SNP point to Mark Drakeford ‘UK is over’ comments as arguments for independence

The SNP have pointed to comments by Wales’ First Minister, Mark Drakeford as a further argument for independence.

During an evidence session at the Welsh Affairs Committee, Mark Drakeford said the United Kingdom “is over” and a new union should be crafted to reflect a “voluntary association of four nations”.

The SNP said that the Labour First Minister’s “blistering remarks” were evidence that “the only way to properly protect our interests and Parliament is to become an independent country”.

Mark Drakeford had taken the opportunity during his evidence session to condemn the UK Government’s approach of bypassing the devolved governments through levelling up funds.

“For the first time since devolution, we are dealing with a UK Government which is aggressively unilateral … and that there is outright hostility to the fact of devolution at the heart of the Government … and a belief that the best way to deal with [devolution] is to bypass it, to marginalise it, to act as if devolution didn’t exist,” he said.

“There is no institutional architecture to make the United Kingdom work,” he added.

“It is all ad-hoc, random, and made up as we go along. And I’m afraid that really is not a satisfactory basis to sustain the future of the UK.”

‘Bypass’

The SNP’s shadow Wales secretary Richard Thomson said: “The blistering remarks from the Welsh First Minister highlights the Tory Government’s utter disdain for devolution.

“The simple fact is that the Westminster Tory Government is responsible for completely undermining devolution and the Union it claims to be in support of,” he told the Scottish National.

“The Tories’ so-called Levelling Up Fund is a Trojan Horse attempt to bypass devolution, ignore the devolved governments, and to instead dictate funding over devolved areas as it sees fit.

“Any funding for Scotland should be passed to the Scottish Government to administer on behalf of the people of Scotland.

“It’s clear beyond any doubt that the only way to properly protect our interests and Parliament is to become an independent country.”