Gareth Williams

Great game, great atmosphere and an incredible bonus-point win for @cardiffrugby.bsky.social

Groundhog Day by Nathaniel Hale By now, you will have heard the line, at least if you’ve ever sat in a meeting convened by the higher-ups of Welsh rugby: there is enough money and talent in the Welsh game to sat…

Groundhog Day gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/04/14/g...

A Sad Day for Welsh Rugby Whatever your club allegiances, whatever your views on the structure of the rolling binfire that is Welsh rugby, the news that Cardiff Rugby are to go into administration is both saddening and conc…

As Cardiff Rugby enter administration, radical change cannot now be avoided. The WRU needs to act.

A Sad Day for Welsh Rugby gwladrugby.wordpress.com/2025/04/09/a...

The cover of Exploring Parliament Second Edition, showing the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge from across the Thames, at twilight.

So, so proud of this book! It was an honour to be asked by @estrangeirada.bsky.social & @louisevthompson.bsky.social to join the editing team and work with 70+ incredible practitioners & academics who shared their expertise for the benefit of students of Parliament: global.oup.com/ukhe/product... 🧵

#Spring

After a shocking first-half, the resilience and spirit Wales showed in the second-half to get back within six points was pretty impressive. #ScovWal

Decent performance from Cardiff and a deserved bonus point for playing some attacking rugby but against the top sides you get punished for making mistakes. #LeivCar

Officiating in the Leinster v Cardiff game has become incredibly one-sided. Sides are being referred differently at the breakdown. Not a good look for the league. #LeivCar

Recent years have seen frequent complaints about the quality of legislative scrutiny by parliament, and particularly by the House of Commons. Various comment... Improving parliamentary scrutiny of legislation

Earlier today, we hosted Meg Russell, David Natzler and @danielgover.bsky.social to discuss how to improve parliamentary scrutiny.

Catch up with what was said 👇

Much better performance from Wales, playing some exciting rugby at times. To be so competitive against one of the best teams in the world after 14 straight losses speaks volumes #WalvIre

You may be looking to pundits to tell you where all this is going.

Well, I have not a clue, other than US is nearing a constitutional crisis.

And if so: nobody can know what will happen next.

For that is the nature of any genuine crisis: it is a situation the outcome of which cannot be foreseen.

Good to see an ex-player call out the WRU. Needs to happen more. #ItavWal

Congratulations to Italy - a deserved win. The scoreline flatters Wales. Gatland’s poor squad selection laid bare. Time to move on from him and Howley. #ItavWal

Wainwright has made a massive difference since coming on. #ItavWal

I think this was the moment I lost any and all patience or hope I had. This is bleak. Wales are the worst team in this Six Nations by such a drastic margin it's scarcely even a joke.

Horrendous first-half from Wales. Look disjointed and poorly coached. A really tough watch because the players are better than that. #ItaWal

Feel for the Welsh players. They put a shift in but no match for France. WRU shambles off the field allied to poor coaching choices coming home to roost #FraWal

That last penalty was a nonsense. There was a clear release. France don’t need that kind of help.

France have been superb (and didn’t need the TMO and linesman to be asleep for the 3m forward pass for the third try).

Wales attack has been pedestrian and no cutting edge. Second half is going to be tough.

Our final session of the day was the Wheeler Booth Memorial Lecture, delivered by Dame Elizabeth Gardiner DCB, former First Parliamentary Counsel (2015-2024).

As a legislative drafter Elizabeth spent over 20 years working on a wide range of bills.

We’ve kicked off our annual weekend with a panel reflecting upon 25 years of law making following devolution.

Panelists:

Sara Moran (@senedd.wales)

Jonathan McMillen (@niassembly.bsky.social)

Stephen Imrie (Scottish Parliament)

Ruth Fox (@hansardsociety.bsky.social)

The Constitution Unit blog in 2024: a guide to the last 12 months of constitutional analysis As the year comes to an end, blog editor Dave Busfield-Birch examines the blog’s content in 2024, and offers some insight into the reach of the blog through the lens of its readership statistics. The posts discussed cover topics such as the Balfour reforms of the Commons timetable, maiden speeches, how the new voting rules affected May’s PCC elections, the abolition of the hereditary peers, the role of the NAO, media, and monarchy in the UK constitution, and a personal favourite on how the weather can affect elections.

NEW BLOG: The Constitution Unit blog in 2024: a guide to the last 12 months of constitutional analysis

Editor Dave Busfield-Birch examines the blog’s content in 2024, offering a selection of the most popular (and his personal favourite) posts of the year.

Fantastic result for Wales women’s football - nail-biting last fifteen minutes with incredible goal line clearance and last-ditch tackles.

Not the most free-flowing game but good to get a win and a bonus point.

Cardiff 31 Dragons 23

Any comments on the Bill can be sent to the Committee before Christmas - it has to report before 12 February.

Legislation (Procedure, Publication and Repeals) (Wales) Bill: Bill Summary The Legislation (Procedure, Publication and Repeals) (Wales) Bill forms part of the Welsh Government’s programme to improve the accessibility of Welsh law.

The Senedd’s LJC Committee is currently considering a Welsh Government Bill which includes provision about statutory instruments. This Senedd Research article provides more information about the Bill.

research.senedd.wales/research-art...

Thanks to @psa-parliaments.bsky.social for the opportunity to present this paper today and for the great engagement from attendees.

You can read the full series on the Senedd Research website: research.senedd.wales/research-art...