No Plaid coalition with tories says local Councillor

A Statement by Cllr W Gwyn Hopkins

In his article in the December 11^th edition of the Llanelli Herald, Llanelli’s Labour Assembly election candidate, Lee Waters, states “How people within Plaid can consider forming a coalition with these Tories after next year’s Assembly elections is beyond me.”

I am not sure what people he’s referring to (I haven’t met any), but since becoming Leader of Plaid Cymru Leanne Wood has declared publically and categorically that Plaid will not enter into a coalition with the Tories after the next Assembly election.  That’s more than Labour Leader, Carwyn Jones, has done.  Moreover, before the General Election in May, Labour MP, Gisela Stuart, and former Labour Cabinet Minister Charles Clarke declared that they would not be opposed to a Tory/Labour grand coalition if no party gained a general election majority.  In fact, Labour forming coalitions with the Tories is not uncommon.  Tory/Labour coalitions currently exist in East Lothian and Stirling County Councils in Scotland (and recently in Cumbria County Council, England 2009-13).  Are these coalitions also “beyond Lee”?  In view of these facts, Lee Waters’ denigration of Plaid Cymru for allegedly even thinking about entering a coalition with the Tories is both pathetic and hypocritical.