MORNING SERIAL
THE Secretary of State for Wales said that there had been “only 41 new cases across Wales” on the day the article had been published and that “none of those” were in the tourist dependent areas of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Powys or Monmouthshire.
He added that “bold leadership is needed to get the country back on its feet” and that the Welsh Government had a responsibility to “restart the engines of the economy”.
The war of words escalated with Wales deputy transport minister Lee Waters telling BBC Radio Wales Breakfast: “It is clear… the UK Government is departing from the advice of Sage, it has given up [on] a science-led approach.”
This culminated on June 17 when Simon Hart wrote another letter, this time to MSs and local council leaders in Wales urging them to pressure the First Minister to set out a roadmap for reopening tourism.
The Welsh Government response was dismissive with a statement being issued saying: “We thank Mr Hart for his advice, but the First Minister makes decisions based on safety and science rather than lobbying efforts by UK Government Ministers.”
The Llywydd (speaker of the Senedd) Elin Jones tweeted: “I really don’t take kindly to this political tactic. I will decide on my own representations on behalf of my constituents and do not need to be told what to do by a UK SoS.”
The matter continued on into the daily press briefing where Vaughan Gething commented that Mr Hart had “the luxury of not being a decision-maker” and that it was “a clumsy and ill-judged intervention”.
There was no doubt that, despite the criticism, the Welsh Government’s cautious approach was well received by the public. The Welsh Barometer opinion poll for ITV Cymru Wales showed that, in answer to the question ‘Is the Welsh Government handling the crisis well?’ only 29% had said yes on March 20. This increased to 41% on April 7, 56% on April 27 and 62% on June 1.
Lockdown Wales by Will Hayward £9.99 www.serenbooks.com/ productdisplay/lockdown-wales ISBN 9781781726013