Welsh Government ‘running the country by media like a tin-pot dictatorship,’ Conservatives say
The Welsh Government is “running the country by media like some tin-pot dictatorship,” the Welsh Conservatives have said.
Welsh Conservative Health Spokesperson Andrew RT Davies made the comments on the Gwydir website.
He was responding to the new ‘fire break’ lockdown that will be imposed on Wales from 6pm, and the refusal of Welsh Government ministers to attend the Senedd in person due to restrictions.
“Regrettably, we were once again unable to raise these concerns and question the Labour despots in-person in the Welsh Parliament this week as the socialists continue to evade scrutiny at all costs, choosing instead to run the country by media like some tin-pot dictatorship,” Andrew RT Davies said.
“Wales can and should be better, but we are once again being let down by the socialist commissars in Cardiff Bay.”
He said that he had not been convinced by the Welsh Labour Government that a nationwide lockdown is either proportionate or necessary.
“In vast swathes of Wales, a lockdown simply does not stack up,” he said. “From a public health or economic perspective, it makes no sense to shut down large areas of Wales where incidence rates are currently low.”
Rules
Wales’ 17-day “firebreak” lockdown will start at 6pm, with people told to stay at home unless completely necessary.
Pubs, restaurants, hotels and non-essential shops will also shot, in a bid to slow the rise of Covid cases and hospital admissions.
Primary schools will reopen after next week’s half-term break, but only Years 7 and 8 in secondary schools can return at that time under the new rules.
People can be fined £60 for a first coronavirus restrictions offence, up to a maximum fixed penalty notice of £1,920. But if prosecuted, courts can impose an unlimited fine.
The national lockdown brings an end to the local lockdowns imposed on 15 counties, as well as the city of Bangor and town of Llanelli in recent weeks.
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