Support our Nation today - please donate here
Opinion

Why Plaid Cymru decided to withdraw from the Co-operation Agreement with the Welsh Government

18 May 2024 5 minute read
Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth

Rhun ap Iorwerth

When I became leader of Plaid Cymru in June of last year I was clear that I wanted my party to be a home for everyone who shares the ambition of creating a fairer, greener, more prosperous society.

I said that even in my formative years, I had come to understand that our nation wasn’t what it could be. That our voice was muffled, our ambitions held back, our aspirations ignored, and I came to see that Plaid Cymru was the beacon of hope in all of this – the embodiment to me of our determination to be a nation, to demand a distinct voice, to remove the shackles that stunted our potential and growth.

The past year has cemented those thoughts and galvanised a determination within me to set out a different vision for Wales.

Yesterday, I along with elected colleagues and the ruling Plaid Cymru executive came to a decision to end the Co-operation Agreement with the Labour Welsh Government.

Innovative

The Agreement was both an innovative and mature way of doing politics, which in the best traditions of Plaid Cymru put the interests of Wales first. It was an antidote to the UK Conservative government’s politics of division, and a constructive response to the chaos and uncertainty of Brexit and the Covid pandemic.

I’m proud of what we achieved and know that what Plaid Cymru has been able to put into action will stand the test of time. Knowing that children won’t be hungry in the school day, that measures to control the housing market will allow more of our young people to live in the communities where they were brought up, and that the climate crisis is being taken seriously by way of establishing a national energy company is what progressive politics should be about.

However, in recent weeks, in the areas of common ground which underpinned the Agreement – in terms of both policy and principle – there was a clear sense of a growing  divergence between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government.

Only this week, the decision by the Labour government to delay Council Tax reform which consequently means higher bills for poorer households for a longer period of time was a failure to use the innovative platform we had to make a difference. It told me there was a changing attitude in government and was a symptom of a changing political positioning of the new administration headed by Vaughan Gething.

I believe in pragmatism and finding common ground. After all, working with others has been the hallmark of devolution. But there is no contradiction between collaboration for the good of Wales and guarding the clear green water which makes Plaid Cymru distinct from others.

Glaring issue

There is of course, another glaring issue – one which is paralysing the work of government and which had become a genuine distraction to our work of delivering the Co-operation Agreement.

I believe that it was an error of judgement for the First Minister to accept a donation from a company that had been found guilty of environmental offences, and remain convinced that the only proper way to address this error would have been for him to repay the donation. Money left over now is in Labour party coffers.

I’m also worried by the circumstances around the First Minister’s decision to sack a Minister this week. Whether or not  Hannah Blythyn leaked iMessages is not the issue. The real question at play is why did Vaughan Gething not provide the information to the UK Covid Inquiry in the first place and why the determination  to try and find the whistle-blower rather than owning his own mistake? Finding  scapegoats for the purposes of self-preservation is never a good look.

Diminished

When those around the First Minister are dissenting not consenting, we know that his ability to govern is diminished.

Plaid Cymru will now move forward with a clear and continued commitment to scrutinising Labour’s record, putting forward bold ideas which match the people of Wales’s aspirations for our country.

In wanting to accelerate a timetable for lower Council Tax bills for the most disadvantaged, we stand for fairness.

By advocating for reforming the outdated Business Rates model, we are on the side of Welsh business and ambition.

Through standing side by side with nurses and doctors, steelworkers and postmasters, we fight for jobs, justice and a fair future.

And we never see Wales in isolation.

As the party which tabled a motion in the Senedd in November calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East, we strive for a peaceful world.

And as the Westminster parties turn a blind eye to Wales, as they’ve always done, Plaid Cymru will continue to build the case that we can do for ourselves what they will never do for us.


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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
16 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Y Cymro
Y Cymro
4 months ago

I think Rhun ap Iorwerth & Plaid Cymru were correct by ending the corporation deal with Labour. Unfortunately Vaughan Gething made a fatal mistake when he took dirty money from that convicted crook who happily damaged our beautiful country. He could have simply said he made an error if judgment and handed back the money bhe didn’t. His flippant attitude that he didn’t do anything wrong , let’s move on, wasn’t good enough for the high office he holds as First Minister of Wales. Saying that. What is it with Welsh /UK Labour and damaging Wales be it traitor Neil… Read more »

Richard Davies
Richard Davies
4 months ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

I completely agree with you!

Riki
Riki
4 months ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

100% agree, it’s the lowest of the low, attacking someone based on something they can’t change.

Linda Jones
Linda Jones
4 months ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

I believe Gething was born in Zambia, came to Wales when much older

T3DSK1
T3DSK1
4 months ago
Reply to  Linda Jones

correct born in Lusaka Zambia in 1974

And
And
4 months ago

Members and supporters have objected to this for months. Some knew at the very start that the party would struggle to take credit for its part in the agreement – and while we all acknowledge that things were achieved – but that was never the problem. Polling shows the party is still stagnant. I don’t know if this needs saying but as the third party in the Senedd you’re not in a strong position to do deals with one of two biggest political parties inside an Imperialist power which is passively oppressing our nation. You wont find progressivity there. Welsh… Read more »

Annibendod
Annibendod
4 months ago

The context given in the BBC article on the accusation of racism is that the scrutiny upon him by “national news media” would not have been given to a white man. So, if I have read this correctly, this has nothing to do with some imbecilic trolling on social media. The implication is that the Welsh Government are pointing the finger at Nation.Cymru and WalesOnline with the accusation that their articles with respect to Vaughan Gething are racist. This has crossed a line now. That is a lie and a particularly nasty one. Thank goodness Plaid Cymru has withdrawn from… Read more »

Adrian Bamford
Adrian Bamford
4 months ago
Reply to  Annibendod

It’s the standard MO these days: put someone, no matter how mediocre, in place who has a claim to ‘victim’ status and they’re effectively placed beyond criticism. The utterly incompetent Yousaf’s resignation speech was dripping with implications of racism.

Annibendod
Annibendod
4 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Bamford

Right wing conspiratorial claptrap.

Adrian Bamford
Adrian Bamford
4 months ago

It’s a sliver of good news I suppose: dividing Plaid and Welsh Labour loosens the stranglehold they have over policy. They’re both signed up to the holy trinity of idiotic ideologies though; gender ideology, the climate emergency and net zero. Policy will continue to be crafted on such a-scientific claptrap.

Last edited 4 months ago by Adrian Bamford
Annibendod
Annibendod
4 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Bamford

If you don’t believe that AGW is a real and current process then you are guilty of believing pseudo-scientific claptrap.

Linda Jones
Linda Jones
4 months ago

As a Plaid member I think Iorwerth and Plaid have done the right thing. There are too many unanswered questions regarding the integrity, behaviour and honesty of Gething and other members of the Labour Senedd.

Shifter
Shifter
4 months ago

Its another stitch up plaid stayed with Labour to make sure they get the vote through for another 36 Meps and then they part what a 2 party stitch up the people of Wales won’t forget plaid is a big part of labour voted with them all through the years and they think the voters will forget.

CapM
CapM
4 months ago
Reply to  Shifter

“and they think the voters will forget.”
Which party do you think those voters who will not forget will vote for?

T3DSK1
T3DSK1
4 months ago
Reply to  CapM

I’ve already forgot.
Forgetfulness is not a rite it is earned

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.