Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford has come under a barrage of fire from those within his own party, opposition parties and the Welsh public, including people from all over the UK.
Drakeford’s controversial ban on what the government seems to deem as non-essential items has made Welsh residents furious and has been branded as being on a “power trip.”
The Welsh government have made a “complete mess of the messaging” over their ban on supermarkets being forced not to sell non-essential items during the lockdown.
Adam Price the leader of Plaid Cymru is calling on the government to have some “humility” and admit to the people of Wales that they “got it wrong.”
Price said, “The objective of closing non-essential retail for this period is to try to limit the number of contacts so they can limit the number of infections – and that’s somehow got completely lost in the messaging which has then eroded public trust over the weekend.
“There are families across Wales that are mourning today because they’ve lost lives. The firebreak is here to save hundreds and hundreds of lives.”
“We lost sight of that over the weekend and we’ve got to refocus on it now.”
The Welsh Secretary Simon Hart also slammed Drakeford on Monday morning and told Wales First Minister to “swallow your political pride.”
Speaking to Sky News Hart said, “Throughout the whole COVID crisis we’ve really tried to work collaboratively, as far as is possible, with the Welsh government so it’s more in sadness than in anger that I think we’ve reached this position.
“It’s not me complaining, it’s 62,000 people who have already signed a petition saying this is confusing, it’s disproportionate.
“I think, worst of all, it sort of shows a lack of faith and trust in the common sense of shoppers.”
He added, “People do know how to behave responsibly in Wales, they do know what this disease is doing to our economy.
“They don’t really need to be told by Mark Drakeford what it is they can put in their basket.
“When you have a situation where it becomes legal to buy socks but not tights, vodka but not hair dryers, gin but not a bottle for your kid’s milk, then I think people are beginning to ask questions about the proportionality of this.
“People are going to lose faith in the Welsh Government, are beginning to think actually this is more of a political exercise than it is a disease control exercise.”
Hart’s message to the Welsh government which was crystal clear, “My strong message to Mark Drakeford, who I speak to frequently, is on this occasion swallow your political pride.”
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