Jo Stevens is ‘most anti-devolution Labour Welsh Secretary since George Thomas’ says Lee Waters
Martin Shipton
A former Welsh Labour Minister has accused Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens as being the most anti-devolution holder of the office since George Thomas.
Speaking on the Senedd Sources podcast, Llanelli MS Lee Waters said: “Jo Stevens is a classic example of a unionist politician. She’s not somebody who believes in devolution, particularly.
“She’s from very close to the English border in north east Wales. Her politics are the politics of many people in Labour history – Neil Konnock, Aneurin Bevan. It’s a proud tradition in Labour thinking where they essentially think there shouldn’t be differences.
“I don’t agree with that – and neither do most people in Wales, by the way. But that’s her sincere view and I understand that. It’s a reasonable view. It’s just not Labour policy. I find it quite peculiar really. I don’t want to make it personal. I don’t really know Jo, but I’ve always had cordial relationships with her.
“She is probably the most anti-devolution Labour Welsh Secretary we’ve had since George Thomas. I’m not really sure what the political strategy behind that is though. We are now going into a period where we will obviously come together as the election gets closer – that’s what parties do. The one thing that makes you have common cause with your own side most is being attacked by the opposition.”
There has been mounting anger within the ruling Labour Senedd group over the Labour UK government’s perceived hostility towards devolution.
In early December Mr Waters was one of 11 Labour Senedd backbenchers who signed a letter to Keir Starmer accusing his government of a “constitutional outrage” in bypassing the Welsh Government and announcing a scheme where councils will get money directly from Whitehall for town centre improvements.
The letter said there was “increasing concern” that the UK Government was failing to deliver further devolution. The Pride of Place town centre improvement programme had caused “considerable unhappiness” amongst Welsh Labour Members of the Senedd (MSs). It said it was a “UK Government programme operating in a wholly devolved area that is being designed and delivered from Whitehall”.
Internal Market Act
The letter criticised the use of the Boris Johnson-era UK Internal Market Act to “impose” the new programme. The law was controversial in part because of the powers it gave the UK government to spend money in areas that are otherwise controlled by the Welsh government. Ministers in the Welsh government attempted to have the law overturned in the courts, the letter said, because “the Internal Market Act represented an unwarranted attack on devolution”.
The letter added: “For our own government to then come in and use the very same powers to act in devolved areas is at best deeply insensitive, at worst a constitutional outrage,” it said.
“If this was being done by a Tory government we would be calling for a judicial review. This must never happen again.
“Wales needs and deserves to be treated as an equal part of the UK and the UK Government has a responsibility to act to deliver this equality.”
The letter said that while in opposition Labour had “raised expectations” of reform to the way Wales is funded, as well as the devolution of policing, rail infrastructure, policing and the Crown Estate.
It accused the UK Government of “not only not progressing these but… rolling back the existing devolution settlement.”
George Thomas, then the MP for Cardiff West, was Secretary of State for Wales from 1968 to 1970. He had little time for the Welsh language and was an implacable opponent of those within the Labour Party who favoured devolution.
Royal sycophant
A notorious royal sycophant, his time as Secretary of State for Wales was dominated by the controversial Investiture of Prince (now King) Charles as the Prince of Wales in 1969.
Later Thomas became Speaker of the House of Commons during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Critics accused him of showing favouritism towards Thatcher and her government.
When he retired from the Commons, he was made a hereditary peer and given the title Viscount Tonypandy.
He became a supporter of the Referendum Party (an anti-EU party founded by controversial businessman Sir James Goldsmith). He died in 1997, four days after the people of Wales voted narrowly in favour of setting up what is now the Senedd.
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Glad this is being stated explicitly now, it’s been an open secret that the Welsh secretary has disdain for Welsh devo.
Welsh Labour needs to break away from English Labour if they want to survive. Start up that judicial review to show they’re serious.
Solution; move the Senedd away from the influence of Desolation Bay and set up shop overlooking the Straits…
Gibraltar ???
Don’t encourage him.
Have you worked out who the Reverend Fairlamb is yet Sherlock…
Move it to Aberystwyth or perhaps Machynlleth and that should help reduce the level of deprivation in West Wales. It would also force Senedd members to notice the lack of investment in the Cambrian line which the latest Canbrian News suggests is being ‘run down’ by TFW.
You can see Aberffraw from Ferodo Baggins’…
Not Machynlleth it is awash with supercilious sais…
You know your Bob Dylan, Mr Jones has joined the conversation…
Pencil in hand…
Afon Menai ~ Menai Straits
Politicians respond to the will of the people. I originally supported the concept of the new net zero trial site in Wales http://www.gcre.wales Westminister wants Wales to fund a site to trial equipment for high speed trains, yet will not give Wales funding for a high speed network. The project lead has left, the Welsh government has put in funding, but Network Rail has no involvement in the project – compounded by no mention of the project in last years Industrial Strategy. We need a different way of thinking. TfW has created a new supply-chain in Newport with Spains CAF… Read more »
I think she has single handedly destroyed labour in Wales. Hope PC rise up for Wales and push Wales upwards and onwards.
She’s had quite a lot of help. Vaughan Gething for instance
Don’t forget Smiles and the rest of the Twins…
What ever I said could not be rephrased…but it could be misunderstood…
Hang on Amir, Dolgellau does not want to go ‘upward and onward’ we like it as it is…exclusive in a very inclusive way…
Jo Stevens is only the latest in a long line of Labour politicians to take this view, and the only way we will change it is at the ballot box, make this type of thinking extinct. It is about time Cymru was put first, by politicians elected in Cymru.
Sec of State George Thomas was the one who decided to confiscate £150,000 (1966 prices) from the Aberfan relief fund and use it to clear the tips above the school after the disaster rather than it be spent on the families and burials. His grave in Trealaw Cemetery is regularly urinated upon.
A traitor to Wales in my opinion.
She is not TWO FACED SHE HAS MORE FACES THAN BIG BEN
Only one face- looking eastwards towards her Imperial master
I’ve heard Lee Waters make this same observation, from memory, no less than three times in the series of discussions on Welsh politics which he has with Professor Laura McAllister of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre and the Conservative commentator Lauren McEvatt on Apple’s Welsh Politics Pod.
I agree with Lee Waters’ statement that “Wales needs and deserves to be treated as an equal part of the UK….” What does this mean? In my view the only rational interpretation of this is that devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be standardised to that of the country with most advanced devolution settlement – Scotland. This is clearly also the only sensible arrangement for the 3 countries.
Independence for Cymru & Scotland with reunification for NI makes far more sense.
It would also need to be equal with England, versus the current situation where devolution is only at the pleasure of Westminster, which can tread on the toes of devolved matters (e.g. Internal Market Act) and could in theory be unilaterally wound up by Westminster like one of those extendable dog leads.
I understand where you are coming from, for devolution fair enough, but perhaps a Confederation would be better. For a real solution to the problems in Cymru and Scotland independence is the only way.
Diolch Martin Shipton! It’s so helpful & morale boosting to read such well reasoned & researched political journalism. At last we are fighting back and negative, destructive, imperialist propaganda is meeting reasoned thoughtful positive resistance. We are not too poor as politicos & compradors like Stevens are exposed & countered.
This isn’t a union vs devolution debate, it’s a centralism vs decentralisation debate.
The USA is a union yet their 50 states have a level of autonomy we can only dream of.
It’s the reason they are the most successful economy in human history.
It’s perfectly possible to be a unionist that supports devomax in all parts of the UK as a proven route to greater success for the whole union.
You have to wonder what kind of unionist doesn’t want greater success for the whole union.
Thats exactly why the UK is failing. It’s born of imperialism which is the culture the modern UK was built upon. Jo Stevens is an imperialist whether she realises it or not. Factor into this the deliberate policy of deindustrialisation and over focus on the City core economy and you have the reasons Tom Nairn outlined in “The Breakup of Britain.” The UK establishment can’t shake off its imperialism. That is a key driver in killing the union.
We shouldn’t be surprised because Whitehall was set up to run an empire and has never been reformed. It doesn’t know any other way to govern except exploiting the colonies to enrich the capital.
Exactly that Iain.
Is economy the way to measure success? Have a look at the levels of poverty, the lack of access to good health care and the precarious nature of people’s lives and the US looks like a basket case. Also, they seem to owe an awful lot of money to someone, including China. Independence is the only way to make decisions that suit Cymru or in my case Scotland.
It’s not the only way to measure success but it’s tough to fix poverty and poor healthcare with a bad economy.
Most of the US’s social problems are ideological not economic and you can find examples of how some states do fix these themselves thanks to the powers they have without relying on the largesse of Washington.
Lee Waters and others in Welsh Labour are right. Jo Stevens is a toxic individual whose done great harm to the opportunities that Wales have to become a proud nation and in the process she has become the best recruiting Sergeant for progressive left parties in Wales especially Plaid Cymru.
She is past her sell by date.
This George Thomas? https://www.itv.com/news/wales/story/2014-07-19/police-probe-into-lord-tonypandy-child-abuse-claim/
Vile man.
She is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money. What purpose does she serve apart from blocking anything Cymru needs? Perhaps she should inform us of any positive plans she has for the country.
Devolution is not the problem, the problem is the Welsh Labour Government. What we should be asking is ‘what has Labour actually achieved in 25 years’? You know the very party which Jo Stevens herself is a member of. If the people of Wales don’t like their policies then they can vote them out in May, which is looking increasingly likely to happen.
Not sure that your strictures about Welsh Labour are entirely fair. Across the last quarter century, and successively, Ron Davies, Rhodri Morgan, Carwyn Jones and Mark Drakeford did seem to me to forge a strongly pro-devolution line while simultaneously maintaining a position which valued and sought to maintain the British union. As an Englishman who first came to live in Wales as a student back in 1964, and who has spent around half of my life here, my impression has been that those political figures did pretty mch reflect where most voters ‘were at’ during their periods of office. Unfortunately… Read more »
It is important that a strong voice for Wales is the outcome of the Senedd elections.
It would be ironic if dislike of Jo Stevens and the craven and lickspittle attitude of the current Welsh government resulted in their replacement by an administration run by a private company, Reform Ltd., owned by a man with even less interest in improving the lives of the people of Wales.
Can you imagine a Reform government at both ends of the M4?
But it’s clear now that a strong voice is not an acquiescent party to UK Labour. Labour on both sides of the M4 is resulting in an inferior deal for Wales, as we know from what has happened in Scotland. The SNP has been in power there since 2007, and has received much more than Wales because UK Labour and the Tories are terrified of losing an independence vote. So they do everything they can to give them what they want. But in Wales, they take us for granted, thinking they’ve got us in their pocket. We need a change… Read more »
A comparison with George Thomas says so much about the incumbent, but it’s a very fair one. She shows no interest in Wales whatsoever, apart from turning up at occasional events to tell us how well she is doing. But nothing has happened – even the small nuclear reactor planned for Anglesey is still some way off from work even starting – there is no guarantee that it will get started. The only time she seems to mention Wales is when she attacks Plaid Cymru for being nationalist. She refuses to contemplate any further devolution or modify the Barnett formula,… Read more »
Maybe Welsh Labour has spent 25 years keeping us down, not investing, not giving us the money we deserve, putting muppets in charge etc simply to head off confidence in, and calls for, independence…
The sooner the likes of Jo Stevens have no influence whatsoever in Cymru’s future the better as far as I’m concerned
I always try to be respectful to politicians, but I’m afraid to say jo Stephens is a symptom of the Corbyn leadership- it hollowed out the talent pipeline in Welsh labour. There wasn’t an obvious alternative when forming the shadow cabinet. However, it’s obvious she is out of sync with many labour MS, councillors and even MPs, so she can’t be the voice of Wales in the cabinet- so she should be moved on at the next reshuffle.
It would make more sense if the SoS post holders has to be confirmed by the devolved administrations.
Ooof, do you think sinn Fein or SNP would agree to anything?! In fairness, sinn Fein are fairly cooperative at government level. SNP will do their standard virtue signalling/morale crusade
You can’t oppose a more constructive system of government on the basis that some may not be constructive.