Westminster Labour’s contempt for Wales and the left on show again
Labour has (again) insulted Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, mis-stating his title twice when introducing him for his speech to the party’s annual conference.
When Drakeford began his speech, the text on screen introducing him mis-spelled his title ‘First Minsiter’. While this might be written off as a mere typo, it also called him ‘MS AM’, using the now-defunct ‘Assembly Member’ alongside the correct abbreviation for a member of the Senedd:
The blunders caused amusement and anger among Welsh speakers, but it is not the first time the party has been shoddy towards Drakeford and Wales. In April, when Labour published a form for Welsh voters to register for a postal vote, it called Keir Starmer the leader of Welsh Labour – before talking about issues in Scotland and pointing to a non-existent address for would-be voters to return the form. One such piece of idiocy might be just incompetence, but twice is a sign of disdain.
The Westminster party’s contempt for the standing and independence of devolved sister parties goes wider than Wales, of course. Keir Starmer notoriously meddled in Scottish Labour’s business, deposing Richard Leonard to toady up to wealthy former donors in the (vain) hope he could tempt them back.
As well as being leaders of their national Labour parties at the time of these insults, Drakeford and Leonard have in common that they are both considered on the left of the party. Drakeford was also targeted by the right for smears before this conference for agreeing to speak at the parallel left event The World Transformed, with Starmer’s allies saying his participation made it harder for Starmer and co to write off TWT as a ‘trot fest’.
The Labour right hates a successful politician when s/he comes from the left. They’d love to see Drakeford gone and replaced by a Starmerite drone as in Scotland, but for the moment they have to content themselves with venting their contempt through petty insults.
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Mark Drakeford gave it to Starmer with both barrels.
“He told the conference that the “future is different in Wales” because of the “ambitious” policies his government had put in place.
These included free prescriptions, free childcare, abolishing the right to buy council houses, and putting the railways back under public ownership.
He argued that a Labour government in Westminster would treat devolution as the “UK’s greatest strength, not its greatest mistake.”
Mark Drakeford said: “The future is different in Wales because of the ambitious policies Welsh Labour in government has put in place. Free prescriptions and free breakfasts in our primary schools. Free childcare for working parents.
“We didn’t have to reintroduce bursaries for nurses because they were never scrapped in Wales. Fracking doesn’t have to be prevented in Wales because it’s never been allowed.
“We’re building council houses again in Wales and we’ve abolished the right to buy. Our children are protected from physical punishment. And our railways are back under public control.”
https://nation.cymru/news/first-what-labour-blasted-after-getting-mark-drakefords-title-wrong-at-conference/
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You would need to combine over a trillion clones of keir “erik armrest” starmer and still not manage to even reach 0.1% of the decency, honesty and integrity of Mark Drakeford!
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For his title to be misspelt and to refer to the Senedd* as assembly, I find incredibly insulting and disrespectful, but to be expected from the Westminster cabal
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* ‘dd’ in Welsh is pronounced as the hard ‘th’ in English (like the word ‘that,’ NOT like ‘d’ of dog.
For being successful Mark could be danger of being replaced by Evans.
Mark Drakeford is the leader of Welsh labour and head of the Welsh government. If the purger attempted to do that it would turbocharge push for Welsh independence!
Mark Drakeford is another star of the labour movement who is much too good for the Labour Party.
It is disgusting that he has to face gratuitous insults and sidelining from the Starmer crew. However, it just demonstrates their utter political bankruptcy and vacuity. He is probably the most successful politician of the left that we have in Britain now. Starmer and co. have nothing in response to this but childish prattle; prattle that serves only to diminish them and elevate Drakeford.