4. Statement by the First Minister: Reforming our Union

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:00 pm on 29 June 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 4:00, 29 June 2021

Well, Llywydd, I don't want to spend my afternoon having to give elementary lessons to new members of the opposition about the way in which the Senedd works. I am responsible for what I say and what lies on the Record of the Senedd. If you want to know what I say, that's where you must go. Members have the privilege of having advance copies of what I might say, and it says at the bottom that you should check that against what I actually say. Now, I think—. I hope I don't need to repeat that again, because it's a very elementary lesson in the way that this place operates.

I'll repeat what I actually said: that this is a Government that seems devoted to the emptiness of symbols, that believes that by flying flags and persuading people that choruses of the British song will somehow cement the union—. Well, I think it did succeed at least in uniting people in a sense of derision for that idea that this is the level of seriousness that they've been able to summon up as a Government charged with those responsibilities.