Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that Welsh devolution should go further but some issues need to be resolved first. Brown’s 2022 report recommended that powers over youth justice and probation be shifted from Westminster to Cardiff. However, it did not go as far as backing the devolution of policing, prisons, and adult courts to Wales. Senior Welsh Labour Senedd members pushed for the justice system to be run from Cardiff but Brown fell short of supporting the idea. The Welsh Conservatives did not support further devolution and Plaid Cymru called Brown’s report a “damp squib.”
Brown spoke highly of First Minister Mark Drakeford, describing him as one of the “greatest persons committed to social justice that I know.” Drakeford has long supported the idea of “radical federalism” across the UK and the devolution of policing and justice to Wales. Vaughan Gething, Drakeford’s successor, also supports devolution of policing and justice in Wales.
The Barnett formula, which governs how the Welsh government is funded, has also been a point of contention in Cardiff Bay. Brown suggested that Wales should receive more funding than it currently does under the formula. The Welsh government has requested that the formula be replaced with a new system. Brown, who was Chancellor for a decade, suggested that Wales should receive more funding due to social problems that have arisen from the decline of the mining and steel industries.
Overall, while Brown’s report recommended that Wales should be able to go further in terms of devolution, certain issues must be addressed before this can be achieved
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