‘Drakeford living in fantasy land if he thinks UK serves Wales well’ – Liz Saville Roberts MP

UK a ‘great insurance policy’ says First Minister as Westminster tanks economy

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP has today (Friday 14 October) said that the First Minister Mark Drakeford is “living in fantasy land”, after he described the UK as a “great insurance policy”.

In an interview with the Irish Times in Dublin yesterday (Thursday 13 October), Mark Drakeford said:

“I want to be able to articulate that positive case for the current arrangements we have of strengthened devolution. The case is that it is a great insurance policy that we pool our resources and share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level.”

Liz Saville Roberts invited the First Minister to “tell families facing extortionate mortgages that the UK is a ‘great insurance policy’”, and to tell households facing “real terms cuts to wages and benefits while the super-rich get richer that we ‘share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level’”.

Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“The idea of a family of nations pooling resources for the common good is delightful in theory, but it bears no relation to the grim economic reality of the UK in 2022. I am afraid that the First Minister is living in fantasy land if he thinks there is a positive case to be made for current arrangements.

“I would invite the First Minister to tell families facing extortionate mortgages that the UK is a ‘great insurance policy’. Tell households facing real terms cuts to wages and benefits while the super-rich get richer that we ‘share the rewards where it is necessary at the UK level’.

“I hope that during his visit to Ireland, the First Minister gets a glimpse of how Ireland is succeeding outside the stranglehold of Westminster rule. Ireland is currently an elected member of the United Nations Security Council. Síofra O’Leary has just become the first Irish judge and first woman to lead European Court of Human Rights. Dubliner Tony Murphy has just been elected president of the European Court of Auditors.

“Ireland is punching well above its weight on the international stage. There is no logical reason why Wales should be denied the same opportunity.”