WALES FIRST MINISTER SLAMS UK GOV’T FOR ITS ‘HOSTILE ATTITUDE’

The first minister for Wales sharply criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government for his "hostile and undermining" attitude towards devolution, saying it promoted Britain's disintegration, Benedikt von Imhoff and Isobel Frodsham reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Mark Drakeford told dpa that Boris Johnson was the "greatest recruiter to the breakup of the United Kingdom that we have" as a result of Brexit and how the Covid-19 crisis has been handled so far.

"There is no doubt that the case for Wales' continued membership of the United Kingdom has been put under the spotlight," Drakeford said. "This is by the conduct of the coronavirus crisis and by the fact that for the first time in 20 years in the whole of the devolution era, we have faced a majority conservative government at Westminster, and its attitude towards devolution turns out to be hostile and undermining."

Drakeford added that while there were no significant aspirations for independence in Wales, a strong majority supports giving more power to the devolved parliament. Wales and Scotland became devolved nations in 1998 after a referendum was held by former prime minister Tony Blair in 1997, allowing them to create their own parliaments to implement day-to-day rules for their citizens. The British government, based in Westminster, London, meanwhile sets out rules for Britain as a whole.

The Welsh Assembly opposes Britain's departure from the European Union, which officially occurred in January, and Drakeford has been vocal about his concerns over Brexit. "While I still think the people who want to leave the European Union are in a minority in Wales, there is a very strong majority of people who believe that devolution is the right answer and a tax on it and undermining of it make people lose confidence," Drakeford told dpa.