Partnership ignores priorities as Plaid on both sides of the fence
Welsh Conservatives’ Shadow Economy Minister Paul Davies MS responds to the three-year co-operation deal agreed by the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru earlier this week
THE writing has been on the wall for a long time – before May’s election, even – Plaid Cymru have done what they usually do and propped up another Labour government in Cardiff Bay.
It is, of course, their right to do that. But let’s not forget that Adam Price insisted in September last year that he “wouldn’t support a Labour government under any circumstances”.
It reminds me of all those other elections when Plaid promised they would not support Labour, yet promptly broke that commitment. Or the only six occasions when they voted against a Labour budget since the start of devolution. The plain truth has always been that if you vote Plaid, you get Labour.
That may work for Plaid supporters – but what about all those people who vote Labour because they consider being British as well as Welsh? Vote socialist, get nationalist anyway.
How can it be the case that the march towards independence has taken another step forward when four in five voters rejected Plaid’s divisive nationalism at the election this year? Labour has made this possible despite Plaid Cymru losing the election.
Labour has enabled the independence cause despite its rejection at the ballot box. Now, Plaid will use their cosy ‘coalition’ as “a stepping stone” towards their end goal.
They’ve already succeeded in having it examined in the constitutional commission the Labour Government has established. How much more will they give away to support the nationalists?
Of course, clearly Plaid have given in and made concessions too. The co-operation agreement shows Plaid have now seemingly dropped their opposition to Nitrate Vulnerable Zone regulations, completely betraying the farming community and rural Wales.
And there’s not one word whatsoever in the agreement about a Wales-specific Covid inquiry. Where is the responsibility and where is the accountability?
This is obvious for all to see in Adam Price’s performance in First Minister’s Questions. Instead of demanding answers or uncovering information on the people’s priorities, he uses his opportunity to team up with the Labour leader and continue in their obsession of blaming the UK Government for everything.
Plaid Cymru claim to be the greatest defenders of devolution, yet they cannot be bothered to do the basics and scrutinise Wales’ government.
And it doesn’t stop there – the ‘coalition’ is now setting up authorities on matters that aren’t even within the Welsh Government’s remit.
Despite broadcasting being a matter for Westminster, this ‘coalition’ think it’s a good use of taxpayers’ money to set up a shadow Broadcasting and Communications Authority for Wales. A toothless organisation with no power is apparently at the top of people’s priorities in Wales!
What should be at the top of the priority list is the Welsh NHS – and this deal contains only one mention of it.
Our health service has just recorded its worst-ever A&E waits, its longest-ever treatment backlog, and slowest-ever ambulance response times. Surely this crisis demands solutions. Instead, Labour and Plaid play footsie on broadcasting, tourism taxes and nationalising the construction sector.
It’s not just the NHS that gets short shrift in this deal. There is nothing on the pandemic recovery despite the battering the economy has taken since Covid reached these shores and the desperate need to improve the career prospects and life chances of children and young people.
Labour and Plaid may claim their plans are ambitious, but this plan ignores the people’s priorities.
Going forward, it is essential for our democracy that the implications of this deal are reflected in our institutions. Plaid Cymru simply can’t have it both ways – they can’t be in government and in opposition.
Given their ‘coalition’ with Labour, they should be treated as the junior partner in this government.
It would be an affront to the Senedd for Plaid Cymru to flit between government and opposition as it wishes. The people of Wales deserve to know whether they are now in government or in opposition.
In First Minister’s Questions this week, my colleague Darren Millar highlighted the abuse of patients, the suppression of accountability reports, staff shortages, and the culture of bullying and intimidation that has occurred in the NHS in north Wales when Mark Drakeford himself was the Health Minister.
There were no answers or accountability from Labour. And as they head into ‘coalition’ with them, it’s clear that Plaid Cymru won’t be pushing for those answers and that accountability either.
Only the Welsh Conservatives can be relied on to provide strong opposition, accountability, and an alternative vision that the people of Wales demand, need, and deserve.