Welsh head of government sees Johnson as a threat to unity of the kingdom

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Mark Drakeford, Head of Government of Wales: "The Prime Minister is the one who contributes most to the breakup of the United Kingdom"

Photo: Ben Birchall / dpa

Welsh Prime Minister Mark Drakeford has criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a threat to the country's cohesion.

"The Prime Minister is the one who contributes most to the break-up of the United Kingdom," Drakeford told the dpa news agency.

The attitude of Johnson's Conservative government to strong state parliaments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is "hostile and undermining," Drakeford said.

Prime Minister Johnson recently said, particularly with regard to the Scottish independence movement, that the transfer of important rights to the state parliaments - the "devolution" introduced a good 20 years ago - was a "misfortune" and the "biggest mistake" of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair .

Critics accuse Johnson of wanting to use the corona crisis to strengthen the grip of the central government in London on the regions of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Drakeford emphasized that, unlike Scotland, there were no significant aspirations for independence in Wales.

But there is a strong majority that is in favor of strong powers for the regional parliament.

If Johnson undermines that decentralization, "people will lose confidence that the UK government is a government that has UK prospects that are attractive to people of Wales," Drakeford said.

In the 2016 Brexit referendum, a narrow majority of the Welsh people voted to leave the EU.

Drakeford emphasized that the Cardiff government had advised to remain in the community at the time.

"And nothing I've seen since then makes me believe that was bad advice," said the politician from the British opposition Labor party.

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