Angela Rayner used her Labour conference speech to heap praise on hopeless Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, not once but twice.
In a speech that won multiple rounds of applause, Ms Rayner said Mr Drakeford has “shown the power of devolved leadership”.
She also said Labour is “already delivering in power”, again citing “the Labour Government in Wales”.
The Welsh Government is under siege at the moment for its latest policy to change all road speed limits by default to 20mph.
Mr Drakeford has also been slammed over plans to give £1,600 to illegal migrants, with Tories saying he is actively undermining efforts to stop the boats.
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Speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said the contrast between Rishi Sunak’s recent pro-motorist announcements and the Welsh Government “couldn’t be more stark”.
He said: “Rather than take a common sense approach, they’re motivated by extreme ideology.
“In the last month, they’ve introduced a blanket 20mph speed limit across the whole of Wales.
“Labour’s own figures show this will cost the economy £9billion! The cost of changing the signs alone is up to £40million! And nearly half a million people have signed a petition calling for Labour’s blanket 20mph speed limits to be scrapped.
“But Mark Drakeford won’t listen, and the Labour minister who imposed the 20mph speed limits on Wales arrogantly dismisses the decent Welsh people who signed the petition as ‘anti-safety.’”
Despite previously saying The Labour Government in Wales would be a “blueprint” for his No. 10 administration, two days ago Sir Keir Starmer refused to repeat his boast.
Counter to Ms Rayner’s flowing praise, Keir Starmer said he “can’t pretend” there are no challenges in his relationship with the Welsh Labour Government.
However, he added there is a lot in Wales he “was proud of”.
He said: “I don’t think anybody watching this would suggest there aren’t challenges.
“Of course, there are challenges. The question is how do we rise to those challenges? Are there different ways of doing this?
“An incoming Labour government would work with the Welsh government to overcome the challenges.”
Mr Drakeford has vehemently defended Wales’s new 20mph speed limit, despite the fact an official petition against it has become the most signed in the Welsh Parliament’s history, and surpassed the number of votes Labour received at the last Assembly elections.
At the Tory conference last week, Penny Mordaunt tore apart the devolved Government, saying: “I don’t know about you but I do not trust the leadership of Keir Starmer to be able to stand up to the iron fist, Why? Because he is not even capable of standing up to Mark Drakeford and his plans for an independent Wales. A 20mph independent Wales.”
Mr Drakeford has previously denied that he wants Welsh independence.
Ms Rayner’s speech to Labour conference was packed with gags, including attacks on Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Suella Braverman.
She said that since they met last year, Gavin Williamson had forced to resign “because it turned out he was a bully. Who knew?” As had Dominic Raab, “also forced to resign as a bully. I think everyone knew that one… Except the Prime Minister, apparently”.
She said: “Then there was the Home Secretary, sacked as a threat to national security. The same Home Secretary was reappointed the next week.
“I think they call that ‘time served’. Apparently, she believes in the rehabilitation of offenders after all.
“Now we have the Prime Minister refusing to hand over his WhatsApp messages. I assume Jacob Rees-Mogg has also refused to hand over his carrier pigeon.”
