Drakeford pans Plaid Cymru’s Crown Estate and wealth tax ‘kitchen sink’ motion

Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter

Mark Drakeford panned Plaid Cymru for “throwing the kitchen sink” into a motion, describing a debate on the UK budget as the antithesis of responsible politics.

The former first minister lambasted the Plaid Cymru motion on the forthcoming UK budget which made a long list of calls from devolving the Crown Estate to introducing a wealth tax.

Prof Drakeford said listening to the debate reminded him of the “potpourri” round on the Criss Cross Quiz television game show he would watch while growing up.

He told the Senedd: “I was powerfully reminded of it when I read today’s Plaid Cymru motion, a sort of kitchen-sink motion, in which the author has rounded up everything they could possibly think of and thrown it into a motion for the rest of us.”

He added: “The one thing that every single part of this motion has in common is that not a single one of them lies in the hands of this Senedd. And in many ways, that is the antithesis of responsible politics. It says nothing at all about the things that we can do as a Senedd.”

‘Magical thinking’

Criticising “aggressively partisan speeches” and “magical thinking” from the opposition benches, the professor hit out at the “wicked” characterisation of the UK Government.

Prof Drakeford agreed with the motion’s call to replace the Barnett formula but “the idea that simply by calling for it you make it happen really is just not the way the world works”.

He said: “You don’t bring about policy change… by not being prepared to do the hard work that lies behind it. This motion is the opposite of that…. It’s to pretend that simply by passing a resolution, you can change the world. You certainly can’t. “

But Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan defended the motion and hit back at criticism. She accused the Welsh Government, which tabled an amendment to delete the motion and replace it entirely, of not engaging seriously in the debate.

“If you call this an ‘anything-you-can-think-of motion’, the fact that you have no amendment speaks volumes,” said the shadow finance secretary.

‘Voiceless’

“That you’ve run out of things to say and call for, that you are happy to leave this Senedd voiceless in a process that will determine how Wales is funded in the future. We should be united. You can always amend. It’s easy to criticise. Amend. Do not delete all.”

During the debate on September 17, Ms Fychan denounced the “partnership in power” between Labour governments in Cardiff and Westminster for “ignoring Wales’ interests”.

She highlighted the issue of HS2 funding and previous Labour demands for Wales to receive billions in consequential funding from the rail project.

She told the Senedd: “It’s incredible the difference that there can be when somebody’s in opposition, and in power and able to do something about it.”

Pointing to a £72m “blackhole” in finances due to national insurance reforms, Ms Fychan accused first minister Eluned Morgan of “toeing the party line and not rocking the boat”.

‘Unworkable’

She said: “No amount of retrospective rebranding and talking about a ‘red Welsh way’ can disguise the fact that, on each and every one of the key priorities for the people of Wales, she has absolutely nothing to show for it.”

Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives’ shadow finance secretary, pointed out that Plaid Cymru has “propped up” Labour-led governments since the Senedd was established 26 years ago.

“Let’s be honest about their own ultimate goal,” he said. “They want independence, an economically unworkable fantasy. Without the UK’s financial weight, Plaid’s agenda would collapse under its own contradictions.

“An independent Wales would face deep cuts not prosperity. Plaid Cymru can’t credibly criticise Labour’s record while pushing on even more extreme and unaffordable policies. Wales needs realism not rhetoric.”

Senedd members voted 39-12 against the motion, before agreeing the Welsh Government’s amended version to “note” the UK autumn budget will be published on November 26.