Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 2 July 2024.
Vaughan Gething
Labour
1:53,
2 July 2024
I believe we will have a transformed relationship across the UK if there is a UK Labour Government, with clear commitments to ensure that the Prime Minister doesn’t ignore First Ministers across the country, and a council of nations and regions. And not just that; there's the statement you’ll hear from the economy Secretary Jeremy Miles later today on the extraordinary seriousness of what took place last week, the very real anxiety in steel-making communities, not just in Port Talbot. Previously, the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, would not pick up the phone to speak to Mark Drakeford. Within a matter of hours, Jeremy Miles, Jo Stevens and I had a conversation with Keir Starmer and Jonathan Reynolds about what we would do to try to move all of us into a better position. That’s real partnership, and it happened. And we believe it’s part of making a difference, of trying to see a different level of ambition for the country and a different partnership. That’s what we could have on 4 July if people vote the right way. I believe that’s what we will have. That’s what I’m working for.
It will also see a manifesto to take devolution forward: fairness on Barnett, properly reviewing and updating the fiscal framework, seeing devolution taken forward with the return of our powers and money from former EU funds, and the devolution of employment support funding. And, I believe, we will make progress on the devolution of youth justice and probation. All of those things are on the ballot paper on 4 July, and I look forward to seeing what the people of Wales vote for. If they do vote for a UK Labour Government on the manifesto we have put forward, we will take that forward, and I believe we can go back to the people and be clear sighted about the promises we have made and that we have kept, in direct contrast to the last 14 years of Tory chaos. It is not inevitable that we will win on Thursday. If people want change, they need to vote for it.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
