‘Defending the indefensible’: Plaid respond to Drakeford’s plan to save the UK

Plaid Cymru has responded to Mark Drakeford’s plan to save UK from breaking up by saying he is “defending the indefensible”.

The party’s Deputy Leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth said that Labour “will never put Wales first” and accused it of being “stuck in the past”.

Plaid called for Wales to be free of “Westminster’s chaos and incompetence” and pointed to support for independence being at an “all-time high”.

Today Drakeford will outline an updated 20-point blueprint, which he says would make the United Kingdom stronger but he also warned that the union has “never been this fragile” and added that if “matters continue in their current vein the case for the break-up of the UK will only increase”.

The plan – Reforming Our Union – has been updated following the Senedd and Scottish Parliament elections in May and the trade agreement signed by the UK and the European Union.

Tory Senedd leader, Andrew RT Davies, has called the plan an “unwelcome and unnecessary sideshow”, and believes that Drakeford shouldn’t be debating Wales having “more powers”.

Rhun ap Iorwerth said: “Past experience shows us clearly that UK Government, be it red or blue, will never put Wales first.

“Labour have been talking about setting up a constitutional convention for almost a decade, with then First Minister Carwyn Jones promising this as long ago as 2012. But nothing happens. Labour’s thinking on the union, appears to be stuck in the past.

“The UK is more than fragile – it is failing utterly to deliver economic and social justice for the people of Wales.

“The only way of achieving this is by putting Wales’s future in Wales’s hands, free from Westminster’s chaos and incompetence.

“It’s why support for independence is at an all-time high, and growing. It’s time for Labour in Wales to stop defending the indefensible.”

‘Priority’ 

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies MS said: “Just weeks after the Senedd election, people across Wales will be left scratching their heads at the fact this is now the priority for the latest Labour administration in Cardiff Bay.

“We’ve been through an incredibly difficult period and what people want to hear from governments and ministers of all stripes is how they’re going to protect jobs, secure new opportunities and deliver a clear plan for Wales’ economic recovery, not constitutional debate and demands for more powers and politicians in the Senedd.

“There might well be a time and place for such discussions, but this is not it. Welsh Conservatives make no apology for standing up for those families, workers and businesses who’ll be rightly angry that the newly-elected administration is focusing its energy on the intricacies of devolution rather than saving people’s livelihoods.

“The sole priority for Labour ministers should be Wales’ economic future – not never-ending debates on devolution – and this is an unwelcome and unnecessary sideshow at such a delicate period in our recovery.”