A newspaper has published an article celebrating the fact that First Minister Mark Drakeford intends to stand down in 2024, saying that he has proved “devolution is a disaster”. In an opinion article published in The Telegraph on December 29, financial columnist Matthew Lynn said that Drakeford had "brought Wales to its knees”.
He condemned the Welsh First Minister's policies, stating: “If ever a really bad idea is under discussion, you can rely upon Drakeford to champion it". He added: “Over his four years in power, Wales has been turned into a laboratory for the kind of half-baked policy ideas that don’t usually make it out of the seminar rooms of second-rate universities.”
The column comes after Mark Drakeford said in an end-of-year interview this week that he intended to step down as First Minister by the end of 2024 to give his successor time to bed into the role. You can read the full interview here.
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The journalist hedged his argument on examples such as a four-day week and universal basic income, despite these not being implemented. He also cited the decision to allow councils to raise tax on second home and change the definitions of holiday lets in a bid to tackle the housing crisis as one of Drakeford's failiures.
He said: “Instead of embracing the money they bring into the country, the First Minister has pandered to the most narrow-minded instincts of his nationalist rivals by trying to bully them out of existence,” he said.
“At times, Drakeford has appeared to be waging a one-man war against any form of productive activity. During lockdown, he championed the kind of petty authoritarianism for which the pandemic was the perfect excuse.”
The scathing article then went on to question the functionality of devolution if countries had leaders such as Mark Drakeford, stating "if devolution can’t produce more inspiring leaders, we would be better off without it.”
Matthew Lynn said: “He is currently complaining that he is unable to pay striking nurses any more, because the UK Government will not give him the money. He is doing so while refusing to use his own powers to vary income tax, which might well enable him to pay for it himself.
“Drakeford represents the worst of devolution. He glories in all the trappings of power, but avoids any genuine responsibility. Over a hundred years, Wales has produced some of Britain’s greatest leaders. David Lloyd George, Nye Bevan and Roy Jenkins were all major figures, capable of reshaping the political landscape. They were reformers of vision.
“Devolution, however, has elevated political pygmies to positions of power and influence. Drakeford will leave behind a legacy of failure, whinging and division. Wales is capable of much better – and if devolution can’t produce more inspiring leaders, we would be better off without it.”
Speaking to WalesOnline for an interview, the Welsh First Minister said it would be "the right thing to do" to make sure his successor would have enough time to get into the job. He said: “I’m in my fifth year as First Minister and I always thought that around that period of time was when it will be right to hand on to somebody else.
“In the middle of this term there will be a moment when the right thing to do is to make sure there is somebody who sees their political horizons not toward the end of the term but beyond that so that they can get themselves into the job, get themselves known to people, and begin to shape the way they think things could happen after that.”
He went on: "“I had two years [before the election] and I think you do need that sort of period to work your way into the job, make sure people know a bit about you, and then there’s a lot of thinking that goes into any election manifesto preparation and all of that.”
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