Jo Stevens MP appointed Secretary of State for Wales

Plaid Cymru has responded to the appointment of Jo Stevens as Secretary of State for Wales

Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd Liz Saville Roberts said:

“On behalf of Plaid Cymru, I extend my warmest congratulations to Jo Stevens MP on her appointment as Secretary of State for Wales. We look forward to working constructively with the new Wales Office and to a welcome change of tone in how the new government will treat Wales, as promised by Labour during the campaign.

“As a strengthened Plaid Cymru group in Westminster, we will work tirelessly on behalf of the people of Wales to hold this incoming Labour Government to account on its promises to Wales.

“Our public services are crying out for investment – so our top priority will be to demand the funding owed to the Welsh Government – funding the new Secretary of State herself demanded from the previous Conservative Government. It would be deeply disappointing if, in power, the Secretary of State decides to undermine the calls of Plaid Cymru and those of her own Labour Welsh Government.

“We will also continue making the case for an evidence-based devolution settlement, and for the conclusions of the Welsh Government-commissioned Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales to be respected by the new Wales Office and the new UK Government. 

“If change is to mean anything more than a slogan, we need to see a shift away from the previous government’s obsession with centralising power in Westminster and a genuine desire to improve outcomes by making decisions closer to the people.”