As this motion states, specialist policing matters such as counter-terrorism are best co-ordinated at a UK level.
However, its call for the devolution of policing for Wales defies reality.
Policing is a devolved matter in Scotland and in Northern Ireland.
For reasons of geography and history, the situation in Northern Ireland is entirely different.
Prior to the introduction of Direct Rule in 1972, the old Stormont Parliament had responsibility for policing and justice in Northern Ireland – and successive UK Governments retained a commitment to re- devolve policing and justice when circumstances were right to do so.
48% of the people in Wales live within 25 miles of the border with England, and 90% within 50 miles.
In contrast, only 5% of the combined population of Scotland and England lives within 50 miles of the border between those countries.
Most people in Wales live along the M4 and A55 corridors, separated by a vast rural area, and very different policing requirements.
Policing interdependence between North East Wales and North West England is illustrated by the fact that this is the only part of the UK with an adjoining urban area divided by a National Boundary.
My contacts in both North Wales Police and the North Wales Police Federation have repeatedly told me that they have a closer affiliation with north-west England than the rest of Wales, and that there is a lack of competence in Welsh Government to handle the devolution of policing.
They expressed concern to me this week that Welsh Government control of policing budgets would see funding filtered south – and stated that they would like to know whether there is a desire in Welsh Government to merge the police forces in Wales, a proposal that was killed several years ago.
As they stated, “the geography and current calibrations’ with various English forces makes the concept of an all Wales Police Force very difficult”, adding “to force such a move to satisfy the egos of certain Politicians should be carefully monitored”.
In their January briefing to North Wales AMs and MPs, North Wales Police told us that their operational collaboration with the Merseyside and Cheshire Forces was increasing in areas including firearms, intelligence, custody, property and forensics.
When the Assembly’s Social Justice and Regeneration Committee reviewed the structure of policing in 2005, our report noted that criminal activity does not recognise national or regional boundaries, and that cross-border partnerships must reflect operational reality.
The work of the Assembly sub committee considering the then proposed Welsh Police Merger, of which I was a member, led to Police mergers being aborted across England and Wales. As I said in the February 2006 debate on this, “the police authorities told us that the additional all-Wales annual cost of reorganisation would be up to £57 million, with the chief constables saying that it would be even more”.
Our subsequent work confirmed that the Chief Constables were correct.
Although Labour’s General Election campaign Chairman in Wales has stated that Labour’s 2017 manifesto would give Welsh Minister’s a bigger role in policing, he also denied that Labour’s shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott had got her facts wrong when she said "we don't think it's right at this time to devolve policing, but this is something there's constant discussion about inside the Labour Party".
In 2013, Labour’s Shadow Police Minister – and former Police Minister – David Hanson, warned that devolving control to the police would be a major step with many challenges – and that reducing crime was more important than deciding which Government manages the Police.
New figures from Cardiff University show the number of people injured in serious violence dropping by 10% last year and by 40% since 2010.
Policing has already been devolved, to Police and Crime Commissioners, empowering local communities to have their say on policing priorities and to hold an elected representative to account.
The call for devolution of policing by Labour and the separatists is a blatant power grab which would deliver the opposite of real devolution.
This First Minister refers to the devolution of policing to Manchester as a model for Wales, but those are only the powers of Police and Crime Commissioners, and we already have devolution to them in Wales.
What he is therefore actually talking about is taking yet more powers from the regions of Wales and centralising these in Cardiff, giving themselves power to hire and fire Chief Constables.
Given Labour’s record of creeping and often intimidatory politicisation of devolved public services, this is a chilling proposition.