“The truth is that the current devolution settlement cannot cope with the economic impact of Covid-19”

Plaid Cymru responds to rise in Wales’ unemployment figures

Responding to the latest unemployment figures, which show Wales has the highest rise in unemployment in the UK, Shadow Minister for the Economy, Helen Mary Jones MS said,

“From the start it’s been clear that the pandemic is not just a health crisis but an economic one, and the latest unemployment figures are an unwelcome outcome of a fragile and weak Welsh Economy.

“The truth is that the current devolution settlement cannot cope with the economic impact of Covid-19. Wales does not have the ‘fire power’ of UK Government, and yet Welsh Government’s reluctance to negotiate further powers is incomprehensible.

“A Plaid Cymru government would immediately secure the temporary lifting of the borrowing limit, so that we can borrow to invest our way to recovery. In the long term, a Plaid Cymru government would renegotiate the fiscal agreement so that we can begin to develop meaningful stimulus packages tailored specifically for the Welsh Economy. This would go a long way in dealing with our ability to react to these sorts of crises in the future.”