Delyth Jewell MS: “Boris Johnson will always prioritise his own interests over the welfare of Welsh citizens”

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Delyth Jewell, who represents Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

This week saw the Welsh Government finally taking action to stop the spread of Covid-19 into Wales from areas in the UK with high prevalence of the virus. 

Plaid Cymru has been calling for this for weeks – it simply made no sense that someone from Caerphilly couldn’t travel to Cardiff to see their grandmother, but a busload of people could come from Bolton to Pembrokeshire for a day out (this actually happened).

The Welsh Government argued that it should be the Prime Minister who should implement such restrictions, but it’s been obvious for a long time that Boris Johnson will always prioritise his own interests over the welfare of Welsh citizens. 

I’m glad that we have now arrived at the correct solution and I’m confident the new measures will prove their worth in keeping people safe from infection.

It was dismaying – but not surprising – to see the Tories reacting to the news in a purely political manner, throwing around absurd accusations that the purpose of the restrictions was to discriminate against England, when the rules are designed to keep people safe and apply equally to Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

The sad truth of the matter is that right-wing politicians across the western world have lost the ability to consider any case on its own merits and now see every issue through the prism of a warped ideological lens.

Thankfully, the people of Caerphilly are much wiser than this: your responsible behaviour has meant that the spread of the virus is being limited as you can see from the graph below.

If you think you need a test, there are now two temporary testing centres in the county, one in Caerphilly Leisure Centre and the other in Penyrheol. All you need to do is phone 0300 30 31 222 to book an appointment. Feel free to contact me on Delyth.jewell@senedd.wales if you encounter any problems. 

I’ve spent the last few months dealing with a lot of casework and questions from citizens all around the region I represent.

I know that lots of you have unanswered questions, not to mention concerns about the current situation, so I’ve decided to host a live question and answer session on Facebook to give people the chance to ask me questions in person. You’re welcome to tune in as well if you’d just like to have a friendly chat about things.

We’ll be going live at 6pm next Thursday, so visit my Facebook page then if you’d like to take part!