FM Mark Drakeford satates that the UK ‘as it is, is over’ and states he has only had one ‘proper’ meeting with the UK PM
‘There is no institutional architecture to make the United Kingdom work.’ Mark Drakeford said
The Welsh first minister has constantly criticised how the UK government engages with the devolved administrations and suggested Downing Street’s approach is putting the union at large risk.
Mark Drakeford described his own relationship with Boris Johnson as “remote”, revealing he had only had one proper meeting with the prime minister.
Talking with the UK parliament’s Welsh affairs committee from an ‘outbuilding’ which he described last year as a ‘small hut’ in his garden because he is self-isolating,
The FM said: “There is no institutional architecture to make the United Kingdom work. It is all ad hoc, random, and made up as we go along. And I’m afraid that really is not a satisfactory basis to sustain the future of the UK.”
Drakeford said the lack of regular meetings made the “security of the future of the UK” more difficult. “Without the prime minister playing his part in all of that, I think it undermines the efforts of those of us who want to craft a successful future for the UK.”
The Labour leader of Wales said he felt the United Kingdom “as it is, is over” and a new union should be created to reflect a “voluntary association of four nations”.
Drakeford said the UK was in danger if politicians only offered a “tweaking of the status quo”, adding that the coronavirus pandemic has led to a rise in support for Welsh independence as well as for reversing devolution in Wales. Cardiff News Online are waiting to see evidence of this
“I do think the effect of the pandemic and the last 12 months has been to polarise opinion in Wales about the way it should be governed. We have to create a new union.”
Whilst Drakeford discussed his relationship with PM Johnson “I would have to describe my relationship with the prime minister as remote. Both in the sense that I’ve met him only once myself – I’ve been at a number of meetings where there’s been large numbers of other people present – and he is yet to call a meeting of the joint ministerial committee of first ministers and himself.
“In that sense I would say I’ve had a very modest level of contact with the prime minister. And the remoteness isn’t just in that way; I’m afraid we rarely have a meeting of minds.”
Drakeford has had one face-to-face meeting when Johnson came to Cardiff just after the general election and before the pandemic. The pair have been on virtual calls with each other a number of times.
FM Mark Drakeford is self-isolating as a precaution after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for coronavirus.