I would like to respond to David Davies’s reaction in last week’s Chronicle regarding my earlier call for him to be more constructive in his role as Secretary of State for Wales.
Not the first time, he uses the defence that he is unable to bring any influence to bear on devolved matters.
This is very a convenient but somewhat disingenuous argument given that the Government of which he is part of has a very significant impact on the level of financial resources available to the Welsh Government. He helps to set the financial rules, only to walk away from the responsibility for the consequences that follow.
In the current year, over 80 per cent of the Welsh Government’s £20bn budget comes from Westminster.
The health crisis in all four nations across the UK has its origins in Westminster and David Davies and his colleagues have ownership of this. Similarly, the resources available for just about every other public service, such as education and social care, have their origins in the overall public expenditure budgets set in Westminster.
Our MP should perhaps be asking the question of his cabinet colleagues as to whether the current level of Government funding is capable of sustaining good quality public services. I think the answer to that will be a resounding no, irrespective of whether matters are devolved or not and wherever you might happen to live in the UK.
David Davies should stop hiding behind the wall of devolution and start considering how decisions made at cabinet meetings have very real and often negative consequences for the people here in Wales. Peter Slater Llantilio Crossenny