THE Welsh Assembly will not need fresh devolution for another generation, according to Peter Hain. The Welsh Secretary said the Government of Wales Bill settles the devolution settlement for years. MPs backed the Bill in its third reading by 324 votes to 143, a government majority of 181, after extensive scrutiny on the Commons floor. The Bill provides a new mechanism for giving powers to the Assembly. It now heads to the Lords, where it is expected to get a rough ride. Peers are understood to be uneasy that new specific powers are being handed to the Cardiff Assembly on the basis of so-called "Orders in Council". The legislation will also allow a referendum on full lawmaking powers to be held in the future - but Mr Hain said: "Whatever changing circumstances we face over coming years there will be no case for a successor Government of Wales in the decades to come." Tory spokeswoman Cheryl Gillan said: "This Bill has some good proposals but the Government could not resist the chance to play party politics with it." Lembit Opik, Liberal Democrat spokesman, dubbed the Bill a "flawed but nevertheless genuine contribution" to devolution.. Plaid Cymru's Adam Price criticised "the exasperatingly glacial-almost speed to devolution". | 
