Labour’s Jo Stevens has been accused of demonstrating a “patronising and contemptuous attitude” towards Wales by Plaid Cymru.
In an interview with S4C program Byd yn ei Le the Shadow of Secretary of State for Wales says she has “full confidence” in the troubled Wales First Minister Vaughan Gething, says Wales would not get consequential funding from HS2 because the project is “not being built”, and ridicules the devolution of justice and policing to Wales as “fiddling around with structures and systems”.
HS2 is currently being built – with the project itself saying it is at “peak construction”.
The devolution of justice and policing to Wales is supported by Plaid Cymru and Labour in Wales. It has been supported by several independent or cross-party commissions including the Thomas Commission (2019), the Silk Commission (2014) and most recently the Commission for the Constitutional Future of Wales (2024).
Plaid Cymru member of the Senedd Heledd Fychan said,
“Not a day goes by without it becoming clear that ‘Welsh’ Labour’s HQ is firmly based in London.
“On both fact and principle, Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens is wrong.
“Wrong to say that high speed rail in England isn’t being built, and wrong not to support the principle that Wales should get its share of spending on transport projects in England.
“In referring to devolution as an agreement not a demand, the would-be Welsh Secretary gave us a preview of how Wales would be treated by a Labour UK government.
“Her insistence that devolving justice amounts only to fiddling around with structures and systems laughs in the face of Labour commissioned reports which make the positive case for devolving policing and justice.
“The interview displayed nothing short of a patronising and contemptuous attitude towards Wales by Keir Starmer’s top team.
“It’s becoming clearer by the day that the only vote for Wales’s voice to be heard and respected on July 4th is a vote for Plaid Cymru.”
ENDS
EDITOR’S NOTES
The full interview from Byd yn ei Le by Catrin Jones is available here: https://newyddion.s4c.cymru/article/21955
HS2 is currently being built: https://www.hs2.org.uk/what-is-hs2/hs2-project-update/
Plaid Cymru argue Wales is owed almost £4bn in consequential funding from the project. It is a view shared by all major political parties in Wales.
In addition to Plaid Cymru, the devolution of justice and policing to Wales is supported by Labour in Wales including senior Welsh Government figures (Jeremy Miles, Jane Hutt, Mick Antoniw), the Justice Commission led by Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd, the Silk Commission (2014) and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales (2024) chaired by Laura McAllister Dr Rowan Williams.
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