The Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Wales Roger Williams has criticised the record of nationalist parties in Government after the latest unemployment figures showed unemployment rising in Wales and Scotland as it goes down in England.
Wales has the highest unemployment of any nation in the UK at 9.2%, up 9,000 to 133,000 over the most recent period covered. In Scotland unemployment has gone up 16,000 to 205,000.
Commenting, Roger Williams said:
“These figures are extremely disturbing for Wales, and highlight the failure of Plaid to get a grip on unemployment.
“The common feature in Wales and Scotland is having nationalists in charge of economic development, and it is clear they are following their narrow nationalist agendas, rather than ensuring people are in jobs.
“According to Plaid, when things go well, it’s Ieuan, when they go badly it’s London. There comes a time when you have to stop blaming London for everything and take responsibility for your own failures.
“For many people their slogan at the election will be ‘Think Plaid. Think Dole.’”
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Roger Williams, a supposedly educated man, believes that the Welsh Government’s Minister can determine unemployment in Wales! We can only conclude Roger Williams isn’t up to speed with events in Wales. Labour market and fiscal policy is not a devolved issue. “The economy” is not devolved, it is a UK-wide and increasingly a global economy. Economic development and transport (but not transport infrastructure or the regulation of business), which means the development of businesses, is devolved, but isn’t an area where large-scale employment can be generated. Job creation in terms of fiscal stimulii would have to come from the Treasury at Westminster.
“According to Plaid, when things go well, it’s Ieuan, when they go badly it’s London. There comes a time when you have to stop blaming London for everything and take responsibility for your own failures.”
Plaid don’t actually say that. Even ‘when things went well’ Ieuan Wyn Jones said that there shouldn’t be complacency and that things could still get worse. No doubt some Lib Dem drone will attack me on this, so I will go and find the quote if necessary.
Seriously? Does Roger just spout dodgy (and totally nonsensical) party press releases now? You ignore (of course, its what you lot do best) the obvious fact that the Welsh government can actually do very little. We can do thinks, to an extent, to ease the pain, but there is a major limit to how far that can go. Scraping the barrel comes to mind.