of the House of Commons sitting for a Welsh constituency, or by any fifth or more of the members of the Welsh Assembly, or by any third or more of those members (whether constituency, list, or both) from any of the five electoral regions, or by resolution of any local authority in Wales, or by a petition of at least 50,000 registered electors in Wales.

The greater number of the strongest supporters of, in particular, that parliamentary safeguard would be a very high proportion of the Labour-voting majority. They suffer most as a result of the takeover of Wales by an upper-middle-class oligarchy which uses Welsh while living in English-speaking areas, exactly as predicted by Leo Abse in the 1970s, together with the weakening of trade union bargaining power throughout the United Kingdom, as also fully anticipated in the course of those debates.

Especially with the principality provision to put the belt and braces on Tory support, this ought to be proposed by Labour when the Bill providing for the next round of devolution comes before the Commons. However, it should simply be an additional part of that Bill, and not conditional on anything else.

If, most regrettably, this did have to be a backbench amendment, then obviously it would be best if it came from an MP who sat for a Welsh constituency. But failing that, or perhaps within it, it would look like a very enterprising, and a very worthwhile, way of securing oneself 20 or more nominations in the next election for Leader or Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.