Labour and Plaid Cymru clash over giving Welsh Government NHS privatisation veto
Plaid Cymru have criticised the Labour Welsh Government after they voted against giving the Senedd a ‘veto’ over NHS privatisation.
The motion brought forward by Plaid Cymru was however branded “gesture politics” by a Labour minister.
Plaid Cymru had brought forward the motion calling for the Wales Act to be modified to take away the power of the UK Government to force through changes in devolved fields against the will of the Senedd.
Labour however said that it would not be appropriate for the Welsh Government to hold a veto over trade issues controlled by Westminster.
Plaid Cymru however said that other devolved areas in the EU such as the Belgian region of Wallonia held such a veto which they had used.
The motion was voted down by 37 votes to 7, with Labour, the Conservatives and Brexit Party voting against, and Plaid Cymru voting for.
‘Dangerous’
Responding on social media after the motion was voted down, Deputy Minister Lee Waters said that Plaid Cymru were using the issue as “gesture politics” which would then be “misrepresented on social media”.
However Plaid Cymru’s Brexit spokesperson Delyth Jewell AM said that it was “beyond belief” that Labour would vote against giving the Welsh Government a veto.
“If the US were to get their way in the form of a trade deal that included drug pricing and patents it would lead to huge amounts of money being diverted from frontline services to the pockets of US pharmaceutical firms and dangerous deregulation in terms of how drugs are prescribed,” she said.
“What we’re calling for is what Labour say they want, which is for the UK Government to have to Welsh concerns before forging ahead with any trade deal that could potentially damage the NHS.
“To reject this in favour of a forlorn hope that Westminster will suddenly break a habit of a lifetime and start listening to Wales shows incredibly naivety and is why many people are concluding that Plaid Cymru is the only party that can be relied on to defend Welsh public services under all circumstances.”
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.
Welsh Labour are bluer than the Tories and seem to have been for years. Why are we surprised by this act now? They are traitors to Wales and the flaming sad thing is that in order to get Boris out many like me will be voting for the traitors because Plaid votes aren’t guaranteed not to help him stay in. It’s one hell of a dilemma. ?
Bluer than David Cameron, though not the current Neo Tories, who have taken a very right-turn.
All the pronouncements dug up from Johnson’s recent past paint a rather nasty picture.
Still, we all know how you feel.
Don’t overstate things. Welsh Labour are nowhere near as blue as the Tories. They are just plain dull, lifeless and colourless. Those negative characteristics make for a passive, idle regime who just sit on the fence and obey the orders that come down from above. They have no idea how to design and implement a radically different policy on anything just in case their funding allocation can’t cover it. No one has tried plotting any innovative policy and going to London with a “this is what we propose to do, this is how it will be done and this is… Read more »
If Great Britain was divided into two regions the comparison would make sense. However that isn’t the case. Not even the Romans managed that despite some effort to conquer Caledonia. I may be wrong but not even the confederal Swiss have a pick n mix trade policy. A united trade policy across 28 countries is one of the strengths of the EU. Our politicians always like to make comparisons whether current or historical but invariably manage to ignore the facts especially inconvenient ones. Why can’t they state their cases based on evidence or principle? Is it really too much to… Read more »
Ursula and the EU for me. Please stay in.