UK Government warned of ‘growing support for independence’ over plan to scrap Welsh law

The UK Government have been warned over a “growing support for independence” in Wales as it plans to scrap a Welsh law.

The UK Government confirmed last week that they would move to scrap a law passed by the Senedd, as part of their push to crack down on trade unions.

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They said that the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017, which prohibited using temporary workers to cover industrial action, would be done away with.

Labour Senedd Member Carolyn Thomas has now written to the UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to say that his move could “undermine” the United Kingdom.

It was revealed last month that the UK Government law that will attempt to reduce the effectiveness of strikes would apply in Wales as well.

The UK government said it

“intends to legislate to remove the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 through primary legislation when Parliamentary time allows, to ensure trade union legislation applies equally across Great Britain”.

Mark Drakeford said that the UK Government’s plan was “nonsense” and an attempt to distract from their own incompetence.

“It’s just sand in people’s eyes. Where was that Government last week when it ought to have been round the table helping to resolve this difficulty, why wasn’t it there speaking up on behalf of the travelling population trying to find a solution.

“We’ve got a government which is absent on the job, it doesn’t engage where it ought to engage. It indulges in make believe sorts of policies in order to try throw sand in people’s eyes to hide their own abject failures. That’s all this is about.”

Plaid Cymru called the move a “blatant attack on devolution,” adding “only Welsh independence can protect worker rights and Wales’ democracy.”

UK Government ministers said that under current trade union laws, employment businesses are restricted from supplying temporary agency workers to cover for strikers, saying it can have a “disproportionate impact”.

The legislation will repeal the “burdensome” legal restrictions, giving businesses impacted by strike action the freedom to tap into the services of employment businesses who can provide skilled, temporary agency staff at short notice, said the UK Government.

It would also help mitigate against the impact of future strikes, such as those seen on the railways this week, by allowing trained, temporary workers to carry out crucial roles to keep trains moving, ministers said.

They gave examples of skilled temporary workers being able to fill vacant positions such as train dispatchers.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said:

“Once again trade unions are holding the country to ransom by grinding crucial public services and businesses to a halt. The situation we are in is not sustainable.

“Repealing these 1970s-era restrictions will give businesses freedom to access fully skilled staff at speed, all while allowing people to get on with their lives uninterrupted to help keep the economy ticking.”