Adam Price calls on new Welsh Labour leader to work with Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru’s leader Adam Price has written to new Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford calling for him to work with Plaid Cymru on Brexit.

He said the parties could work together to ensure that the will of the National Assembly for Wales is “respected” following the vote to reject the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s vote to reject the deal was made the National Assembly for Wales the first parliament in the UK to do so, with the Scottish Parliament following suit on Wednesday.

The vote also called for membership of the European Single Market and Customs Union and to extend Article 50.

Although Mark Drakeford did not back a People’s Vote, Adam Price said it was important that the new Welsh Labour leader works with Plaid Cymru to “avoid the dangers” and “catastrophic consequences” for Wales of the Westminster Government’s Brexit agreement.

“As party leaders we now have an obligation to ensure that the resolution that was passed by our Senedd is delivered,” Adam Price said.

“I, therefore, ask you as the new Labour party leader in Wales to work with Plaid Cymru to make sure the will of the National Assembly for Wales is respected. I would be happy to meet with you as a matter of priority to make sure this is realised.

“Although our parties remain in disagreement on the need for a People’s Vote, I am sure it is in your interests as much as it is in mine that we do everything in our power to avoid the dangers and the catastrophic consequences that the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal could bring to the citizens of our nation.

“We must take this opportunity to stand up for Wales.”

‘Fear’

The Welsh Conservative Party said that Mark Drakeford had a “huge task ahead of him”.

Their leader, Paul Davies AM, said Wales had suffered from “decades of failure from successive Labour-led governments”.

“People across the country are crying out for change but I fear that the result of this election is simply going to give us more of the same,” he said.

“While Mark Drakeford has a mandate to lead from the Labour Party, he has no mandate to lead from the Welsh people; only a Welsh Assembly election will provide an opportunity for the public to endorse, or otherwise, his plans.”

Westminster

Speaking after his election victory, Mark Drakeford suggested that a Labour Government at Westminster would be needed in order to turn things around in Wales.

Mr Drakeford said the ultimate aim was to have “a Labour government in Westminster working with a Labour government in Wales”.

“During the campaign, I’ve done my best to publish ideas on the economy, in social justice, in the field of environment and energy which I think are enormously important to us in Wales, and to demonstrate how we can do more with the powers we already have,” he told WalesOnline.

“But also to say always that the real answer for people in Wales is to have a Labour government in Westminster that a Labour government in Wales can work with.

“That way you’ve got both sets of tools, working together, delivering the sorts of solutions that people in Wales so badly need.”