India_Latest_News_amp_Updates_BBC_News.txt
Is_abolition_of_the_Senedd_Reform_party_policy_or_not.txt
Is abolition of the Senedd Reform party policy or star wars dice setnot?6 days agoShareSaveDavid DeansPolitical reporter, BBC Wales News andGareth LewisPolitical editor, BBC Wales NewsShareSaveReutersNigel Farage has said the "ship has sailed" on devolutionLaura Anne Jones made news on the floor of Reform UK's conference when she told BBC Wales the party would not rule out scrapping the Welsh Parliament.The Member of the Senedd for South Wales East suggested the party could switch its support for the Senedd if Reform could not make it work for Wales.It is the strongest indication that anyone in the party has publicly given that it could, maybe, support a serious rollback of the devolution settlement in Wales.But in the wake of the former Conservative's comments, we have been told that abolition is not going to appear in a manifesto and is not party policy.Despite the high profile nature of the speech, the party does not appear to be waving the idea as a Welsh slogan.What was striking was how what Jones said differed from Nigel Farage's previous comments - where he said the "ship has completely sailed" on accepting the Senedd.A spokesperson, asked about the issue by BBC Wales journalists, made clear to us that abolition was not going to appear in a Reform UK manifesto.The spokesperson said: "It is not party policy to abolish the Senedd. It will not be in our manifesto next year. But we do not want to shut the discussion down."Party policy is to go into this election to win. The failure of the Senedd is to do with 26 years of Labour and Plaid Cymru."Value for money is something a Reform Welsh government would put first."As things stand, our goal is to make Welsh government work in terms of policy and we hope a Reform government would fix things, but as Laura says we would not rule anything out to ensure welsh taxpayers are put first."One corner of the vast conference hall is given over to various nations and regions of the UK, who all have their own stalls.Wales has its own. Speaking to grassroots members there you get the sense - while they were happy to talk about the issue - that abolition was not at the forefront of their minds.One, while not criticising what Laura Anne Jones said, told us that it was not something raised on the doorstep, and they did not think it would help bring more voters to Reform.Some Conservatives have often thought otherwise, hoping their own party would switch their stance on devolution to bring in more devosceptic voters. One has said they thought a more questioning stance would help bring over Tory activists to Reform.Sam Robinson/BBCLaura Anne Jones joined Reform UK in the summerLast autumn, Nigel Farage said the Senedd election would be Reform's biggest priority in 2026, although judging by his speech on Friday, preparing for government at Westminster level will now sit alongside that.A few things strike you when speaking to members and would-be candidates from Wales.They seem very optimistic about their party's chances in the Senedd election, and they appear very driven to win.They attribute favourable responses on the doorstep not just to high-level policies on things like immigration, but also what they say they would do on a local level - things like getting streets cleaned or pavements fixed.Thirdly, they think the party is unfairly perceived by some as being racist.Fourthly, they seem up for a debate about the future of the Senedd and devolution, but want to try and "fix" things first by winning the election and running the Welsh government.I did not maximise my expenses, says Reform MSReform not ruling out scrapping Senedd, MS saysWelsh Conservative Laura Anne Jones defects to Reform WalesReform UK
