First Minister hits out at Plaid for walking away from co-operation agreement
Emily Price
Wales’ First Minister has accused Plaid Cymru of “walking away” from the opportunity to engage on university cuts when the party ended its co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government early.
Baroness Eluned Morgan’s comments came after Plaid’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth invited her to accept an invitation of collaboration for a cross-party review into higher education in Wales.
Last month, Cardiff University confirmed plans to cut 400 full-time jobs amid a funding shortfall.
The University of South Wales is also expected to make large cuts to staff and jobs after projecting a £20m deficit.
Costs
This morning, the Welsh Government announced an £18.5 million funding boost to support efforts to reduce operating costs.
Universities Wales says although welcome, the extra cash won’t tackle the “underlying issues and ensure the sustainability” of the higher education sector.
In the Senedd on Tuesday (February 18) Plaid’s leader suggested that the Welsh Government starts cross party discussions on the possibility of a brand new funding model for universities.
But the First Minister hit back saying it was a “shame” that discussions could have continued if Plaid hadn’t “walked away” from its partnership with Welsh Labour.
Baroness Morgan added that she was “always happy to listen to other people’s ideas” and that she would be attending a meeting with university vice chancellors in early March.
Sacked
Plaid Cymru pulled out of its co-operation agreement with the Welsh Government in May last year.
It was originally due to last until December 2024 – so would have concluded by now even if the partnership had run its full course.
The party’s decision to end the agreement came shortly after the former First Minister Vaughan Gething sacked his junior minister Hannah Blythyn.
She had been accused of leaking a screen grab of pandemic era messages to Nation.Cymru.
It showed that Mr Gething had told a ministerial group chat that he would be deleting messages because they could have been subject to freedom of information legislation.
Out of concern for Ms Blythyn’s mental health, Nation.Cymru later took the unprecedented decision to confirm that she was not the source of the leak.
Minority
At the time, Welsh Labour was already in turmoil over row about donations to Mr Gething’s leadership campaign from a company convicted of environmental offences.
The co-operation agreement saw Plaid vote with Labour on a series of policy areas to ensure a majority in the Senedd.
It was established following the 2021 Senedd elections, in which Labour gained 30 out of the 60 seats – one below a majority.
Without Plaid Cymru to support it, Labour now finds itself as a minority administration in Cardiff Bay, which could prove troublesome when it seeks to pass its draft Budget next month.
Both Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives say they will not support the Budget.
It’s rumoured that the Senedd’s only Liberal Democrat Jane Dodds will strike a deal with Welsh ministers to get the Budget through.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
It’s worrying we don’t know whether the messages were leaked by a rogue nation with backdoor access to government phones.
I doubt Nation .Cymru journalists would publish such a leak without knowing its provenance.
If they came from the phone in question but without the knowledge of the owner, what other options are there?
Now look what you have done Rhun, a hologram of a princess wagging a finger…
If (as was reported last month) Cardiff university has a reserve fund of £500m why is this an issue? University is comprised of clever people who should be able to sort something out. Meanwhile the Welsh government has quite a few real financial issues to tackle.
I suspect that it was easier for Plaid to maintain the co-operation agreement with Labour when Mark Drakeford was first minister because, despite their disagreements in detail with Labour, there was some evidence that Drakeford prioritized the interests of Wales above the interests of UK Labour.
Whereas Eluned Morgan, since becoming first minister, looks on the face of it pretty much no more than a Labour apparatchik whose prime loyalty appears to be to her party in Westminster.
Calling Labour politicians who ‘represent’ Wales “Welsh Labour” is just plain wrong. The fact that haven’t got the guts to breakaway from English, unionist Labour and really put Wales first is unforgiveable.
They’ve sold their roots and birthright for a mess of “Tory-Light” potage.
‘Calling Labour politicians who ‘represent’ Wales “Welsh Labour” is just plain wrong.’
A fair point, though I think many of those who utilize that phrase merely do so as a type of ‘shorthand’. Certainly, if I use it, that’s my thought; to me it means nothing more than ‘Labour in Wales’.
Labour have no answers to anything – universities, steel, behaviour in schools, dentists, waiting lists etc etc. They can see the writing on the wall and are looking to Plaid to share in their failures. A trap well avoided.
I think that if you want your political party to maintain any level of decency, a very big gap between Labour, reform and Tory needs to be maintained.