WALES faced a "triple lock" on the door to further devolved powers, Lib Dem Assembly leader Mike German warned yesterday. The next Welsh government would need the "powers of Houdini" to negotiate the tortuous route to law-making proposed by Labour, he said. AMs are today due to debate the Government of Wales Bill, which also offers the chance of a full law-making parliament - but only after a referendum. But Mr German accused Welsh secretary Peter Hain of "talking the pro-devolution talk" but fastening the triple lock on the door. An Assembly measure would first have to be sanctioned by the Welsh secretary, the Commons and the Lords. "At any one of these stages, a democratically elected government of Wales could see its ambitions and pledges stymied by politicians from any part of the UK," Mr German said. Top barrister and Lib Dem peer Lord Carlile of Berriew predicted a split in the courts in Wales and England was inevitable as a result of the proposed new powers. Mr German said: "The creation of a law-making parliament in Wales through the Government of Wales Bill necessitates a Welsh legal system. "It simply requires the creation of a Welsh division of the High Court. "That way, legal rulings in Welsh law could be made, in Wales, up to the Court of Appeal level." He added: "Peter Hain has said that 75% of powers will be devolved by 2011. If that is the case, then the courts will necessarily follow." | 
