‘Drakeford living in fantasy land if he thinks UK serves Wales well,’ Plaid MP
First Minister Mark Drakeford is “living in fantasy land”, after he described the UK as a “great insurance policy,” Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP has said today, 14 October.
In an interview with the Irish Times in Dublin yesterday, Mark Drakeford said: “I want to be able to articulate that positive case for the current arrangements we have of strengthened devolution. The case is that it is a great insurance policy that we pool our resources and share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level.”
Liz Saville Roberts invited the First Minister to “tell families facing extortionate mortgages that the UK is a ‘great insurance policy’”, and to tell households facing “real terms cuts to wages and benefits while the super-rich get richer that we ‘share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level’”.
“The idea of a family of nations pooling resources for the common good is delightful in theory, but it bears no relation to the grim economic reality of the UK in 2022,” Liz Saville Roberts MP said.
“I am afraid that the First Minister is living in fantasy land if he thinks there is a positive case to be made for current arrangements.
“I would invite the First Minister to tell families facing extortionate mortgages that the UK is a ‘great insurance policy’. Tell households facing real terms cuts to wages and benefits while the super-rich get richer that we ‘share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level’.
“I hope that during his visit to Ireland, the First Minister gets a glimpse of how Ireland is succeeding outside the stranglehold of Westminster rule. Ireland is currently an elected member of the United Nations Security Council. Síofra O’Leary has just become the first Irish judge and first woman to lead European Court of Human Rights. Dubliner Tony Murphy has just been elected president of the European Court of Auditors.
“Ireland is punching well above its weight on the international stage. There is no logical reason why Wales should be denied the same opportunity.”
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“great insurance policy,” with a company that is going bust.
I am though a “Unionist” but not the one sided colonial one that we are currently in. I would hope, and it is up to the people who live in Wales, that the future would be within a union of those historically Celtic nations Scotland and Ireland and hopefully within the very large European Union.
Ridiculous comment, why not include Cornwall and North West France, you can all go back to the Stone Age, hand in hand!
Plaid’s Liz Savile-Roberts is right as usual. We are so fortunate to have such a intelligent politician that fights for Wales at Westminster. Pity our First Minister couldn’t follow her lead rather than be attached to one. Mark Drakeford is deluded If he believes the British Union serves Wales well. Wales has served the Union (England) well more like. It’s a one-sided relationship rather than a reciprocal one. Would Mark Drakeford expect Ukrainians to champion Russia if it succeeds in its ambitions to incorporate it into a new Soviet Union? If no. Why then does he champion a British Union… Read more »
Very bitter words . What is your real agenda ?
It’s only a matter of time before Welsh Labour sees independence as the way forward. The majority of Welsh Labour’s youth movement now believe in the cause – they are the future of the party.
That is were you are all wrong. The only reason Labour voters have flirted with independence is because they could not see Labour getting power in Westminister again. Truss and the Tories have blown that fear to bits and with a Labour Govt they will have no interest in independence. So basically the tories have wrecked any chance of independence im sorry to say.
Hey hey hey, not so fast matey. You’re assuming all labour voters, in particular the under 25s, are all staunchly raise the red flag ideologists. Many are now seeing that no matter who is in charge in Westminster – for Wales it will make no difference. Yes, Labour are far better than the Tories but they are still part of the same old stubborn uncaring institution.
For that to be realised there must be a Welsh Labour Party that is independent from that of UK Labour. Can you see that happening? If you can’t see a freestanding Welsh Labour Party (as it is in Ireland) then the only option for the Welsh people is to collectively cancel your Labour membership and to Join PLAID CYMRU and YesCymru and positively fight for independence. This is what the Scottish have done when they joined & elected the SNP to government and what the people of NI did by voting Sinn Fein. So why is Wales under performing and… Read more »
If as she says higher mortgage rates are a result of being part of the UK, will she tell us which currency she and her party thinks an independent Wales should adopt and what that would mean for interest rates?
The Euro is the obvious answer. It might take a while to get there, but it has to be the ultimate aim for an independent Wales. Irelands bond yields are 150 to 200 basis points lower than the UK’s across the board, and that’s after today’s UK bounce! Mortgage lending rates are 2 to 3% lower than the UK, and on trajectory GDP will continue to weaken (probably significantly) with all the attendant consequences to disposable income and loss of comparative accumulated net wealth compared to Britains neighbours in the Euro zone.
GBP(pounds sterling) not GDP.
Iceland has it’s own well rated currency. I presume you mean to pounce upon any notion of a Welsh currency as ludicrous? Moody’s rates the króna very well. Iceland has a population a tenth of Wales’s. If we were to adopt our own Punt, Coron or Swllt, our interest rates would depend on the performance of our economy and its governance, just as it does for any other country. It’s not the only option around. Have you seen Glyndwr Cennydd Jones’ proposal for a Confederation? It involves turning the BoE into a Bank of Britain and sharing the pound. Perfectly… Read more »
He , Drakeford is probably after a seat in the houses as Lord Second Home ….Plaid have dropped their support to us Welsh speakers as not enough of them to swing any vote.