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Wales and England diverged on Covid because the Welsh have a greater ‘social solidarity’ says Drakeford

25 Jan 2022 4 minute read
Welsh Government. St David’s day: First Minister Mark Drakeford

Wales and England diverged in their Covid responses because Wales has a “greater attachment to collective ways of doing things” and a “powerful sense of social solidarity” compared with the Conservatives who believe that “individual freedom trumps everything else,” the First Minister has said.

Mark Drakeford was asked on Radio 4 Today whether his decision to impose restrictions in Wales that did not exist in England was a means of political point-scoring.

He said that he believed in the United Kingdom but that the covid pandemic had brought already existing differences to the surface.

“The decisions we make in Wales are only ever based on the advice we get from our chief medical officer and our scientists,” he said. “We just take a different approach to the same knowledge.

“In Wales, we still have a greater attachment to collective ways of doing things. A powerful sense of social solidarity. An understanding that what matters to any one of us are the things that matter to us all.

“And we don’t have the same attraction that you see Conservative politicians having to that sense of individual freedom trumping everything else.”

He added: “I believe in the United Kingdom, and I think there’s a compelling case to be made that would maker people want to be part of that sort of United Kingdom.

“But the pandemic has drawn to the surface that for 20 years in Wales we’ve been making our own decisions, doing this in a way that allows us to craft our own decisions that meet our own circumstances.

“So in some ways I don’t think it has changed the fundamentals but it has drawn them to the surface and made them visible in a way that perhaps those things weren’t visible, even to the people of Wales, let alone outside.”

‘Respect’

The First Ministers was asked whether more powers were needed for the semi-autonomous nations to keep the United Kingdom from breaking up.

“I don’t think for me it is so much a matter of powers,” he said. “It is about respect.

“It is about having a set of institutional relationships in which we’re able to get around the table together, and where the different responsibilities that we have are respected by one another.

“We have stumbled our way through the Coronavirus experience with one-off ad hoc make and mend arrangements for making the United Kingdom work. And that really will not sustain the United Kingdom into the future.

“We need a set of intergovernmental relationships that are reliable and respectful.  And that what we can get around the table together. It’s far, far more that we have in common than divides us. And that’s why as I say I’m a believer in the United Kingdom, a successful United Kingdom, where there is powerful devolution but at the same time we pool our resources, share out the rewards and do the things together that keep us all stronger.”

Asked if he was in favour of devolving powers over welfare, he said: “I think there are some things that you need to do at a UK level because those are the things that keep the UK together. And a strong social security system, and a redistributive tax and benefits system, are for me among the reasons for wanting to belong and live in the United Kingdom.

“There are many things we are able to do with our own powers, but a tax and benefits system that operates across the UK, so that wherever you live you have a guarantee that you will not fall below that basic minimum, is part of what makes the UK worthwhile.”


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Cath Hill
Cath Hill
2 years ago

Firstly, absolutely correct, we do have a greater social solidarity in Cymru, but its not immune to destruction. England has been poisoned by the spite of the Tories, don’t get me wrong the UK was not a land of tolerance and wonder before 2009 but it was nowhere near the state it is in now England before 2009 (seriously I have been to places in England where the hatred is palpable in the air). Funnily enough (bringing me to my second point), it was the Tory attitude in their approach to the financial crisis and their scapegoating of unemployed people,… Read more »

Grayham Jones
2 years ago
Reply to  Cath Hill

If welsh people want to be British cross the border into England but not in wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Peter Cuthbert
Peter Cuthbert
2 years ago
Reply to  Cath Hill

Good points Cath. We should also remember that the hatred really became a political policy only after Thatcher discovered Ayn Rand and her immoral philosophy of extreme selfishness. Sadly that evil has soaked into the whole country and one sees it everywhere as people no longer seem to think “if I do X will that impact badly on anybody else?” Whilst I am part of the campaign for an Independent Wales I rather feel that some folks on this site seem to think it is a panacea. I would disagree as there would be a great many problems to over… Read more »

Grayham Jones
2 years ago

The UK 🇬🇧 is finished Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and Ireland 🇮🇪 have got to be Free and Independent we in wales have got to stop being little Englanders and and be proud to be welsh kick all English party’s out of wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 it’s time for a new wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Quornby
Quornby
2 years ago

Believe in the UK do you Mark? Only a fool repeats the same error time and time again while expecting a different result. It is high time that this colony broke free.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
2 years ago

Wales is at heart a socialist country. After all, we invented the healthcare system that was rolled out to become the NHS that’s saved millions of lives and became pioneers of many medical breakthroughs.

Also, its echoes in our given name of our nation & native peoples of this island. Both. Cymru & Cymry translates as land of fellow compatriots indicating togetherness and shared culture & language i.e an early form of socialism.

Last edited 2 years ago by Y Cymro
Erisian
Erisian
2 years ago

His child-like faith in the possibiliy of making the ‘Union’ into something that works for Wales is almost touching. Bless.

Rob
Rob
2 years ago

I’m not sure if I entirely agree that Wales is a socialist country. Granted it leans more to the left than England, but by the same breathe England is more to the left than the USA. If they became the 51st state, they would vote Democrat. There are perhaps many countries with left leaning policies that most Welsh voters would probably not be comfortable with. (The Netherlands for example going into a complete lockdown over Christmas). What pro-independence movements need to do is identify where Wales lies on the political spectrum and use that as our centre-ground. I for one… Read more »

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