Plaid responds to consultation on Westminster ‘Power Grab’ proposals

Plaid Cymru has today (10 July), responded to the Westminster Government’s consultation on the UK Internal Market.

The Party of Wales used its response to criticise the proposed legislation as an encroachment over devolved powers, as well as raising concerns with the actual process of consultation on the proposals.

The UK Internal Market white paper, which was presented in the House of Commons in July, would see Westminster define how the devolved nations would interact with the UK Government post-Brexit. It contains proposals that Plaid Cymru has described as a “power grab”.

In the consultation response Plaid Cymru gives the example of building regulations, which have diverged significantly from English building regulations since their devolution in 2011, the White Paper however claims that divergent approaches to building regulations could be a barrier to design and plan projects across the UK.

The Party also criticises the fact that the four-week-consultation and white paper were not jointly put forward by the Westminster and devolved administrations.

 Speaking on behalf of the party, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

“Four weeks and a series of loaded questions over the summer whilst Parliament isn’t sitting is all this Westminster Government has given people in terms of a consultation on a fundamental shift in the constitution of the UK.

“It is as if the Westminster Government cannot even hide its contempt for devolution.

“This is a power grab, plain and simple. From nakedly taking back competencies already held in Wales, to the fact that this legislation was not proposed jointly with the devolved administrations, the Westminster Government is chipping away at two decades of devolution.

“People will not fall for the Westminster double-speak of adding to devolution, these changes will only diminish Wales’s ability to carve its own path.”