Welsh Labour have lost their way – Plaid Cymru
The leader of Plaid Cymru has accused the Welsh First Minister of misreading the mood of the nation in her Labour conference speech.
Rhun ap Iorwerth said Baroness Eluned Morgan was wrong to describe his party and Reform UK as “different poison, same bottle” during the address on Sunday.
Lady Morgan said Plaid and Reform represented “divisive nationalism in different forms” and warned Wales would “fall into chaos” if the parties were successful at the Senedd election in May.
Plaid and Reform are currently forecast to be the two biggest parties in Wales next year, according to a YouGov poll published by ITV Cymru Wales.
‘Trump-style lamguage’
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Mr ap Iorwerth accused Lady Morgan of using “Trump-style language” in her speech.
He said: “I honestly think this is a leader and a party who have lost their way.
“Of course, nobody thinks for a second that Plaid Cymru and Reform offer the same proposition, yet in her speech the First Minister used language, quite frankly, unbecoming of her office to describe her political opponents – ‘different poison, same bottle’.
“Now, in politics words do matter, so I would ask the First Minister to reflect on her choice of tone and terminology.
“Does she really think that Plaid Cymru and Reform are so similar? Where we promote unity, they sow division.”
He added: “And then there’s the Trump-style language.
“So did the First Minister write those words herself, or will she blame an aide like Keir Starmer did with his ‘island of strangers’ speech?”
Nations
The First Minister said: “Let me just be clear that I think that Reform wants to divide our communities and Plaid wants to divide our nations.
“Reform wants to blame foreigners and Plaid wants to blame Westminster.”
Mr ap Iorwerth said: “History will not judge this First Minister’s use of words kindly.
“She has fundamentally misread the mood of the nation and failed to give a thought-out analysis of the current state of Welsh politics and the challenges the next Government faces.
“In her desperation, frankly, for a headline, she has ceded all credibility.”
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Shes so desperate to cling to power, shes throwing mud, not caring where it is sticking. But then again, the baroness was never up to the job anyway
Absolutely right. She is as bad as Mr Gethin, her predecessor. Her interview on Radio Wales yesterday was pure waffle, and she has achieved nothing since becoming First Minister. Not even securing improvements with the very unfair Barnett formula. Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones at least realised the need to go out there and make contacts to attract Welsh business. She doesn’t even do that. For example, last week, she refused to attend Trump’s dinner. That would have been acceptable if she had taken a principled stance as Ed Davey did. But she wanted it both ways, firstly saying that… Read more »
Truth is the British Labour party/British Left is still in thrall to a residual imperialism which results in glaring hypocrisy on its part when it comes to the Celtic countries. In practice it needs to ditch its assimiliationist British nationalist stance in Scotland and Wales. It needs now to respect the historical, cultural and political integrity of our national communities – not cling on to the old forcibly cobbled together imperial construct merely for the sake of electoral advantage. It needs to be consistent. It’s easy enough to support self-determination in far-flung places where it costs us nothing. The real test… Read more »
It’s not just a cultural problem, it’s an economic problem. A highly centralised economy with London as the sole breadwinner handing out crumbs to underperforming regions and nations is much poorer than a federation of twelve powerful economies all punching above their weight. Anyone supporting the old ways are literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry children.
Plaid is absolutely right in its response to the first ministers comments which are totally wrong and very much uncalled for.
Enlightened, liberal, British ‘internationalists’ respect the integrity of national communities all over the globe. But they expect Ireland, Scotland, Wales, to put up, shut up, and agree to be assimilated.
I would be so chuffed if Cymru gained independence but Rhun ap Iorwerth has already said that if Plaid did gain power he has no intention of doing so. I always thought that Plaid only existed to achieve that goal which begs the question what the hell their intentions are if they did win the vote. Instead of attacking other parties it would be handy and interesting to know what their policies and ambitions are if they have any. It is essential to know these details to enable us to make a voting decision.
He said not in their first term.
I’m 100% in favour of a referendum on independence for Wales. However, the timing is crucial. There is no point in having a referendum that is virtually certain to produce a NO vote, for this would delay a 2nd independence referendum for several decades or longer. It would be wise to delay a referendum until there is reliable evidence that at least 55% of the people of Wales would vote YES. Success would then be highly likely.
‘Assimilationist British nationalism’ – the belief/insistence that the minority indigenous peoples/national communities of these islands – Ireland, Scotland, Wales – should continue to be ruled by the dominant neighbour group via the artificial forcibly cobbled together imperial constructs known as ‘Britain’ and ‘Britishness’