Ex MP’s fear of ICE-style thuggery in Wales

Martin Shipton

A former Welsh Labour MP has criticised the refusal to devolve policing powers to Wales and raised the spectre of a future far-right Westminster government causing mayhem by sending ICE-style law enforcers into Wales.

The UK Labour government recently snubbed First Minister Eluned Morgan by reaffirming its determination to keep control of Wales’ police forces only days after she had called for policing to be devolved.

Geraint Davies was the Labour MP for Swansea West from 2010 to 2024.

Like many others he has watched with horror events unfolding in the United States, where two innocent people have been shot dead in Minneapolis amid protests against the violent thuggery of ICE agents engaged in mass deportations at the behest of Donald Trump.

Mr Davies believes the same could happen in the UK if Reform wins the next general election. He told Nation.Cymru: “Refusing police devolution to Wales when it’s devolved to Scotland and Northern Ireland is worse than a slap in the face for Wales as there will be nothing to stand in the way of a UK ICE, if Reform were elected in Westminster, marching into Wales and arresting people.

“UK undercover agents can already commit serious crimes if authorised for ‘the economic well-being of the United Kingdom’ thanks to a Tory law supported by Labour – the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act, which I voted against.

“Taken alongside the abolition of local police commissioners and putting the power to sack chief constables in the hands of the UK Government, this adds up to a threat to our fundamental freedoms.

“Policing should be devolved to make it locally rooted and to balance power. We all agree with specialist teams to tackle terrorism, gangs and drug smuggling but this can’t be a pretext for centralising power. We must return to Robert Peel’s conception of ‘the police are the public and the public are the police’ and not end up with the police being an enforcement agency of an authoritarian far right regime.

“We’ve seen in New York the local police doing their best to fend off ICE. Our First Minister of Wales needs a first line of defence here.

“We’re in danger of sleep walking into losing our fundamental liberties if people vote across the UK for empty Trump populism repackaged as Reform.”

Devolving police powers

We asked the UK Labour government to explain why it was opposed to devolving police powers to Wales.

A UK Government source said: “We engage regularly with the Welsh Government on policing matters and the Welsh public’s priorities for safer streets, more neighbourhood policing and reductions in crime.

“The UK Government has no plans to devolve responsibility for policing but is engaging with all stakeholders, including the Welsh Government, about the future governance and scrutiny of local policing as part of our consultation alongside our White Paper on policing reform.

“The UK Government’s consistent view has been that the integrated England and Wales system delivers consistency, and resilient policing. Devolution would create significant operational complexity, especially around cross-border crime, training, standards and oversight.

“Just last week Welsh police forces received a record funding increase to boost neighbourhood policing with well over £1bn being invested in Welsh policing this coming financial year. Since entering government we have ensured that there are more police on Welsh streets, and homicides are at their lowest levels since records began.”