{"id":58293,"date":"2025-04-28T19:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/58293\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T19:54:10","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:54:10","slug":"welsh-independence-would-make-brexit-look-like-walk-in-the-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/58293\/","title":{"rendered":"Welsh independence would make Brexit look like \u2018walk in the park\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds<\/p>\n

Emily Price<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Senedd\u2019s only Liberal Democrat has claimed that independence would be so devastating for Wales that it would \u201cmake Brexit look like a walk in the park\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mid and West Wales MS Jane Dodds made the comments on Monday (April 28) following the announcement of Plaid Cymru\u2019s new economic plan for Wales.<\/p>\n

The party \u2013 led by Ynys M\u00f4n MS Rhun ap Iorwerth \u2013 has promised to \u201cbreathe new life\u201d into the Welsh economy if they win the next Senedd election in May 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

Announcing the new plan, economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher said a Plaid Cymru government would see \u201cwealth built, retained and recycled in our communities instead of it leaking, and in some cases flooding, out of Wales\u201d.<\/p>\n

The plan commits to better support for Welsh businesses as well as energy independence \u2013 including control over Wales\u2019 natural resources.<\/p>\n

Plaid Cymru has also promised a new skills strategy, a new deal for Welsh universities and more support for community-owned businesses.<\/p>\n

But Ms Dodds has claimed that Plaid Cymru\u2019s pro-independence stance would be \u201cdevastating\u201d for the Welsh economy.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018Damage\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said: \u201cPlaid Cymru are glossing over the damage their plans for independence would cause to the Welsh economy and businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bureaucracy, red tape and challenges faced by Welsh businesses as a result of independence would be so devastating that it would make Brexit look like a walk in the park in comparison.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters who want to back Wales\u2019 businesses and drive economic growth and investment should back the Welsh Liberal Democrats instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

It came after South Wales Police estimated that over six thousand people, including Plaid politicians, \u00a0took part in a march for independence at the weekend \u2013 although this number has been disputed.<\/p>\n

Plaid Cymru hit back at Ms Dodds saying it \u201cbeggars belief\u201d that a party which claims to support the devolution of the Crown Estate, doesn\u2019t see independence as an avenue to achieve it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ruin\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In February, the Welsh Liberal Democrats joined Plaid Cymru calls in the UK Parliament to push for the transfer of the management of the Crown Estate\u2019s assets in Wales to Welsh ministers in the Senedd.<\/p>\n

Revenue from the assets currently goes to the Treasury and the money is then spent across the UK.<\/p>\n

Despite the team up between Plaid and the Lib Dems, Labour was able to reject an amendment to the Crown Estate Bill that would have seen Crown Estate powers handed to the Welsh Government.<\/p>\n

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: \u201cThe Liberal Democrats spent years in coalition with the Conservatives, where they promoted a policy of austerity that brought uncontrolled ruin to our economy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAs a party that claim to support a closer relationship with the EU, that claim to support the devolution of the Crown Estate, and that recognise the potential these policies have to promote growth in Wales\u2019 economy, it beggars\u2019 belief that the Liberal Democrats don\u2019t see that independence has the potential to achieve this.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cPlaid Cymru are full of confidence in the fact that it is only through independence that we can unlock Wales\u2019 economic potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, our strategy today shows how we can use the powers Wales already has to undo the damage of 25 years of Labour failure and over 14 years of continuous austerity from Westminster Governments.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent poll on voting intentions for next year\u2019s Senedd election conducted by Beaufort Research for Nation.Cymru revealed that Plaid Cymru is only three points behind Labour at 24%.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives are on 16%, Greens are on 5% and the Liberal Democrats are on 4%.<\/p>\n

Support our Nation today<\/p>\n

For the price of a cup of coffee<\/strong> a month you can help us create an
\n independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by
\n the people of Wales.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds Emily Price The Senedd\u2019s only Liberal Democrat has claimed that independence would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-58293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114417347052902599","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}