Monday, July 2nd, 2012

Blog: Carwyn’s pre-planned off the cuff remarks

Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM examines Labour’s handling strategy over the First Minister’s nuclear comments

The Labour Welsh Government’s back-pedalling on the issue of bringing Trident to Wales is fascinating to watch. Reading between the lines gives a clear indication of their mindset.

After reading the Wales on Sunday this weekend it is clear that Labour has briefed their handling plan to political columnist Matt Withers. Labour is effectively saying that they want Plaid Cymru to keep talking about this “entirely academic issue”, so that we are distracted from the real issues. In short, they are claiming in a double bluff that they are happy with Plaid Cymru talking about “something that isn’t even on the agenda”. Bear in mind that the same party has accused us of talking about jobs and the economy too much!

Aside from this, the First Minister’s strategy is to downplay his remarks, not only was it an “academic” question, it was “off the cuff” and in his opinion will never happen anyway because the Tory UK Government, which he rails against every other week, has given him reassurances that Scotland will vote to remain in the UK.

Labour wants us to stop talking about Trident for a number of reasons. It is a reality that if Trident was brought to Wales, the LNG terminals and oil refineries at Milford Haven would have to close. The First Minister has called for something that would cost more jobs than it would bring.

We also have to ask, if the comments were not serious, why were they released in answer to an obviously planted question from a Labour AM about investment in ports? And why were they made on the eve of a British-Irish summit where Carwyn Jones would have been meeting Alex Salmond and other leaders?

The argument Labour are expecting us to swallow is that the call for Trident to come to Wales was some kind of masterplan to knock Plaid Cymru down a peg and keep us campaigning on the fringe issues. Although their argument is a con, if it were true we could perhaps be flattered by the amount of high-level strategic thinking Labour are investing in dealing with Plaid Cymru.

But on a serious note we cannot tolerate a situation where the First Minister of Wales is playing political games with the UK’s nuclear deterrent, sending out embarrassing messages and undermining Wales’ credibility.

My workload this week includes opposing Trident, but also campaigning on council tax benefits and the future of Welsh rail services. All of this matters to people, and I know that Plaid Cymru will continue to scrutinise Labour’s lack of attention to job creation, including opposing threats to jobs at Milford Haven.

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