Yesterday, I saw Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones speak at  a Better Together event in Edinburgh. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting that much. Most of what I’ve heard about him comes from the Welsh Liberal Democrats who aren’t, shall we say, completely enamoured at his record in office.

Having said that, he did have some useful things to say. He was very clear that he as Wales’ leader wanted Scotland to stay in the UK:

We want you to stay to work with you to build socially just and fair society for all in these islands.

He said that he had had some arguments with Westminster in his time but:

When my car breaks down, I have it fixed. I don’t take it to the scrap yard.

Solidarity was his main theme, imploring us not to walk away from people who share our values.

He said that the most vulnerable people in society would pay the highest price for the inevitable instability post independence, particularly if Scotland, as Alex Salmond suggested, used sterling without a formal currency union. This would require the public sector being cut in half.

I’m not sure Kirsty Williams would be entirely in agreement with his comments on the Welsh NHS. She would agree that what happens in the NHS in Wales is all down to his government and that Westminster can’t be blamed, but, given that she’s introduced a Bill to put nursing staffing levels on a statutory footing, Jones highlighted more nurses, cutting waiting lists, reducing infant mortality and free prescriptions and hospital parking as his achievements.

Kirsty has also pointed out some discrepancy with what he said on Twitter yesterday about future devolution and what he’s said before.

At the event, he said that the devolution settlement was not perfect, that he wanted to see a Constitutional Convention and that he wanted Wales to get the same offer as Scotland.

Kirsty says voters will be confused because he has already turned some of these powers down:

From Wales online:

Speaking as the leadership of the three main Westminster parties banded together to endorse a timetable for new powers for Scotland, Ms Williams said – whatever outcome of the referendum – “things will never be the same again” for the whole of the UK.

Agreeing with Mr Jones’ long-standing call for a UK-wide constitutional convention to thrash out Britain’s future if there is a No vote, Ms Williams said: “I’m sure that the First Minister is very sincere in his desire for additional powers for Wales.

“What I think is not coherent about the First Minister’s statements in the last couple of days is to, on the one hand, demand that we’re offered the same as Scotland with the other hand immediately say but of course I don’t want those powers.

“That is confusing to the Welsh electorate and sends a very unclear message to Westminster about a desire on behalf of the Welsh Government for extra powers here for Wales. I think what Carwyn needs to do is to articulate, from his point of view, what extra powers he believes should rest in Wales.

“You can’t demand to be offered them, but at the same time say back to the people you are demanding these powers from ‘but of course, I don’t want them’. I don’t regard that as a particularly serious way…to persuade people in Westminster to see greater devolution for Wales. It’s a slightly odd way of going about demanding additional powers.

Photo Credit: Caron Lindsay

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social