Welsh leader criticises Johnson government over communication
The First Minister of Wales has criticised Boris Johnson’s government for a lack of communication on how Britain moves together out of coronavirus lockdown.
Mark Drakeford said there had been no discussions this week between representatives of the administrations in Cardiff and Westminster.
He spoke of his “disappointment” at the lack of meetings and said he feared for a “splurge of contact” in the days running up to the next threeweek review of the lockdown regulations.
“I’m afraid this week has been one of the stops in the stop-start process,” Mr Drakeford told the daily Welsh government briefing.
“Last week, in the run-up to the change in the regulations, we had good meetings with the UK government on four of the five days.
“I am disappointed that a whole week has gone by without any meeting of that sort.”
Mr Drakeford said he wanted to see regular meetings between the Mr Johnson’s government and the devolved administrations about the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s a disappointment to me that one of only three weeks we have got has now gone by without any contact of that sort,” he said.
“What I don’t want to see is a sudden splurge of contact in the few days before decisions have got to be made.
“That’s not the best way to make sure that we share information, that we understand one another’s perspectives and do what I’ve always wanted us to do, which is to move ahead together in a uniform, UK pattern. I hope we will see a resumption of discussions early next week because that is the way to keep the UK on the same track.”
Mark Drakeford said the Welsh government will publish the country’s “traffic light road map”, the sequence of eased restrictions towards ending the coronavirus lockdown.
The three stages – red, amber and green – would each see a “cautious” lifting of measures which would apply to schools, businesses and general freedoms.
But unlike in England, the Welsh government has decided not to give any dates for when the country could expect to see any changes.